Just In: NC State Eyeing The UNC basketball Star For…..

For the second straight offseason, former UNC basketball forward Dontrez Styles is in the transfer portal. And this time he might be heading back to the state of North Carolina.

Styles spent two seasons at UNC before transferring to Georgetown where he spent just one season with the Hoyas. Entering the transfer portal on Monday, Styles is already being connected to a team.

Jamie Shaw of On3 put in a prediction for Styles to land with NC State, a team that originally recruited him out of Kinston before he eventually committed to the Tar Heels.

In addition to Shaw putting in a pick, Cory Smith of 247Sports’ Pack Pride also logged a pick for Styles to NC State as a crystal ball.

Styles has only been in the transfer portal for two days but it appears as if the Wolfpack are the team to beat in this recruitment. And if he lands there, he will get to face off against his former team twice a year.

The forward is coming off a season in which he averaged 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

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Hubert Davis has made it clear he wants to secure a big man from the transfer portal to fill out this roster. He’s been in contact with guys like Aaron Bradshaw, Oumar Ballo, and Jonas Aidoo. With Ballo recently committing to Indiana, however, there’s another name with whom UNC is connected.

Rutgers transfer big man Clifford Omoruyi, a top-10 player in the portal, tells @On3sports he’s currently considering 12 schools:

UNC
UCLA
Kansas State
GT
Georgetown
Baylor
Alabama
Oregon
Washington
UGA
St. John’s
Miss St https://t.co/hklXvFpIlH pic.twitter.com/ozlWxX1Qn2

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 16, 2024
Clifford Omoruyi is a 6-11, 240-pound center who played four seasons for Rutgers. He averaged double figure scoring and at least 7.8 rebounds in each of his last three years. As a senior, he tallied 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 51.2% from the field.

Out of all the bigs the Heels have been interested in, Omoruyi might fit the mold they’re looking for better than anyone. He’s strong and extremely physical on both ends of the court, a really solid rebounder, and one of the best rim protectors in college basketball. With a block percentage of 12.72%, Omoruyi finished third in the country and was number one during league play. He was also top five in defensive rebounding rate during league play each of the last two years.

With the past five years of Armando Bacot, Carolina fans are used to having a dominant rebounding presence. However, it’s been a while since the Heels have had a guy with Omoruyi’s shot-blocking abilities. He’s the type of player that can affect just about every defensive possession simply with his presence under the rim.

At this point, Omoruyi is likely a long shot as Carolina seems to be more focused on Aidoo but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Regardless, Omoruyi is an experienced player who would bring a lot to the table for next year’s roster.