Another step forward for Cliff Omoruyi (and other Kentucky basketball recruiting notes)
Among the biggest risers in last week’s update to the Rivals.com basketball recruiting rankings was Cliff Omoruyi, a four-star center who has long been on Kentucky’s radar and is now cementing his status as one of the best available big men in the 2020 class.
Omoruyi — a 6-foot-11 prospect from Nigeria — moved up 19 spots, from No. 55 to No. 36 nationally, due to his early season play with Roselle Catholic (N.J.). He received a scholarship offer from John Calipari last spring, when the UK coach was in town for a basketball clinic at the school, which has produced such players as Isaiah Briscoe and Kahlil Whitney.
Since then, Omoruyi’s game has continued to grow.
“Cliff has always been strong. He’s always been athletic. And he’s always really played hard. Those haven’t been issues,” Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi told the Herald-Leader. “He can still stand to get a bit more skilled — like any young big man — though his skills have improved. But what’s really struck me is — sometimes as a big guy, it’s tough, because you’re so reliant on your guards to get you the ball. And you never know how the refs are going to whistle you, just because they feel like, ‘You’re big, and anytime you touch somebody, you’re cheating. And anytime someone touches you, they can do whatever they want.’ So it’s kind of a rough gig as a big guy. And that’s a big part of why they are a little bit further behind in their development.
“But, man, just his approach — watching him, he’s so much more engaged on each end of the floor. And he may not be getting the ball sometimes, but he’s not a passive bystander. If he’s open and you don’t get him the ball, you’re going to hear about it. And, for me, that’s such a big step for young players to take.”
Bossi recalled a recent viewing of Omoruyi, who was pleading with his guards to get him the ball in the post and instead having to watch as they continued to throw up “terrible shots” from the perimeter. The analyst said Omoruyi’s reaction to that situation spoke volumes.
“What really stuck with me is that he didn’t let that affect him going and rebounding. And playing hard on the defensive end,” Bossi said. “He didn’t pout. He just played harder, and — even though it didn’t really help him get the ball by begging them for it — he was still very effective. Where some guys would just shut it down.”
That do-what’s-needed mindset is part of what has drawn Kentucky to Omoruyi, who might not be ranked as highly as a typical Calipari recruit but could fill a major void on next season’s roster, should junior center Nick Richards head off to the pros this summer.
If Richards does leave, UK would have no frontcourt options in that mold — the type of player that can do the dirty work in the paint. Omoruyi could play that role, and Bossi said he could see him earning substantial minutes right off the bat as a result of his willingness to bang down low.
“I don’t see why not,” he said, responding to whether Omoruyi could play 20-25 minutes per game at UK next season. “Unless it’s a specialized role where you’ve got like a freaky skill guy, right now, what coaches are wanting most out of a big guy like him is to run from rim to rim as hard as you possibly can, to be as physical as you can, to pound the glass, and then kind of figure everything else out from there. That’s what he does.”
Bossi compared Omoruyi’s approach to former Kentucky target Oscar Tshiebwe, who is averaging 11.2 points and 9.0 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game for West Virginia as a freshman.
“Just a hardcore competitor who isn’t going to pout when he doesn’t get the ball or let that impact him getting his job done,” he said.
Omoruyi recently cut his list to five schools — UK, Arizona State, Auburn, Rutgers and UConn — and he’s expected to take a series of official visits following his senior season before making a college decision, which is not expected until the spring.
The Crystal Ball outlook for Omoruyi remains foggy, and Bossi has not yet made a public prediction on his Rivals.com Future Cast page.
“I think it’s pretty up in the air,” he said. “I think it’s going to come down to how these visits go. No one really has a good read on him. And it’s not one of those where we’re saying publicly, ‘Oh, I have no idea what’s going on,’ when you know behind the scenes … ‘Here’s what’s happening.’ This is one of those that, at least as far as I know, there’s no true lean on this one.”
UK’s Boston-Clarke connection
Another one of the big risers in the recent Rivals.com rankings was UK signee Brandon “BJ” Boston, who jumped from No. 17 nationally all the way to No. 4. That put him one spot ahead of fellow Wildcats signee Terrence Clarke, who is ranked No. 5 by Rivals.com.
Boston and Clarke are both listed as shooting guards, and — while they’ll likely both start for Kentucky on opposite wings — analysts who have watched them play are interested to see how they coexist on the court next season, especially in the early going.
