Olivier Sarr (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky assistant coach Joel Justus did share some new information about Wake Forest transfer Olivier Sarr.
“Olivier is a beautiful person that has a great attitude and positive outlook on every single day,” said Justus Tuesday.
Later he added again that Sarr is a “beautiful person.” What Justus couldn’t add was any explanation on when or if Sarr’s waiver for eligibility would be either granted or denied by the Southeastern Conference since it already has been approved by the NCAA.
I asked Justus how not knowing was impacting Sarr considering how not knowing is impacting many UK fans.
“I don’t know how it is affecting him,” the Kentucky assistant coach said. “He comes to work every day. He is one of the first guys in the gym and is putting in that extra time. He’s becoming a great leader for this young group.”
“To be honest, I love his positivity. You can tell he is excited to be here and in the gym.”
It’s the same excitement Justus sensed with former grad transfers Reid Travis and Nate Sestina when they got to UK and is also seeing with Creighton grad transfer Davion Mintz this season. Same with transfer Jacob Toppin.
“These freshmen don’t know anything different,” Justus said. “These other guys have seen what it is like other places and now it is a little bit of being able to order surf and turf on the menu and they are eating pretty doggone good right now and they enjoy it. Olivier has added a tremendous boost to our day to day operation.”
But will he be eligible? Did UK even know about the SEC rule requiring a non-grad transfer to have two years of eligibility so he could sit out a year and then still play?
Justus knew that question was above his pay grade. He added again about Sarr being a “beautiful person” before admitting eligibility concerns were out of his control.
“I am coming to work today and we get to work with a great group of young guys,” Justus said. “We are all just kind of waiting to see what Friday (when the team practices again) looks like and see who shows up to practice.”
