By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina is reportedly among the final four schools Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi is considering.
Joe Tipton of On3.com reported Friday that his final four schools are Alabama, Georgetown, Kansas State and UNC, and that he will announce his plans on Sunday. Omoruyi visited the Carolina campus on Thursday.
The Tar Heels need a center after Armando Bacot exhausted his eligibility, with Jalen Washington, Zayden High and Jae’Lyn Withers returning.
On3.com ranks the 6–11, 240-pound shot-blocker from Benin City, Nigeria, who would be a graduate transfer, as the No. 3 center in the transfer portal and the No. 8 player overall.
Omoruyi (pronounced O-mor-ee) averaged 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds, blocking 93 shots in 32 games last season for the Scarlet Knights. He also made the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, All-Big Ten honorable mention and was on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list.
“He’s a physically dominant big man who stands just shy of 7-feet with long arms and a chiseled frame,” said Adam Finkelstein, the director of scouting for 247Sports. “Offensively, Omoruyi does the vast majority of his damage in the paint, attempting 84% of his total shots at the rim per Pivot Analysis. While his hands were an area of concern in high school, they’ve made moderate gains in the last four years.”
According to KenPom, Omoruyi was third in the country in block percentage at 12.72% but is a career 59% shooter at the free-throw line.
An honor-roll engineering student, he blocked eight shots twice last season, against then-No. 24 Illinois on Dec. 2 and against Wisconsin on Feb. 10. Omoruyi had at least four blocks in 11 games last season and at least three blocks in 19 games. He was the first Big Ten player to record eight or more blocks in multiple league games since the 1999–2000 season.
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Omoruyi’s career scoring high was 25 points against LIU on Dec. 16, and he scored at least 20 points eight times. He has 29 career double-doubles, including nine last season.
After four seasons at Rutgers, he ranks fourth in program history in field-goal percentage (54.9%), fourth in rebounds (933), sixth in blocks (221), 18th in field goals (506) and 22nd in points (1,251).
Coming out of high school at Roselle Catholic, he picked Rutgers over Arizona State, Auburn, Kentucky, UConn, Memphis, N.C. State, Miami, Alabama and Arizona, among others.
He was a four-star recruit, ranked No. 53 in the Class of 2020 by ESPN. That class included Day’Ron Sharpe at No. 12, Walker Kessler at No. 14, Caleb Love at No. 18, RJ Davis was No. 43, Dawson Garcia at No. 49 and Puff Johnson at No. 60.
Rutgers finished 15–17 last season, but Omoruyi was part of two teams that made the NCAA tournament. In 2021, the Scarlet Knights went 16–11 and earned the program’s first NCAA berth in 30 years. Their 60–56 first-round win over Clemson was the first NCAA tournament victory in 38 years.
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Freshman | Maximo Adams (MAX-ih-mo) | F | 6–7 | 220 |
| 30 | Freshman | Malloy Smith | G | 6–5 | 180 |
| 21 | Freshman | Sayon Keita (SIGH-on KAY-tuh) | C | 7–0 | 205 |
| 5 | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–6 | 205 |
| 35 | Sophomore | Cade Bennerman — U | C | 7–0 | 205 |
| 17 | Sophomore | Neo Avdalas — W (NEE-oh ahv-DOLL-lus) | G | 6–9 | 220 |
| 2 | Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 185 |
| 3 | Sophomore | Matt Able — X | G | 6–5 | 200 |
| 22 | Junior | Alex Samodurov (SAH-muh-DUHR-off) | C | 6–11 | 225 |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Y | G | 6–3 | 180 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young (JAY-din) | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson (JARE-in) | F | 6–10 | 220 |
| 14 | Graduate | Angelo Brizzi — Z (BRIZZ-ee) | G | 6–3 | 200 |
| 54 | Graduate | Cameron Fens — V (Fenz) | C | 7–0 | 255 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 99 | Junior | John Holbrook — SA | F | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | G | 6–1 | 200 |
V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.
Coach Michael Malone’s coaching staff — Associate head coach Chuck Martin; assistant coaches Bryan Tibaldi (tih-BALL-dee), Sean May, Jorge Sanz (HOR-hey sahnth), Pat Sullivan and Brandon Robinson; Director of player development Deon Thompson.
Former players at other schools
| Player | Class | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 | Pacific |
UNC schedule
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |
| 9 | 7 p.m. Friday, ACCN | vs. USC in Greensboro |
| 18 | 5 p.m. Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis |
| 27 | 7:30 Tuesday, ACCN Extra | vs. Charlotte |
| November | Regular season | |
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 23 | Monday | vs. Monmouth |
| 27 | Friday, 7 p.m. | Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday, 7:30, ESPN2 | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday afternoon | at Georgetown |
| 15 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday, CBS | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| 30 | Wednesday | vs. California |
| January | ||
| 2 | Saturday | at Boston College |
| 5 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | at Louisville |
| 9 | Saturday | vs. N.C. State |
| 13 | Wednesday | at Florida State |
| 16 | Saturday | vs. Stanford |
| 19 | Tuesday | vs. No. 17 Virginia |
| 23 | Saturday | at Syracuse |
| 26 | Tuesday | vs. SMU |
| 30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
| February | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Notre Dame |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 8 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. Louisville |
| 13 | Saturday | at No. 4 Duke |
| 20 | Saturday | at Wake Forest |
| 22 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. No. 24 Miami |
| 27 | Saturday | at Virginia Tech |
| March | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Pittsburgh |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. No. 4 Duke |
| 9–13 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament in Greensboro |
Photo via @RutgersMBB
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