Photo by Jacob Rice on Unsplash

Dame Sarr, a 6’8″ Italian wing and one of Europe’s rising basketball prospects, has officially committed to play college basketball at Duke for the 2025–26 season, he confirmed to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

Sarr has spent the past two years developing with Barcelona, one of Europe’s top professional clubs, and recently caught the attention of NBA scouts with a standout performance at the Nike Hoop Summit, positioning himself as a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

While Sarr has already gained valuable experience in a professional setting overseas, he believes that spending a year at Duke will give him a different and necessary challenge – one that could better prepare him for the NBA.

“My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA,” Sarr told ESPN.

“There’s no better place to prepare you for that than Duke. For me to be as NBA-ready as possible, and become the best version of myself, I needed to have both experiences – playing for a pro team like Barcelona, and playing in a different type of professional environment like Duke against other players my age. Opportunity, minutes, repetition – this route is the best next step for me at this time.”