“There’s going to be a transition stage,” Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi told the Herald-Leader. “Because, while they’re both wings, they’re both wings that play with the ball in their hands quite a bit. So, that transition from being a guy with the ball in your hands to being a guy that’s got to move away from the ball, and run off screens, and stuff like that — it’s going to be an adjustment. I think BJ is a little bit more suited to that, because he’s played more with guys who are ball-dominant than Terrence has. Terrence has always kind of been the guy with the ball in his hands. It’s more of a new development for BJ.”
Luckily for the dynamic duo, and their teammates, they should both be on UK’s campus by June, giving them a little more time to get their games acquainted before next season begins.
“It’s great that these guys come in during the summer now,” Bossi said. “You don’t have to wait until late August to get these guys on campus anymore. You get them in the beginning of June, and they get an entire summer of playing together and workouts and stuff to kind of get it figured out. And, you know, John Calipari certainly has a little bit of experience in dealing with this and managing these kind of alpha egos.”
What’s new on Kuminga?
There’s been one constant for a while now when it comes to the 2021 class: Jonathan Kuminga is clearly the top prospect in the bunch.
Last week’s Rivals rankings update kept Kuminga — a 6-foot-8 forward from Congo, now playing in New Jersey — in the No. 1 spot, where he’s remained since last spring. ESPN and 247Sports also ranked Kuminga as the best player in the class.
So, what’s new with his recruitment? Not much.
Kuminga is still widely expected to move out of the 2021 class, a jump that would make this his final high school season. But that reclassification is not expected to occur until the end of the summer, after the Nike travel season wraps up. He would still have some hoops to jump through academically, and the NCAA would need to clear him to play in college next season, a process that can often include unexpected roadblocks for international prospects.
The Herald-Leader was told recently that Kentucky, Duke, Louisiana State and Texas Tech are the four schools with the best chance of landing him. The Blue Devils, in particular, seem to be getting a lot of buzz in recruiting circles this winter.
Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi said there’s still a long way to go.
“I think worrying too much about him right now is kind of running yourself in a circle,” he told the Herald-Leader. “Because a lot needs to happen before that (reclassification) switch can be made. And that’s not going to be until at least the middle or latter part of the summer — how all that stuff gets sorted out. And then we’re going to go from there.
“I know there’s some people out there that think, ‘Oh, he’s going to Duke.’ Or, ‘He’s doing this.’ I don’t know that to be the case. I think Kentucky’s definitely got a chance in that one.”
Skyy Clark and Kentucky
UK is still expected to host highly touted California guard Skyy Clark on Monday for a visit wrapped around the Wildcats’ practice on the eve of their trip to Vanderbilt.
That will be the next step in a relationship that could prove extremely beneficial to both sides.
Clark — a 6-2 prospect with terrific scoring skills — is listed by Rivals.com as a point guard and by 247Sports as a combo guard. Rarely does a young player with anything resembling point guard skills want to be identified as anything else, but Clark is different. He and his father have both said that — while he can play the point guard spot — he’d be just as happy playing next to another talented point guard if the situation dictated that in college. Analysts familiar with Clark’s game have said he would be well-suited for either role.
What’s become clear during UK’s recruitment of Clark is that his camp actually means exactly what they’ve said about his positional status at the next level. That honesty and willingness to adjust positions should make Clark — ranked No. 17 in the 2022 class by both Rivals and 247Sports — even more valuable to UK’s future backcourt, should he wind up in Lexington, because he’d probably be sharing the perimeter with another talented point guard.
If Clark moves to the 2021 class — something that has been discussed — he could find himself next to Devin Askew, who has signed with UK for next season but will be young for a college freshman and is not currently projected as a one-and-done NBA pick. (UK has also extended a scholarship offer to Kennedy Chandler, the No. 1 point guard in the 2021 class).
If Clark sticks in 2022, he’d be in a class with several other talented players at the position, many of them already being recruited by Kentucky.
The Cats have, seemingly, targeted no position more aggressively than point guard in that 2022 class. Jaden Bradley, Bruce Thornton and Paul McMillan — all point guards and top-60 players nationally — have already been to UK for visits this season. Dug McDaniel, another highly touted point guard in the class, has also been linked to the Cats early.
If he comes to Kentucky — in whichever class he picks — Clark could be the latest piece to a multiple-point guard puzzle for Calipari, who has obviously had success with such arrangements.
His father, Kenny Clark, told the Herald-Leader that UK assistant coach Joel Justus compared Skyy to Tyrese Maxey on his first viewing. Maxey, of course, was billed as a point guard in high school and is currently in a starting lineup that also features Ashton Hagans and Immanuel Quickley. “This is Tyrese right here,” Justus said, according to Clark’s father. “And that was a great compliment.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 7:40 AM.
