If the NBL24 pre-season is anything to go by Alexandre Sarr and the Wildcats are a match made in heaven, and General Manager of Next Stars Recruitment Liam Santamaria says Sarr and his team were immediately sold on the project presented by the Perth recruiting team. 

Sarr has launched his draft stock into the top echelon of talents thanks to a remarkable pre-season, where he put in particularly good performances against the NBA G-League Ignite and the Cairns Taipans.

The French phenom is one of a record-breaking eight Next Stars ready to hit the NBL, and Santamaria says the Wildcats weren’t the only team preparing a pitch to Sarr before he signed.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/the-dribble/nbl-next-stars-general-manager-liam-santamaria-and/embed" width="100%" height="180" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" frameborder="0" title="NBL Next Stars General Manager Liam Santamaria and Perth Wildcats star Alex Sarr"></iframe>

“There was a process of expression of interest from each of the clubs as to who would like to work with Alex an bring him into their mix next season,” Santamaria told The Dribble Podcast.

“After receiving all those expressions of interest, he and his group decided the first meeting that they wanted to have was the Perth Wildcats.

“Danny Mills and John Rillie knocked it out of the park. We also agreed it would be a great landing spot for Alex and the process got shut down – he and everybody was comfortable going to Perth.”

Sarr is looming as a key part of Perth’s roster rebuild for the upcoming season, and has joined Hyrum Harris, David Okwera and Keanu Pinder in the side’s new-look front court.

He’s firming as a potential top three pick, according to NBA Draft expert Sam Vecenie, and Santamaria has pinpointed which part of Perth’s pitch spoke loudest to its newest young star.

“JR [Rillie] had a great story to tell Alex about the team, what they needed to add from last season coming into this year, and why Alex represented a big piece of that puzzle.

“That’s what these guys want to hear – certainly that I’m going to be in a position to develop, but also that if you see me as an important piece to your puzzle to win games then we’ve got the foundation of a successful relationship.”

Sarr and the Wildcats will open their NBL24 season against Tasmania on Friday night.