‘I’m Proud of our Paths’: Brothers Alex and Olivier Sarr Take Different Routes to the Pros
Brothers Alex and Olivier Sarr have taken two very different routes to the same goal: playing professional basketball.
Olivier, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound big man from Niort, France, took a more traditional route, playing at the college level before earning a two-way contract in the NBA. Meanwhile, his younger brother Alex has forged his own path.
The path to the NBA is very different now than it was just a few years ago. With emerging opportunities such as the G League Ignite, Australian NBL, and Overtime Elite, elite basketball players have more avenues than ever to develop for the professional game.
For the brothers, these distinctive paths are indicative of just a few years difference in age; in that short span of time, numerous new routes to the professional ranks have emerged.
Olivier played at Kentucky during the 2020-21 season and recently signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Meanwhile, in July of 2021, Alexandre, a 7-foot-1, 205-pound center, became the first international player to sign with Overtime Elite, a professional basketball pathway, forgoing his NCAA eligibility to earn a salary of at least $100,000 and train at the state-of-the-art OTE facilities in Atlanta, Georgia.
“For me to join OTE, I was trying to get better all-around,” Alex told KSR+. “Just being part of a new team, new program, and joining a new country too, but knowing I had my brother here definitely helped me a lot.”
Check out KSR’s tour of the OTE facilities on the KSR YouTube Channel
Olivier’s Path to Kentucky
Olivier has had a much different experience, starting his career by joining INSEP, a sports institute in Paris before committing to begin his college career at Wake Forest. Sarr played at Wake Forest from 2017-2020 — earning ACC Most Improved Player honors in 2020 — but midway through his junior year, the entire world changed. The COVID pandemic hit and the NCAA season was canceled.
Just a few months later, Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning was fired, leaving Olivier with a choice. Stay at Wake Forest for his senior year or find a new home? He chose the latter, opting to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
“I had no idea what to expect,” Olivier said.
After averaging 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game as a junior, including 11 double-doubles, Olivier was one of the top prospects in the portal, drawing interest from Duke, Baylor, Florida State, and Gonzaga. However, one school stood out among the pack – the University of Kentucky.
“When you’re talking about Kentucky, it was the winningest program in the history of college basketball,” he said.
Even more appealing was the effort shown by Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
“The way Coach [Cal] recruited me – he knew my game, the way I liked to play – he just seemed like he cared a lot compared to most of the other coaches,” Olivier said.
Once Olivier suited up for the Wildcats during the 2020-21 season, the year didn’t go quite as planned. Kentucky went 9-16, its worst record since 1988-89 and worst winning percentage since the 1926-27 season. It was also the first time Kentucky missed the NCAA Tournament since the 2012-13 season.
“Obviously, everyone knows it was a rough season,” Olivier said. “It wasn’t what we expected at all — the fans or the players. It was a big disappointment for everybody, of course, but I mean, just having the chance to put on the jersey, every game, getting to Rupp Arena and realizing you play for Kentucky. For me, I was really grateful all the time.”
It wasn’t all grim for Olivier; in turn, he saw both the good and bad of playing in the spotlight of a blue-blood program.
“Coming from France, I had no idea that I would be putting on the blue jersey and playing for Coach Cal,” Olivier said. “The highs, the lows. There were a lot of lows, obviously. The highs were just being with the team, just going through it with the team, and having strong relationships and strong connections with all of my teammates more than anything.”
And it was this difficult year at Kentucky that helped Olivier push past the difficult road to the NBA.
“It prepared me for what came out in my professional career,” he said. “As a player, it’s not always going to be perfect. Of course, your last year in college, you want it to be perfect, win every game, win the national championship. It’s Kentucky, so you expect to win all the time, but it also taught me something that other guys at Kentucky didn’t have to learn that way. By losing on the big stage, you learn how it impacts the team, how it impacts the city, how it impacts the fans, the coaches, and how you don’t want to do that again.”
In turn, Olivier developed different habits that helped lead him to basketball’s biggest stage.
“I know it sucked at the time, for sure,” he said. “Everybody knows that, but in hindsight, it’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned.”
Alex’s Path to Overtime Elite
Just a few years later, in 2021, it was time for Alex to make a decision on his future. And it was his older brother’s experience that helped guide him to the right spot for him.
“Go to a place that aligns with your goals,” Olivier said. “Overtime Elite sounded great, but there were no facilities. There was nothing around at that time. It was just what they were saying about what it was going to be and what it truly is. I felt like it was the best decision for him, as far as developing his game, getting the American game, the American mentality that’s different from overseas.”
When 2024 NBA Mock Drafts begin to be released later this year, Alex is expected to range anywhere from the lottery to the second round. Averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game against top talent, it’s clear that his experience at Overtime Elite has helped him differentiate himself from his brother.
“I learned about a different style of play, first of all,” Alex said. “By watching [Olivier] play at Kentucky, he had big moments, so it was definitely good to watch it as a fan when I was younger, but now I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to where he’s at right now. It’s definitely cool.”
Although Alex and Olivier Sarr took very different routes to get to the professional ranks, it’s clear that the two brothers have one thing in common: the focus and determination required to play at the highest level.
“I’m definitely proud of our paths,” Olivier said. “It’s just about keeping the main thing the main thing, staying focused throughout the ups and downs and making it to your final goal.”
