Wake Forest transfer Olivier Sarr commits to Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. – John Calipari may have found the big man he needed for the 2019-20 roster.
Wake Forest center Olivier Sarr announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he has committed to Kentucky to play his final season of college basketball.
Since Sarr has not graduated yet, NCAA rules would require him to sit out next season as a transfer, but he has told ESPN he will apply for a waiver to play immediately.
Sarr's case for a waiver to play right away is clear since Wake Forest fired the coach who convinced him to return to school next season, but with the NCAA likely delaying a vote on transfer reform until January, his status for next season remains uncertain. The 7-foot, 255-pound French center told ESPN if he is not granted a waiver, he will start his professional career in Europe instead of sitting out a year at another school.
With everything that has happened in the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve had a lot to think about and consider," Sarr said on Twitter. "If I’m being honest, it’s been an emotional struggle for me. Coach Manning and the staff were family. After thinking deeply about it, talking with my support system and weighing my future, I just didn’t feel like I could be at my best by returning to Wake Forest."
The NCAA has been reluctant to provide transfer waivers to players in the past based solely on the justification that the coach at their former school was fired, but it is unclear if Sarr's case will be viewed differently because of the timing of the Manning firing. He previously told ESPN that Manning had talked him into not testing the NBA draft waters and he was unable to change his mind with Wake Forest firing Manning in relation to the NBA draft early-entry deadline.
Sarr, who averaged 13.7 points and nine rebounds per game as a junior, initially left a return to Wake Forest open as an option even after placing his name in the transfer portal.
New Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes spent more than two hours making his pitch to Sarr over the weekend, calling him the program's No. 1 recruiting target.
"I think the most important thing is why would you go to Wake for three years and put all that time in to get this prestigious degree and then end up getting your degree at a place like Kentucky," Forbes said in an interview Tuesday with North Carolina-based WSJS radio. "That’s what I (told him), that got a chuckle out of him.
"That’s no disrespect to Kentucky because I obviously respect them. I just think there’s a lot to be said for putting all that work in academically and not being able to finish what you started. I know those things are all important to him. He said that.
