‘Conscientious’ Cat can handle great expectations, former coach says
Former Kansas star Danny Manning coached Olivier Sarr at Wake Forest for three seasons. So, Manning seemed a good person — duh — to ask about the Kentucky player who carries great expectations into the 2020-21 season.
To open Friday’s telephone conversation, Manning noted how different the recruitment of Sarr was. The coach was in Winston-Salem, N.C. The prospect was in his native France.
“Probably the most challenging thing was just getting on top of the time change,” Manning said.
It’s five hours later in Sarr’s hometown of Bordeaux than in the Eastern Time Zone of the United States.
“We had some odd times when we tried to reach each other,” Manning said. “When you just want to connect, and kind of forget where the other person is at that particular time.”
Sarr made steady improvement in his three seasons for Wake Forest. His scoring average rose from 3.2 to 6.2 to 13.7 points per game. His rebounding average went from 3.0 to 5.5 to 9.0 per game.
When asked to explain, Manning said, “I’m going to take off my coaching hat and put on my parent hat,” he said. “He’s a wonderful young man. Very conscientious.”
Manning credited Sarr’s parents. There were no issues off the court at Wake Forest. Sarr did well academically.
“From day one, he was disciplined to handle his responsibilities,” Manning said. “It was first and foremost on his mind. He wanted to make sure that his word was always good.”
Sarr has credited a weight gain for helping him add being a presence around the basket to his game. That required time. He said he came to Wake Forest as a freshman weighing 189 pounds.
“If that,” Manning said with a laugh.
“For Olivier, he grew up as a young man probably more as a wing player than a ‘big,’ or the modern-day ‘big’ is the best way to describe it,” Manning said.
Sarr needed time to learn the ways of a “big” who can be productive when playing with his back to the basket.
“His face-up game has always been really good and really advanced for his age,” Manning said. “Olivier will always be — in my mind — a face-up ‘big.’ But you need to have the skills to play with your back to the basket and do things inside the paint as well.”
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla likened Sarr to ex-Cat Skal Labissiere, another player needing to learn how to be a presence around the basket. Sarr’s three-year development could be a what-might-have-been scenario for Labissiere, who turned pro after one Kentucky season. “That’s a fair comparison,” Manning said.
Of course, “big” is the word to describe the expectations that Sarr carries into this coming season. He was seen as the missing link that could make Kentucky’s latest freshman-dependent team a national championship contender.
Manning sounded confident that Sarr can handle such expectations.
“I think the one thing about Olivier is he’s going to go out and give great effort and do the best he can every single night out …,” Manning said. “His presence will be felt.”
It might take an educated eye to fully appreciate Sarr’s contributions, Manning said. To borrow a French word, his forte includes calling out picks, rotating properly on defense and recognizing how to exploit opponents sending a second defender to the low post by making a “hockey assist” (i.e. the pass that leads to the pass that sets up a score).
“Hopefully, the Big Blue Nation understands that,” Manning said. “He’s going to bring those types of intangibles to the table. They are not always going to be things that show up on the stat sheet.”
Condolences
To former UK player Steve Lochmueller and his family. Lochmueller’s father, Bob Lochmueller, died on Tuesday. He was 93.
“I’ve been very blessed because in the past year I’ve been able to spend a tremendous amount of time with him …,” Steve Lochmueller said later in the week. “And I’m at peace in my heart knowing he’s in a better place.”
Steve Lochmueller, who played for UK in 1972-73 and 1973-74, said he had a “multi-faceted relationship” with his father.
“He was not only my best friend and my mentor and my father, he was also my coach,” he said. Son and father were a player and coach, respectively, for Tell City (Ind.) High School in the early 1970s.
The elder Lochmueller grew up in the Evansville, Ind., area. He played college basketball for Louisville (1949-52) where he scored 1,218 points, then the most career points for a Cardinal player. He led U of L to its first NCAA Tournament appearance (1951).
He was the seventh pick of the 1952 NBA Draft. After a knee injury prematurely ended his playing career, he was a high school coach in Indiana from 1953 through 1980, except for a three-year stint as an assistant coach at West Virginia. In 1990, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
When Louisville hired Denny Crum as coach in 1971, the elder Lochmueller was the other finalist for the job, his son said.
On Tuesday, hospice care workers alerted Steve Lochmueller that his father might not live through the night. He called his father.
“It was surreal,” Steve Lochmueller said. “I said, ‘It’s OK. Go ahead. Go to heaven and meet Mom (Nancy Lochmueller died in 2003) and go see the Lord. It’s alright. Go ahead.’
“Twenty minutes later, they called me and said he had passed. And I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
A funeral service for family only was planned for Sunday in Tell City.
Games and puzzles
Michael Jones, the manager at Lexington’s Half Price Books, said that book sales have decreased during the pandemic. But sales of video games, board games and puzzles have increased.
Sales of books about sports — including UK athletics and horse racing — are “stale” at Half Price Books, he said. Books about horse racing “come in by truck loads and leave by handfuls.”
Jones speculated that economic stresses brought on by COVID-19 lead people to watch TV or re-read books already on their shelves at home.
As for the increased popularity of board games and puzzles, here’s a playful attempt at a brainteaser based on a Kentucky roster bursting with newcomers. Without googling, see how quickly you can match the first and last names of players on Kentucky’s 2020-21 roster.
First names: Brandon, Brennan, Cam’Ron, Davion, Devin, Dontaie, Isaiah, Jacob, Keion, Lance, Olivier, Riley, Terrence, Zan.
Last names: Allen, Askew, Boston Jr., Brooks Jr., Canada, Clarke, Fletcher, Jackson, Mintz, Payne, Sarr, Toppin, Ware, Welch.
3,000 fans
Kentucky has put out the word that capacity at home games this season might be capped at 15 percent. That means about 3,075 in Rupp Arena, which would include concession workers, ticket takers, players, coaches, referees and media).
Bill Owen, the president and CEO of Lexington Center Corp., said that concession workers and ticket takers number about 250 to 300 for the normal UK home game. “As are all things in life today — it’s very fluid!” he wrote.
UK fan Rick Music’s reaction?
“With 3,000 permitted in, it will likely be by invitation only based on $$,” he wrote in an email. “That’s not a criticism. How else can you do it?”
Music suggested that a much smaller crowd would be a better fit in Memorial Coliseum.
“3,000 in Rupp will look and sound like a few BBs rolling around a boxcar. …,” he wrote. “As for me and my house, we are thankful for a really big big-screen TV.”
Podcasts
A nationwide series of podcasts devoted to college basketball launched this past week. The podcasts are on the Field of 68 Media Network (www.thefieldof68.com).
Reporters Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster organized the podcasts. They sought to have shows that concentrate on high-profile programs.
Kentucky is represented by Wayne Turner (point guard on UK’s 1998 championship team) on The Burner Turner Show.
Louisville is represented by Jeff Greer on the Floyd Street’s Finest show.
Besides UK, the only other SEC program represented is Florida.
Happy birthday
To Devin Booker. He turned 24 on Friday. … To former SEC commissioner Roy Kramer. He turned 91 on Friday. … To former LSU coach Dale Brown. He turned 85 on Saturday. … To former Cincinnati and West Virginia coach (and UK assistant) Gale Catlett. He turned 80 on Saturday. … To Chuck Verderber. He turns 61 on Tuesday. … To Tyrese Maxey. He turns 20 on Wednesday.
