The Rutgers men’s basketball team officially added a piece of its future on Tuesday when 6-foot-6 Canadian wing Eugene Omoruyi signed his letter of intent. This signing came less than a week after his commitment.
Advantage Titans AAU head coach Chris Smalling coached Omoruyi and offered his take on what Rutgers is getting in the soon-to-be freshman.
“Eugene is a very good player, extremely athletic and explosive. He has a big motor on him. Most people notice all that first. But as you get to know him, his basketball mind is also very good. He thinks the game through, is a great passer and has a great feel for the game. A lot of people notice that first.”
Smalling also went on to talk about what kind of kid Omoruyi is off the basketball court.
“He is a great kid, fairly quiet off the court and also a very respectful kid. He comes from really disciplined parents, who value education more than anything. He is also mild mannered and laid back. Honestly, when I first saw him on the court, I was in completely shock that such a quiet, laid-back kid played with such intensity. Overall, he has great character. He’s the first one in the gym and the last one to leave and he’s extremely coachable. Rutgers is going to really love having him.”
There was also a reason why Omoyuri did not see a bit more recruiting attention, according to Smalling.
“Eugene has been hopping around at a bunch of programs so that sort of led to him not garnering a ton of interest. He did, at one point, have some heavy interest from USC, Texas, Arizona State and others. But the main question was always whether he would qualify. Also, he didn’t have a ton of people in his camp helping him with the recruiting process, so that’s pretty much where I came in to help.”
Rutgers introduced a brand new coaching staff, although those coaches were already familiar with Smalling.
“I actually knew Coach [Steve] Pikiell for a decent amount of time, he recruited Denham Brown while he was at UConn,” Smalling said. “So we have a previous relationship with as well as Coach [Karl] Hobbs. Hobbs actually recruited two of my guys while at George Washington and one of them went on to play for him. All of this made it a little easier for Eugene in his decision after seeing a couple of guys I coached play for these coaches.”
Overall, Omoyuri appears to be bringing lot of upside to Rutgers.
“Every tournament we went to, he was arguably the best and most dominant player on the court. He definitely flew under the radar a little bit, but he’s going to be a very good get for Rutgers,” Smalling said. “He will work hard and is also a gym rat. I coached Cory Joseph (Texas) and current Toronto Raptor back in high school, and he was the same type kid as Eugene. Eugene is one of those kids you have to literally kick out of the gym because he literally won’t leave.”
