Report suggets UNC basketball portal target turned down a big NIL deal somewhere

The North Carolina Tar Heels received some bad news on Sunday afternoon when they missed out on yet another recruiting target at the center position in the transfer portal.

After visiting on Thursday, former Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi made his decision and committed to Alabama on Sunday afternoon. He’s the latest center to turn down the Tar Heels, leaving Hubert Davis and his staff seeking other players at the position.

But after Omoruyi committed to the Crimson Tide, a college basketball reporter suggested that NIL may have been a big factor in his decision.

Joe Tipton of On3 tweeted that Omoruyi turned down a $2M NIL deal at another school to commit to Alabama. Now, this brings up the question of did he get more at Alabama? Or did he just prioritize winning over everything else?

I was told this morning that Cliff received a $2 million NIL offer from a school while going through the portal process.

And it was not from Alabama. https://t.co/s1eox6mRsQ

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 5, 2024

The other three teams in his final four were Georgetown, UNC, and Kansas State. It very likely was either Georgetown or Kansas State who put the big NIL package together as UNC does have a winning pedigree. However, he felt like the Crimson Tide gave him a better chance to win right away.

Either way, it’s another tough loss in the portal for the Tar Heels who will now regroup and look at their potential other options.