Rutgers basketball center Cliff Omoruyi will withdraw from the 2023 NBA Draft and return to school next season, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

This is big news for Steve Pikiell and the Rutgers basketball program after losing sharpshooter Cam Spencer to the transfer portal. Cliff Omoruyi made the 2022-2023 All-Big Ten team, and has made a Big Ten All-Defensive team as well.

Rutgers basketball will likely not be expected to compete at the top of the Big Ten, but could be a team that makes it back to the NCAA Tournament.

Omoruyi has been with Rutgers and Steve Pikiell for three seasons, and has improved in each of them. His freshman year in 2020-2021, Omoruyi averaged 3.8 points per game with four rebounds on 14.9 minutes per game, according to Sports Reference. He started six games that season. His sophomore year in 2021-2022, Omoruyi became the full-time starter, starting 32 games. He averaged 11.9 points per game with 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. In 2022-2023, Omoruyi averaged 13.2 points with 9.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

Omoruyi has gotten better every year, and it would not be a surprise if there was more steady improvement in his fourth season under Pikiell.

Omoruyi could be in line for many honors if he takes another step. He should be in contention to make the All-Big Ten team again and the All-Defensive team as well. It will be interesting to see how Omoruyi performs next year, and how the Rutgers basketball program as a whole performs as a result of his development in the 2023-2024 season.