Duke basketball continues to lure the top recruits – from close and far. Dame Sarr, a 6-6 shooting guard from Italy who played last season with FC Barcelona in the EuroLeague and is rated the No. 17 player in the 2025 recruiting class, informed ESPN on Thursday he will play college basketball for the Blue Devils.
“Duke was my dream school,” Sarr told ESPN, adding, “I played with Jabari Parker this season, who attended Duke, so I had to take advantage of the opportunity to visit there.”
The Blue Devils were more aggressive in their pursuit of Sarr after Kansas was thought to be the front-runner for the player and Washington State transfer Cedric Coward appeared more likely to remain in the NBA Draft.
On the perimeter, Duke also has 6-5 guard Darren Harris, 6-6 sophomore wing Isaiah Evans, and 6-5 junior guard Caleb Foster returning.
“Playing in the NBA is my ultimate goal,” Sarr told ESPN. Duke is the best place to get you ready for that. For me to be as NBA-ready as possible, and become the greatest version of myself, I wanted to have both experiences — playing for a pro club like Barcelona, and playing in a different sort of professional atmosphere like Duke against other guys my age. Opportunity, minutes, repetition – this method is the ideal next step for me at this time.”
Sarr joins Duke as Scheyer reassembles his squad, which includes the starting five from the 35-4 club that won the ACC title and advanced to the Final Four the previous season. Cooper Flagg, the team’s national player of the year, Kon Knueppel, a 6-6 guard, and Khaman Maluach, a 7-2 big, are all anticipated to be among the top 10 choices in the NBA Draft next month.
For his sophomore campaign, Duke also welcomes back 6-11 center Patrick Ngongba in addition to Foster, Evans, and Harris.
Cam Boozer, a 6-9 forward, his 6-4 twin brother Cayden Boozer, and 6-11 forward Nik Khamenia are all members of the entering freshmen class.
Coward committed to Duke as a projected starter for next season while also staying in the NBA Draft. He has until May 28 at 11:59 p.m. to withdraw from the draft and play at Duke next season. But, his play at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago earlier this month wowed evaluators enough that he’s likely to be a first round choice. It is thus anticipated that he will become a professional and never play for the Blue Devils again.
