There were major expectations on the shoulders of Dame Sarr beginning his first season with the Duke basketball program but he was always going to be a work in progress.
Despite Sarr’s experience playing professionally overseas with Barcelona, there is an adjustment every player must go through when getting on the court in a college basketball setting.
For the Blue Devil freshman, it was apparent during the first two games of the season in which he scored a total of 10 points and missed all four of his shot attempts against Western Carolina.
Things started to click for him, however, in Duke’s 114-59 victory over Army on Tuesday night when he scored a team-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Still, Sarr credits his intensity on the defensive side of the floor as the biggest difference from the opening two games.
“I think last game I wasn't so aggressive on defense. After talking with the coaches, that's not who I am,” he explained. “So today, I just wanted to bring myself, be aggressive on defense, and everything else came together.
“Whenever I I'm focused on defense, then everything else comes by itself. I didn't try to force it, it just came. And that's what I'm trying to do every time.”
Dame Sarr also had three rebounds and a team leading three steals in the win. He also recorded three steals in Duke’s season opening victory over Texas.
“I think Dame has really felt the journey you can be on as a freshman already,” Jon Scheyer said. “He was upset the way he played the last game. But he showed the ability to come back the next time and to play the way that he did, I think that says a lot about his character.”
“His ability to really guard stands out, but we've known the offensive potential that's there as well. Tonight, he really had it going on both ends.”
The path will get increasingly more difficult for Dame Sarr after the Blue Devils host Indiana State on Friday night (7:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) as No. 4 Duke returns to New York for the Champions Classic against No. 25 Kansas inside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN).