Italy’s Dame Sarr might be the start of (another) something big for the Duke Blue Devils.
It took less than two minutes of the Nike Hoop Summit for Dame Sarr to conjure a moment that unveiled a substantial portion of his gifts as a basketball player to an American public that largely had not yet seen him play. And it happened so fast three of the nation’s top prospects could make no impact on the play.
Defended by 6-10 Nate Ament, who will play at Tennessee, Sarr advanced the ball to the left wing, spun away instantly from a teammate’s screen as Ament pondered which direction the ball might travel, then dashed through the middle of the lane for a finger-roll as forward Cameron Boozer and guard Mikel Brown held tight to their assignments
“The Brotherhood, it’s a big family. And I think everyone wants everybody to succeed in basketball, outside of basketball,” Sarr told The Brotherhood Podcast following his commitment to the Blue Devils. “I talked to a lot of people, and everyone has only good words about this program. And I felt very good about it.”
Sarr, whose first name is pronounced DAH-may, grew up as a point guard, which helps explain his superior ballhandling and ability to attack the lane. He now is listed at 6-7, 190, and likely will play the small forward position held this past season by lottery-bound Kon Knueppel
It wasn’t the most impressive basket Sarr scored that night last month in Portland, only the first. Those who saw it, though, will not wonder why Duke and coach Jon Scheyer were eager to gain a commitment from Sarr once he made it clear he planned to play NCAA basketball in the 2025-26 season.The original replacement was to be Washington State transfer Cedric Coward, but he also entered the NBA Draft and appears headed toward status as a first-round pick. So the Devils needed a replacement for the replacement. They could not have done better than Sarr.
In the Hoop Summit, Sarr showed excellent range with a deep three midway through the second half but scored most of his 17 points in the World team’s loss to the U.S. by getting to the rim and either finishing or drawing fouls.
“This was a guy that I think, maybe a couple years ago, he’s not coming over here to play in college. He’s going to stay overseas and wait, and then get picked,” analyst Matthew Maurer of The Draft Review told Sporting News. “He’s got a great motor. He is very good in catch-and-shoot situations; I think that’s the most underrated part of his game. A lot of people talk about his length, his upside. To me, what I see in him catching and shooting, the defensive potential he has with his long arms, getting steals and creating a little bit of havoc out on the perimeter – those are all things he’s still working on, but it’s all there.”
Maurer watched Sarr frequently in his appearances for FC Barcelona in Spain’s Liga ACB and the Euroleague.
“He could challenge – and it’s early – for a very high draft pick if he comes to Duke and does what we saw him do at FC Barcelona,” Maurer said. “Duke’s been very smart about who they want. This is a huge addition for them in terms of talent, but also in just making themselves more known as a destination for getting high-level European prospects who might be looking now over to America. Duke has a national brand, and with this, they can certain spread their brand even more to the overseas demographic.”
