Wake Forest star center Olivier Sarr is (now) officially in the transfer portal
[caption id="attachment_297153" align="alignnone" width="2560"]
Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]
Five days after submitting his transfer paperwork, Wake Forest center Olivier Sarr is now officially in the NCAA Transfer Portal.
According to Chris Fisher of The Cats Pause, Sarr’s name officially hit the portal today, meaning schools will now be allowed to contact him about a potential transfer.
https://twitter.com/chrisfisher247/status/1257703563788259330?s=21
With the 7-foot center now officially on the market, he instantly becomes the most highly sought-after transfer in the nation.
In fact, Eric Bossi of Rivals.com said Monday morning that Sarr was “perhaps the best player to hit the portal yet.”
“The transfer portal continues to be active and one of the most recent entrants is perhaps the best player to hit the portal yet,” Bossi said. “Wake Forest big man Olivier Sarr is the biggest potential prize of the the 2020 transfer cycle. A third team All-ACC player as a junior while averaging 13.7 points and nine rebounds a game, Sarr has an impressive blend of seven-foot size, athleticism and game. … Sarr hasn’t yet commented about who he has heard from, but as soon as he starts sharing information, I’d expect to see some big-time programs in the mix.”
So what options and schools is he expected to explore?
Initial rumblings indicate a return to Wake Forest remains a possibility, but should he leave, Kentucky immediately becomes a strong option. There is also speculation that Sarr still explores his overseas options, as well.
Regarding a return to Wake, newly-hired head coaching Steve Forbes made an appearance on the More With Les Podcast with Les Johns of 247Sports on Monday afternoon, where he acknowledged that Sarr is going to have the “who’s who” recruiting him during his time in the portal. If they want the 7-foot center to return to school, he knows the Wake Forest staff is going to have to put their best foot forward on the recruiting trail starting immediately.
“He’s going to have the who’s who recruiting him. I get it,” Forbes said. “But that’s the people we have to beat anyway to be good, right? We’re going to swing for the fences and put our best foot forward, and we’ll see where it goes. I don’t expect it to be a real fast process, I don’t know. We’ll just have to play it by ear. I’m not going to pressure him, I told him that. I’m just going to continue to get to know him.”
Those efforts began right away, with Forbes and the entire Wake staff visiting the star center at his home in North Carolina on Sunday.
“Recruiting is different right now; you can’t go see kids, but you can see your own kids,” Forbes said. “The whole staff, we drove yesterday to visit with Olivier face-to-face. I thought it went really well. As you guys know, he’s a fabulous, fabulous young man. I just love him. We were there for a couple hours, I thought we connected well for the first time. We talked on the phone, but not face to face [until Sunday].
“We had video there, laid it out for him. You know, how we’ll be different, how he’ll be different, how we’ll play him. Those things are important. I went through a lot of things in a house doing a home visit, you know?”
Will the Wake staff convince Sarr to return to Winston-Salem? Or will John Calipari and the UK coaching staff be able to pull off the recruiting win with the elite transfer target? Will any other schools pique Sarr’s interest?
We’ll find out in the near future.
Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]
Five days after submitting his transfer paperwork, Wake Forest center Olivier Sarr is now officially in the NCAA Transfer Portal.
According to Chris Fisher of The Cats Pause, Sarr’s name officially hit the portal today, meaning schools will now be allowed to contact him about a potential transfer.
https://twitter.com/chrisfisher247/status/1257703563788259330?s=21
With the 7-foot center now officially on the market, he instantly becomes the most highly sought-after transfer in the nation.
In fact, Eric Bossi of Rivals.com said Monday morning that Sarr was “perhaps the best player to hit the portal yet.”
“The transfer portal continues to be active and one of the most recent entrants is perhaps the best player to hit the portal yet,” Bossi said. “Wake Forest big man Olivier Sarr is the biggest potential prize of the the 2020 transfer cycle. A third team All-ACC player as a junior while averaging 13.7 points and nine rebounds a game, Sarr has an impressive blend of seven-foot size, athleticism and game. … Sarr hasn’t yet commented about who he has heard from, but as soon as he starts sharing information, I’d expect to see some big-time programs in the mix.”
So what options and schools is he expected to explore?
Initial rumblings indicate a return to Wake Forest remains a possibility, but should he leave, Kentucky immediately becomes a strong option. There is also speculation that Sarr still explores his overseas options, as well.
Regarding a return to Wake, newly-hired head coaching Steve Forbes made an appearance on the More With Les Podcast with Les Johns of 247Sports on Monday afternoon, where he acknowledged that Sarr is going to have the “who’s who” recruiting him during his time in the portal. If they want the 7-foot center to return to school, he knows the Wake Forest staff is going to have to put their best foot forward on the recruiting trail starting immediately.
“He’s going to have the who’s who recruiting him. I get it,” Forbes said. “But that’s the people we have to beat anyway to be good, right? We’re going to swing for the fences and put our best foot forward, and we’ll see where it goes. I don’t expect it to be a real fast process, I don’t know. We’ll just have to play it by ear. I’m not going to pressure him, I told him that. I’m just going to continue to get to know him.”
Those efforts began right away, with Forbes and the entire Wake staff visiting the star center at his home in North Carolina on Sunday.
“Recruiting is different right now; you can’t go see kids, but you can see your own kids,” Forbes said. “The whole staff, we drove yesterday to visit with Olivier face-to-face. I thought it went really well. As you guys know, he’s a fabulous, fabulous young man. I just love him. We were there for a couple hours, I thought we connected well for the first time. We talked on the phone, but not face to face [until Sunday].
“We had video there, laid it out for him. You know, how we’ll be different, how he’ll be different, how we’ll play him. Those things are important. I went through a lot of things in a house doing a home visit, you know?”
Will the Wake staff convince Sarr to return to Winston-Salem? Or will John Calipari and the UK coaching staff be able to pull off the recruiting win with the elite transfer target? Will any other schools pique Sarr’s interest?
We’ll find out in the near future.
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