By ADAM ZAGORIA
Cliff Omoruyi, the 6-foot-11, 237-pound junior big man from Roselle (N.J.) Catholic, has seen his recruitment take off in recent weeks and says several schools are working the hardest.
Omoruyi is playing alongside Kentucky-bound wing Kahlil Whitney and UNLV-bound point guard Josh Pierre-Louis on a team that is expected to contend for a second straight New Jersey Tournament of Champions title. On New Year’s Day, Omoruyi went for 13 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks — including a slew of dunks — as Roselle Catholic polished off Montclair Immaculate, 72-60, at the New Year’s Jump Off at Don Bosco Tech High School. Assistant coaches from Auburn, Pittsburgh and Rutgers were on hand.
“The schools recruiting me the hardest are UMass, Rutgers, Seton Hall, West Virginia, UConn, N.C. State, Vanderbilt, Florida, Illinois and Auburn,” he said.
He now holds offers from Syracuse, West Virginia, UMass, Rutgers, Seton Hall, UConn, N.C. State, Cincinnati, Miami, Virginia, Xavier, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Butler, UCLA, Florida, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, South Carolina and Pittsburgh.
.@wizcliff77 with a put back dunk as he goes for 13/8 in a 79-44 win over @SalesianumHoops at #SlamDunkDE. @RoselleCatholic @rc_basketball pic.twitter.com/InP4NIJCr1
— Slam Dunk to Beach (@SlamDunktoBeach) December 29, 2018
Omoruyi is the latest high-major Division 1 prospect to come through Roselle Catholic, the school that also produced Jameel Warney (Stony Brook), Tyler Roberson (Syracuse), Isaiah Briscoe (Kentucky), Chris Silva (South Carolina) and Naz Reid (LSU).
He hopes to take some additional visits moving forward.
“Once we are settled in the season we are going to go visit couple of school likes UConn, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Florida, Illinois, Pittsburgh, and Indiana,” he said.
Flu game highlights pic.twitter.com/LMJ4h9022m
— Bigcliff77 (@wizcliff77) January 2, 2019
Though he is still raw offensively and relies mostly on dunks for his points, he has a man’s body and is a force on the boards.
“[I will bring] my rebounding skill as well as blocking and changing shots,” he said. “And also finishing at the rim.”
“Cliff’s upside is extremely high,” RC coach Dave Boff said. “He is still developing his game and getting better every day. He is going to be very special.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
