Olivier Sarr clears final hurdle to play basketball for Kentucky this season
The final verdict on Olivier Sarr’s transfer waiver is in, and it’s good news for the Wildcats.
The Southeastern Conference has granted Sarr — a 7-footer from France — immediate eligibility for the 2020-21 season, meaning the former Wake Forest basketball star will be able to play right away for Kentucky, an addition that should vault John Calipari’s program into the Final Four conversation for the upcoming campaign.
The monthslong wait for Sarr — and Kentucky fans — is over.
Sarr posted a short video to his Twitter account Wednesday night, saying: “Kentucky ... C’est Parti,” which can be translated to: “Here we go.” UK confirmed with the Herald-Leader that Sarr has indeed been ruled eligible to play for the Wildcats this season.
UK also confirmed Wednesday night that Jacob Toppin, a high-upside forward who transferred to Kentucky from Rhode Island during the offseason, has been cleared to play immediately for the Cats this season.
“I’m excited for Olivier and Jacob,” Calipari said. “Both have worked really hard and deserve this opportunity. They were both hopping and skipping out of my office after getting the news because they’ve been waiting on this day. I want to thank the NCAA and the SEC for considering the unique circumstances surrounding this season and we appreciate them working with us throughout this process.
“In Olivier’s case, I know this has been difficult for him, everything from the coaching change at Wake Forest, to deciding his future to waiting through this process. He’s gone about his business every day and continued to work hard in hopes of joining his teammates on the floor this winter. Jacob came here needing a fresh start. From day one, he’s been a great teammate and been an important part of this group in practice. He has tremendous upside and a great spirit about him. I know we’re all looking forward to chasing our goals soon.”
Gaining clearance from the SEC was the final step to immediate eligibility for Sarr, who was already granted a transfer waiver by the NCAA earlier this year. The SEC has an additional rule that prevents non-graduate transfers with fewer than two seasons of eligibility from playing right away at their new school, but the league has waived that provision in Sarr’s case.
That decision was surely made easier after the NCAA recently decided to grant all winter athletes an extra season of eligibility, effectively giving Sarr two years of eligibility. He’s still expected to play only one season at UK before embarking on a professional career.
Sarr averaged 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per game for the Demon Deacons last season, emerging as one of the best big men in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He originally decided to keep his name out of the 2020 NBA Draft, but Wake Forest fired head coach Danny Manning the day before the draft entry deadline, scrambling Sarr’s future plans.
He ultimately decided to leave the school — despite being recruited to stay by new Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes — and chose Kentucky as his transfer destination. Several national media outlets ranked Sarr as the No. 1 transfer this offseason, but there was some skepticism that his transfer waiver request would be approved by the NCAA, and Sarr told ESPN in the spring that he would explore professional options overseas rather than sit out a season at Kentucky if he wasn’t granted the ability to play this year.
Now, that won’t be an issue, and Sarr will be a Wildcat this season.
Sarr’s impact on Kentucky
Sarr is expected to be one of the most impactful additions to a group that features nine new UK scholarship players and the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the country.
Though the collection of newcomers is high on backcourt talent and features a couple of promising power forward prospects, Kentucky was missing a true center for this season’s roster prior to Sarr’s commitment.
An all-conference player with three years of experience playing at the highest level, Sarr will almost certainly be the Wildcats’ starting center from day one. His presence will also give Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware — UK’s two power forward signees — an opportunity to develop more at their natural positions, while also likely spelling Sarr some at the “5” spot.
“It allows John Calipari to play the way he wants,” former Rivals.com analyst Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader this spring. “We can talk until the millionth hour about playing small ball, but until Calipari is forced to do so — which he was in spurts last year — he’s going to play the more traditional ‘4-5.’ And that allows Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware to play the ‘4,’ and it allows Keion Brooks to play the ‘3’ instead of the ‘4.’ And it allows these (freshmen) to acclimate to the college level much more seamlessly.”
The addition of Sarr, who has spent the past few months on UK’s campus, will also catapult Kentucky near the top of the preseason rankings. The Wildcats were generally pegged around No. 15 nationally on such lists, but many college basketball experts qualified those rankings with the caveat that, if Sarr were ruled eligible, UK would likely move into the top five.
Kentucky will now have 11 eligible scholarship players for the 2020-21 season, with freshmen Devin Askew, Brandon Boston and Terrence Clarke joining graduate transfer Davion Mintz in the backcourt, returning UK players Brooks and Dontaie Allen joining freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher as bigger wings, and Sarr, Toppin, Jackson and Ware holding down the frontcourt.
Toppin, a 6-9 forward, was originally expected to sit out this season as a traditional transfer, though he, too, applied for a transfer waiver to play immediately for the Wildcats, and that was also granted this week, making him eligible to play for Kentucky right away.
Toppin, the younger brother of former Dayton star and national player of the year Obi Toppin, averaged 5.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as a freshman for the Rams last season. He’s an athletic addition to the UK roster and projects as a possible star player later in his college career. He came to UK with three seasons of eligibility remaining, though the new NCAA rule granting winter athletes an extra year means this coming season will not count against that number.
“This is a big day for me and I want to thank the NCAA and my Kentucky family for their help in this process,” said Toppin. “I can’t wait to get on the court with this group of guys and play in front of our fans.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 7:23 PM.
