Somto Cyril a year away from UK. Current Cat says recruit has ‘everything a center needs.’
Somto Cyril is still a year away from being a Kentucky Wildcat.
Despite persistent rumblings about a potential reclassification from the 2024 to the 2023 recruiting class — and Kentucky’s need for frontcourt help given its current injury situation — Cyril has given all indications that he’s staying put.
He’s planning to spend another season playing in the Overtime Elite league — after making history by playing as an amateur for Overtime’s entry in The Basketball Tournament this summer — before finally arriving in Lexington.
And it’s an arrival that already has generated great anticipation.
A four-star center in the 2024 recruiting class who is ranked as the No. 46 overall player in the group by the 247Sports Composite, Cyril boasts the physical tools to hang at the college level.
The 18-year-old Cyril measured at 6-foot-10 and 246 pounds with a 7-5.5 wingspan at the Overtime Elite (OTE) pro day earlier this year, and he’s racked up accolades and attention while playing in the OTE setup this season for two different teams.
With the City Reapers, he played with a pair of future NBA Draft lottery selections in Amen and Ausar Thompson.
With the Cold Hearts, Cyril played with current Kentucky freshman guard Rob Dillingham.
And when speaking to media members this month prior to UK’s trip to Canada for the “GLOBL JAM” tournament, Dillingham gushed over what Cyril already brings to the basketball court.
“Nobody really scores on him. If you can go in the paint, you’re scared to score on him because he really (has) like a 40-something-inch vertical,” Dillingham said. “Every time you throw him the ball anywhere near the rim he’s going to dunk the ball. And he’s super strong. Like, freak strong. So it’s just like, he’s got everything a center needs. Literally.”
Given the video evidence, and Cyril’s statistics last season at OTE, it’s hard to argue with Dillingham’s praise.
Cyril posted per-game averages of 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks during the OTE regular season, cementing himself as one of the most physically imposing college basketball prospects in the nation.
He was named the Overtime Elite Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts.
This falls in line with what Cyril, who was born in Nigeria and began his prep basketball career in Tennessee, told the Herald-Leader in February when asked to describe his own game.
“I feel like, offensively, I just need to be able to make plays for my teammates on the ball,” Cyril said. “I know I can do that off the ball and defensively, I get the job done. I stop people from scoring. I block shots. I get rebounds. I just try my best to get stops and that’s about it.”
The fact that Cyril was able to dominate OTE was also notable to Dillingham, given the talent on display in the league.
“Everybody in the OTE league was athletic,” Dillingham said.
But there’s also something to be said for the way Cyril’s size and skill can accentuate the abilities of his teammates.
Dillingham shared insight into how Cyril improved the guard’s game while they were teammates.
“I’m not going to lie, I love playing with Somto,” said Dillingham, who added that he tried to recruit Cyril to Lexington.
“(Cyril) definitely helped my game because when I got to the rim and they would cover my shot and they would think I’m about to shoot, Somto is right there to throw it to. ... It opens up everything because they have to guard more than just you.”
While Dillingham’s words carry weight, it must also be acknowledged that Cyril will arrive in Lexington next summer having to prove himself all over again.
The Overtime Elite setup is still unproven as a feeder system to both the college and professional ranks, with players like Dillingham, the aforementioned Thompson twins and Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford) among the prospects currently viewed as test cases for the league.
Another player now in college who played at Overtime Elite is Jordan Burks, the three-star freshman recruit who committed to Kentucky in June.
Burks played against Cyril on four occasions in OTE action.
When asked by the Herald-Leader this month how Overtime Elite helped prepare him for life at Kentucky, Burks was willing to acknowledge the step up in competition.
“Honestly, there’s more structure in college than I felt like there was in Overtime,” Burks said. “It’s a new experience, most definitely, but I’m adjusting well. ... Overtime is cool, but it’s not Kentucky.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2023 at 6:48 AM.
