Syracuse Basketball: Former 4-star recruit, top-10 center, to enter transfer portal

Clifford Omoruyi, a senior center at Big Ten Conference member Rutgers who held a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball while in high school, plans to enter the transfer portal, according to multiple media reports.

The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Omoruyi, who is from Benin City, Nigeria, put forth a nice 2023-24 season for the Scarlet Knights. Earlier this month, Rutgers (15-17 overall) saw its most recent term end when the Scarlet Knights lost in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament's first round to Maryland.

Omoruyi, in his senior year, appeared in all 32 games for Rutgers. Per ESPN data, he averaged 26.9 minutes, 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per contest.

He connected on 51.2 percent from the field, 20.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 61.0 percent from the free-thow line. As a sophomore, Omoruyi averaged 11.9 points per game as well as 13.2 points per affair as a junior.

Former Syracuse basketball four-star target Clifford Omoruyi is entering the transfer portal.

The transfer portal opened this past Monday, and already, hundreds of college players have entered the portal, including several Orange players.

News of Omoruyi planning to hit the portal was reported by numerous media members, including On3 national reporter Joe Tipton.

According to reports, the Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Omoruyi in the summer of 2017. He was a member of the 2020 recruiting cycle who attended Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, N.J.

In his senior year at Roselle Catholic, Omoruyi had an excellent term. Per his bio on the Rutgers athletics department Web site, he averaged 14.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 57 percent from the field. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey.

Within the 2020 class, multiple recruiting services rated Omoruyi as a top-50 national prospect and a top-10 center, including the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking and Rivals.com.

His offer sheet, besides Syracuse basketball and Rutgers, included Arizona State, Alabama, Auburn, Arizona, UConn, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, South Carolina, St. John's, TCU and West Virginia, among others.

As I noted in another column this week, amid the transfer portal opening for 45 days, an area of potential need for the Orange coaching staff could be bringing in another center ahead of the 2024-25 season.