Bama Hoops lands Cliff Omoruyi

Alabama Basketball added to a stacked 2024-25 roster with the addition of former Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi on Sunday. Omoruyi averaged over 10 points and eight rebounds for the Scarlet Knights last season, and approached double-double territory with 13.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in the previous season. Most importantly, he is a game-changing rim protector with 221 career blocks.

Omoruyi raises the ceiling of an Alabama Basketball team that already had sky-high expectations going into next year. He will pair with Grant Nelson, true freshman Aiden Sherrell, and presumably sophomore Jarin Stevenson to form one of the best frontcourts in college basketball. Coach Nate Oats will combine this group with an equally potent backcourt and tons of shooting. 

Bama is still awaiting final decisions from Stevenson and All-American guard Mark Sears, both of whom are testing the NBA Draft waters. Once those decisions become public over the next month, the roster will be all but finalized.

The general consensus is that Cliff Omoruyi was the missing piece that this roster needed, and now Coach Oats has his man. This coaching staff has been elite in terms of talent acquisition and roster reconstruction this offseason, and this may be the biggest addition yet.

Alabama should be equally proficient offensively next season, having added several playmaking guards in addition to a surplus of knockdown perimeter shooters. It should also be more athletic in the frontcourt and much more formidable defensively. The Cliff Omoruyi pickup gives the defense a shot-blocker on the back end, and the freshman class of Sherrell, Derrion Reid, and Naas Cunningham provides plenty of length and versatility.

Coach Oats and his staff will go into 2024-25 with the highest expectations of this Bama Hoops team yet. They have built what looks to be a sustainable program, and it will be fascinating to see how they respond to the pressure with such a loaded roster.