At first, it looked like a normal shooting drill. No cameras. No crowds. Just reps.
But once Dame Sarr hit his seventh three in a row — then his ninth — then his fourteenth? The gym froze. Teammates stared. Coaches leaned in.
And all of a sudden, the quiet freshman from Italy wasn’t just another new name on the roster. He was the name.
According to multiple sources inside Duke’s summer practices, Sarr has been on an absolute heater from beyond the arc — and it’s not just in drills. Scrimmages, transition spots, catch-and-shoot reps, contested corner threes… he’s knocking them down from everywhere.
“He couldn’t miss,” one staffer said. “It got to the point where we stopped keeping count. He was just in a zone.”
Sarr came in with buzz as a high-IQ, smooth-scoring guard, but no one expected his shot to translate this fast — and this consistently. Now the coaching staff has a dilemma: how do you keep a guy this locked in off the floor?
Duke’s backcourt is crowded. The depth is real. But Sarr’s shooting is forcing real conversations behind the scenes about his role. Some around the program believe he’s earned a legitimate shot at early minutes — or even closing games — because of the way he stretches the floor.
And if he keeps this up?
It won’t be a decision for long. It’ll be obvious.