30 Olivier Sarr

Olivier Sarr was born February 20, 1999 to Massar and Marie Sarr.  He has one brother, Alexandre.  He is of Senegalese descent.

Sarr started playing basketball at age three with his father, a former professional basketball player in France, and drew inspiration from Hakeem Olajuwon. Sarr moved to the United States when he was 15 years old.  Sarr played at INSEP, France’s National Institute of Sport.  He played for club teams CFBB, TOAC and Bouscat and averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for France at the 2017 FIBA U-18 European Championships.  ESPN Insider ranked him the top prospect at the 2017 FIBA U-18 European Championships.  Sarr averaged 4.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for France at the 2016 FIBA U-17 World Championships.  He was ranked a four-star recruit by Rivals and Scout.

Sarr committed to Wake Forest over offers from California, Vanderbilt, and UCF.  The 7-foot center averaged 13.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 26.7 minutes per game in his last year at Wake while shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 76.1 percent at the foul line. He also averaged just 3.1 fouls per game — or one per each nine minutes played.

Sarr played at Wake Forest from 2017-20 before transferring to Kentucky after the firing of Wake Forest coach Danny Manning.  He chose Kentucky over Duke, Baylor, Florida State, Arizona State, Maryland, and Purdue.

The 7-foot Sarr was only the second European to ever play for Kentucky. Lukasz Obrzut (Gliwice, Poland) scored 196 career points and claimed 135 rebounds playing for Tubby Smith from 2003-07.

As a senior at Kentucky, Sarr was a Southeastern Conference First-Year Academic Honor Roll member.  He was one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, which honors student-athletes who excel in four core areas: character, competition, classroom and community service.  Sarr was one of three team captains and played an important leadership role on a young team.  He was the only player to start in all 25 games.  Sarr earned his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Richmond on November 29, 2020.  On December 12, 2020, he tallied 22 points with 11 made field goals, seven rebounds and three blocks against Notre Dame.  Sarr totaled 14 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a pair of 3-pointers in the double-overtime win over Mississippi State on January 2, 2021.  He scored a season-high 24 points behind a career-high 14 made free throws along with seven rebounds in the home win over Vanderbilt on January 5, 2021.  On February 9, 2021, Sarr logged a double-double with 13 points, which included a career-high three 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds against Arkansas.  He recorded 10 points and matched a career-high with four blocks at Vanderbilt on February 17, 2021 and scored nine points and swatted four shots in the home victory over Auburn on February 13, 2021.  Sarr led the team in blocks in eight games, rebounding four times, scoring in three games, and in steals once.  He was ranked third on the team in scoring and third in rebounding and scored in double figures in 14 games, including nine of the final 12 games.  Sarr made a career-high 12 3-pointers on a career-best 46.2% clip and also shot a career-high 79.1% (72 of 91) from the free-throw line.  Sarr concluded his senior season with 934 career points, 626 rebounds, and 111 blocked shots.  He averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds as a senior and had a team-high-tying two games with 20 or more points.  Sarr notched a team-high three double-doubles on the season.

Sarr declared for the 2021 NBA draft on May 4, 2021, forgoing the additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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