Olivier Sarr is the latest entrant to the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. Which teams should be pursing the free-agent center?
There was a surprising move in NCAA Basketball this past week, with Wake Forest making the decision to fire head coach Danny Manning while choosing to hire ETSU’s Steve Forbes. As expected, that has caused all the Demon Deacons to make decisions on their futures. Some have elected to stay, while others, including Oliver Sarr and Chaundee Brown, have decided to transfer out.
Among the players leaving, Sarr is the one that has gotten everyone’s attention. He averaged 13.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 1.2 bpg as a junior, shooting 53% from the field and starting 15 of 30 games overall. The 7’0 center has been slowly developing since day one, doubling his point total in each year. Already considered a great athlete, Sarr’s production was starting to match it as a junior. He posted 11 double-doubles and had the career performance of 30 points and 17 rebounds in a win over Notre Dame.
As a starter in the ACC and someone who competed at the high-major level, Sarr now becomes the most sought-after player in the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. Currently, he’s a sit-out transfer but the odds of him getting a waiver are great, considering that his coach was fired and Sarr was unable to enter the NBA Draft. Hopefully, he gets that waiver, since he said he would rather play in Europe for a year than sit out for a season in college.
Assuming Sarr gets the waiver and is able to play next season, there will be dozens of programs contacting him. These will be teams who either missed out on other transfer big men this offseason already or those looking for a clear upgrade to their current center situation. Sarr is the kind of addition who could propel a program into the Final Four, or even a title for some if the fit works out.
There will be many trying to land Sarr but only a few will have a realistic chance at landing the French center. Here are 10 teams who I think not only could use Sarr next season but may have a legit shot at landing him in the next couple of weeks.