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Olivier Sarr (born 20 February 1999) is a French professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Kentucky Wildcats.

Early life and career

Sarr started playing basketball at age three with his father, a former player, and drew inspiration from Hakeem Olajuwon.[1] He played for club teams Bouscat and TOAC before joining INSEP, a sports institute in Paris.[2] He competed for Centre Fédéral in the Nationale Masculine 1 and represented INSEP at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament.[3][4] Sarr moved to the United States when he was 15 years old.[5] He was considered a four-star recruit by Scout and committed to Wake Forest over offers from California, Vanderbilt and UCF.[6]

College career

Sarr averaged 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman at Wake Forest. He gained 20 pounds going into his sophomore season.[7] As a sophomore, Sarr started 16 games and averaged 6.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, leading the team with 25 blocks.[8] On 29 February 2020, Sarr scored a career-high 37 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a 84–73 victory over Notre Dame.[9] As a junior, Sarr averaged 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and had 11 double-doubles. He was named to the Third Team All-ACC. After coach Danny Manning was fired, Sarr entered the transfer portal. In May 2020, he announced he was transferring to Kentucky after receiving interest from Duke, Baylor, Florida State and Gonzaga. Sarr applied for a waiver for immediate eligibility at Kentucky.[10] He, along with fellow transfer Jacob Toppin, received immediate eligibility on 21 October 2020.[11] Sarr averaged 10.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. He declared for the 2021 NBA draft, forgoing the additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]

Professional career

Oklahoma City Thunder / Blue (2021–present)

After going undrafted in 2021 NBA draft, Sarr played for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA Summer League.[13] On 16 October 2021, he was signed and then immediately waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder.[14][15] He subsequently joined the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League, posting 14 points and 7 rebounds in his debut versus the Salt Lake City Stars.[16]

On 27 December, Sarr signed a 10-day contract with the Thunder[17] and re-joined the Blue on 6 January 2022.[18] Three days later, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Thunder.[19] He was reacquired and activated by the Oklahoma City Blue on 19 January.[18]

On 21 February 2022, Sarr signed a two-way contract with the Thunder.[20] He was waived by the Thunder on 6 April 2022.[21]

Sarr joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[22]

On 7 September 2022, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that they had signed Sarr.[23] On 13 October, the Trail Blazers announced that they had converted their contract with Sarr to a two-way contract.[24] On 18 November, the Trail Blazers announced that they had waived Sarr. He never played a game for the team.[25]

On 11 January 2023, Sarr was re-acquired by the Oklahoma City Blue.[26] On 13 February, he signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder[27] and on 21 August, he signed another two-way contract with the Thunder.[28]

In the 2023–24 NBA season, Sarr made 15 appearances for the Thunder, averaging 2.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.1 assists in 6.5 minutes per game. On 15 April 2024, Sarr suffered a ruptured Achilles in the OKC Blue's G-League Finals victory over the Maine Celtics.[29]

National team career

Sarr played for France at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Zaragoza, Spain. He averaged 4.4 points and four rebounds per game and helped his team finish in sixth place. At the 2017 FIBA U18 European Championship in Slovakia, Sarr averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for the sixth-place team.[2]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021–22 Oklahoma City 22 2 19.1 .574 .448 .828 4.2 .9 .3 .7 7.0
2022–23 Oklahoma City 9 1 12.7 .500 .125 .714 3.4 .4 .1 .6 4.0
2023–24 Oklahoma City 15 0 6.5 .579 .333 .667 2.4 .1 .0 .5 2.3
Career 46 3 13.8 .560 .372 .765 3.5 .5 .2 .6 4.8

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Wake Forest 30 0 15.1 .348 .250 .600 3.0 .4 .3 .7 3.2
2018–19 Wake Forest 25 16 21.7 .472 .250 .705 5.5 .5 .4 1.0 6.2
2019–20 Wake Forest 30 15 26.7 .527 .143 .761 9.0 .9 .4 1.2 13.7
2020–21 Kentucky 25 25 25.1 .470 .444 .791 5.2 1.3 .4 1.2 10.8
Career 110 56 22.0 .476 .311 .740 5.7 .8 .4 1.0 8.5

Personal life

Sarr is the son of Massar and Marie Sarr and has a younger brother, Alexandre.[2] He is of Senegalese descent[30] Sarr's father played professional basketball in France, and Alexandre plays for the Perth Wildcats in the Australian National Basketball League.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Eurohopes interviews Olivier Sarr". Eurohopes. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Olivier Sarr". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  3. ^ Le Pape, Etienne (6 May 2020). "Direction Kentucky pour Olivier Sarr" (in French). BeBasket. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  4. ^ Geisinger, Brian (14 June 2018). "Better Know a Player: Is Wake Forest's Olivier Sarr the ACC's next stretch-5?". Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  5. ^ Lima, Rafael. "Spotlight: Olivier Sarr". Old Gold & Black. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  6. ^ Engel, Charlie. "Has Wake Forest landed a new French Superstar?". Old Gold & Black. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  7. ^ Harmon, Dowell (6 December 2019). "Olivier Sarr becoming a threat for Wake Forest Basketball". 247 Sports. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Ex-Wake Forest Center Olivier Sarr Transferring To Kentucky". WUKY. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Sarr, Wake Forest deal blow to Irish NCAA hopes". ESPN. Associated Press. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  10. ^ Borzello, Jeff; Givony, Jonathan (6 May 2020). "Olivier Sarr to transfer to Kentucky from Wake Forest". ESPN. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  11. ^ Borzello, Jeff (21 October 2020). "Olivier Sarr, Jacob Toppin eligible for Kentucky Wildcats after NCAA transfer waivers". ESPN. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  12. ^ Kennedy, Bryan (20 April 2021). "Olivier Sarr foregoing remaining eligibility, to declare for NBA Draft". WTVQ. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Olivier Sarr". RealGM.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  14. ^ Shaw, JD (16 October 2021). "Thunder Sign Olivier Sarr, Justin Jaworski". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Thunder Waives Diakite, Jaworski and Sarr". NBA.com. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  16. ^ "G-League: Jaylen Hoard and Olivier Sarr start well with the Blue". News in 24. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Thunder Signs Three Players to 10-Day Contracts". NBA.com. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  18. ^ a b "2021-2022 G League Transactions". RealGM.com. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Thunder Signs Olivier Sarr to Second 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Thunder Signs Olivier Sarr to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Thunder Signs Melvin Frazier Jr. to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Phoenix Suns 2022 NBA2K23 Summer League Roster". NBA.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Trail Blazers Sign Devontae Cacok, Isaiah Miller, Jared Rhoden And Olivier Sarr To Contracts". NBA.com. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Trail Blazers convert Olivier Sarr to a two-way contract". NBA.com. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  25. ^ "Portland Trail Blazers Sign Ibou Badji to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  26. ^ "2022-23 NBA G League Transactions". NBA.com. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  27. ^ "Thunder Signs Olivier Sarr to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  28. ^ "Thunder Signs Olivier Sarr to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  29. ^ "OKC Thunder's Olivier Sarr suffers ruptured Achilles tendon". okcthunderwire.usatoday.com. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  30. ^ "NCAA: Olivier Sarr quitte Wake Forest pour rejoindre Kentucky !" (in French). News Basket BeAfrika. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Sarr