As a freshman and 30-game starter last season for a 2025-26 Duke basketball squad that finished 35-3 overall, won the ACC Tournament, and reached the Elite Eight, athletic guard/forward Dame Sarr earned a spot on the ACC All-Defensive Team and was a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Award (presented to the nation’s top defender).
But at last week’s ACC Tipoff in Charlotte, Duke Blue Devils On SI pretty much had to remind the 20-year-old and emerging Blue Devil leader of all that past recognition in order to get him to talk even a little bit about his potential to collect more individual honors this go-round.
“Actually, I never really thought about [individual awards],” Sarr told Duke Blue Devils On SI during his off-stage availability time with the media at the event. “Sometimes, I even forget that I was All-ACC Defensive Team last year.
“It’s not something I focus on. And I don’t think these accolades tell anything about who I am as a player. As long as my teammates and coaches can trust me in getting stops and helping them, that’s all I really care about.”
Even so, Sarr enters his sophomore campaign as prime candidate to win ACC Defensive Player of the Year. That award has gone to a Blue Devil three times this decade already: Tre Jones in 2020, Mark Williams in 2022, and Maliq Brown last season.
There’s no doubt Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer has been encouraged by Dame Sarr’s offseason gains, whether it be in the weight room, off the court, or on the court, including on offense.
“He’s been working hard on [his offense] this summer, and the coaches have really helped him,” Scheyer noted during his press conference on Thursday night after Sarr shot 4-for-7 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point land, and 9-for-10 at the foul line en route to tying Blue Devil freshman big man Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje with a game-high 19 points in Duke’s 102-62 home scrimmage win over Belmont.
“Just playing through contact, I did feel like that was the next step that he could take. And that was great to see. But I’m not surprised either because I’ve seen him practice. He’s really been working hard on it.”
Last season, Sarr averaged 6.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.0 steals across 23.5 minutes per contest, shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 32.3 percent beyond the arc, and only 53.2 percent at the charity stripe.
He and the rest of the talent-loaded 2026-27 Blue Devils are now gearing up for what will be their second of three preseason tune-ups. They host Tennessee for a highly anticipated exhibition battle in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network).
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