He was Kentucky basketball’s first 2024 commit. Now, how did Somto Cyril play against UK?
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Game day: Georgia 82, No. 6 Kentucky 69
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Georgia in Athens, Georgia.
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Kentucky basketball’s offseason coaching change from John Calipari to Mark Pope had a seismic ripple effect on player movement related to the UK program.
Across college basketball, there are 12 former UK players or recruits from last season — the final one of the Calipari coaching era — who are now at new schools.
The Wildcats have already faced off against one of those players this season. Former UK center Aaron Bradshaw had 11 points, two rebounds and two steals on Dec. 21 as his Ohio State squad routed Kentucky by 20 points at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
And on Tuesday night, sixth-ranked UK faced off against another player who was supposed to be in Lexington this season.
He also ended up on the winning end.
Somto Cyril — a 6-foot-11 center who was the first class of 2024 recruit to commit to Calipari and UK — is now at Georgia. Cyril and the Bulldogs upset Kentucky 82-69 in a Tuesday night SEC matchup at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, which was UK’s first road game in SEC play.
Cyril — who committed to Kentucky in June 2023 out of the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite program, the same outfit that produced ex-Cat Rob Dillingham and is currently home to class of 2025 UK signee Jasper Johnson — had six points and a game-high eight rebounds in Georgia’s win over UK.
Cyril fouled out of Tuesday’s game, but he was a plus-13 in 18 minutes on the floor for the Bulldogs.
Originally from Nigeria, Cyril was ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star recruit in the 2024 recruiting class, and as the No. 45 overall player in that group.
Cyril was the third member of what was a six-player 2024 UK recruiting class for Calipari to decommit from the Cats. Cyril made the choice to reopen his college recruitment shortly after Calipari was introduced as the head coach at Arkansas.
At that time, Cyril said he was still considering Kentucky.
Cyril — who said Calipari spoke to him about his decision to leave UK for Arkansas before that news became official — ultimately stayed in the Peach State and opted to play for head coach Mike White at Georgia.
“I think the biggest thing for him was the timing of everything,” Corey Frazier, who coached Cyril at Overtime Elite, told the Herald-Leader last week. “… I think he handled it really well. Once the staff left to go to Arkansas, it kind of put things in perspective for him. ‘You know what, maybe there’s a better place for me.’”
The Bulldogs are now 13-2 overall this season, having lost their first SEC game of the season by 12 points at now-No. 23 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon, before recovering to beat UK in Athens.
Prior to SEC play, Cyril had settled in nicely to the college game. He averaged 5.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 15.6 minutes coming off the bench for Georgia in nonconference play.
“They had a need, it was a great fit,” Frazier added about Cyril’s choice to commit to Georgia, which also brought in five-star power forward Asa Newell as a headline 2024 recruit for this season.
“The way (Georgia) utilizes their bigs, it just made sense for (Cyril). He knew he could get on the court right away. I think ultimately, the maturity of him handling that was really well done. And to pick Georgia, then to go there and back it up by playing so well and working his way into the rotation has been really good for the kid.”
Cyril’s introduction to SEC basketball was a rocky one. In 12 minutes off the bench in the 63-51 loss at Ole Miss, Cyril scored one point, grabbed four rebounds, registered a block and committed two turnovers
“He struggled a little bit defensively,” White — the third-year Georgia coach who previously led Florida for seven seasons — said about Cyril after that defeat.
“… Sometimes with our frontcourt it’s not as much about the guy that didn’t play as much as maybe other people thought he should have or could have played. It’s about trying to get someone else in when you’re kind of searching a little bit.”
But on Tuesday, Cyril turned things around in a big way with physical play that helped Georgia out-rebound Kentucky by seven on the glass.
“Somto did some really good things, (it) might have been his best game,” White said Tuesday night about Cyril, who has scored in double figures on four occasions for Georgia this season.
“I think the biggest thing is the system,” added Frazier, Cyril’s Overtime Elite coach. “Being able to play in ball screens and get in short rolls and be a rim threat with lobs, that’s been the key.”
Frazier also pointed out the improvement in conditioning that he’s seen from Cyril since he arrived in Athens.
“He’s probably in the best shape I’ve seen him since I’ve known the kid,” he said.
This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
