On March 29th, 6'10 center Clifford Omoruyi announced his intention to stay home and play basketball at Rutgers University. Omoruyi's commitment is huge for head coach Steve Pikiell, and not just because of his size. Rutgers is coming off its best season since 2003-04 and was on the precipice of an NCAA Tournament birth. Cliff represents Pikiell's biggest recruiting coup ever, and the program's biggest since St. Anthony's' Mike Rosario in 2008. But most importantly, Cliff Omoruyi's commitment represents that the perception of Rutgers basketball is changing.

Looking past the optics of Omoruyi's commitment, there is a lot to like about his skills and fit on the court. Clifford slots in as a true center, although he does have the foot speed and athleticism to play power forward in bigger lineup. With the graduation of 6'9 big man Shaq Carter, Omoruyi will play from Day 1 in Piscataway. He will compete for the starting center position with junior center Myles Johnson, who started 25 of 31 games last season. However, between Myles' struggles with foul trouble and Omoruyi's considerable talent, Cliff will be relied upon to hold down the middle early and often.

So the question becomes... what does that entail? How does Rutgers utilize their centers, and how does Cliff's skillset project in Pikiell's system? Let's dive into the film to find out.

At this stage of Cliff's career, he is mostly a rim runner and above the rim finisher offensively. He excels at running in transition and dunking the ball whenever he gets the opportunity. That is to say, he knows his strengths when he has the ball in his hands, and rarely ventures outside of his comfort zone. Here he is dunking on Rutgers freshman Paul Mulcahy during his junior year.

In Rutgers' system, the centers aren't relied upon to do much creating. The base offense relies upon a flowing, movement-oriented offense with backdoor cuts. You can see a very abridged version of this in the below clip of the first play of the Seton Hall game.

It starts with a pass to Montez Mathis on the perimeter, who uses the Ron Harper screen and goes to his left. He passes to Myles Johnson at the top of the key as Harper cuts to the basket. Myles delivers the lob to Harper to start the Rutgers run. If, hypothetically, the the pass to Harper isn't there, then Myles passes to Geo Baker to his left as Akwasi Yeboah cuts backdoor, and the offense continues.

In the above clip, it is easy to imagine having Harper and Omoruyi switch places. Omoruyi could thrive as a screen setter and roll man, throwing down difficult lobs and putting pressure on the defense to cover the rim more effectively. Even his presence in the paint could open up the offense more.

Now, below is one example of a specfic set play where Cliff Omoruyi can make a difference. Rutgers is in a must-win game at Mackey Arena and runs a pindown for Geo Baker. Geo makes a great pass to Shaq Carter on the short roll, and Shaq gets thrown off by the help defense and misses the layup.

Cliff Omoruyi has both the skillset and the mindset to catch the pass, take one step towards the paint, and dunk over the defense. There's even a chance he leans into the contact and draws the and-1.

If you take a look at the play below, Shaq Carter does a great job sealing Iowa's Luka Garza inside. As Paul Mulcahy drives, he gets walled off baseline and hesitates, then makes a difficult pass inside that Carter almost fumbles. Although the play does end up in Shaq Carter hitting the layup, Paul would have a much easier lob pass if Omoruyi was in the paint, as he could finished with the strong alley-oop that slowed Iowa's momentum.

Omoruyi brings a ton of his value defensively as a rim protector. He is a menacing force in the paint with an insanely long wingspan to block shots and grab rebounds. He also has quick feet that allow him to move with perimeter players for stretches if the need arises. Just like offensively, Omoruyi knows his limits. He understands his strengths are shot blocking and rim protection, and doesn't often stray far from those strengths. I think the below clip is the perfect example of what Omoruyi can bring to a defense: he defends ball screen, recovers to his man, and then blocks the shot.

In terms of Rutgers' defensive system, Omoruyi provides exactly what they need; a mobile center who can hedge and recover. In the below clip, you see Myles Johnson hedge high on the ball screen to give Caleb McConnell enough time to return to the ball handler. Once Caleb is back over the pick, Johnson runs back to recover to his man. This is how Rutgers defends nearly all of their high ball screens, and this is an area where Omoruyi can excel.

If you do not properly hedge, this is what can happen. Mamadou Doucoure hedges Michigan's ball handler near the top of the screen, and then as the ball swings around, fails to recover back in time to stop the man. Now, the circumstances of these two plays are different; Michigan has better spacing and more shooting, but the key tenants remain. Omoruyi has the athleticism where he could defend the ball screen and recover in time to stop the interior pass.

I didn't include any clips of shot blocking or rebounding because that is so situational, but Cliff will also show a lot of defensive value in those departments. Last season, Shaq Carter wasn't nearly as good of a shot blocker as Myles Johnson, so there was a stylistic difference defensively when that substitution was made. With Omoruyi, Rutgers has two strong shot blockers and a consistent interior presence in the middle.

Clifford Omoruyi is not just a good fit at Rutgers because he is a top recruit who is staying close to home. Omoruyi will be a strong finisher at the rim from the get-go who will excel at finishing lobs and setting screens. Defensively, Omoruyi can defend high ball screens, protect the rim, and rebound in traffic against the trees of the Big 10. Rutgers magical 2020 season continues, and with Cliff Omoruyi in Scarlet, it's unlikely that the magic will wear off any time soon.