Cliff Omoruyi injury update: Alabama center heads to locker room vs. Vanderbilt

Early in the first half against Vanderbilt, Alabama is enjoying a nice lead at home. An injury has come into play though, as Cliff Omoruyi was seen holding his right side. Head coach Nate Oats and a trainer came out to see the Alabama center before pulling him out of the game.

Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, there was no stop at the bench. Omoruyi immediately went to the locker room under his own power but was clearly in some pain.

“Cliff Omoruyi gingerly walks off the court and is grabbing his right ribs/side,” Charlie Potter of On3’s BOL said via X. “He heads straight to the locker room with Clarke Holter.”

***UPDATE*** – With around six minutes remaining in the first half, Omoruyi checked back into the game. It appears as if a crisis was averted for Alabama.

Omoruyi was a big-time enterant in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason, leaving Rutgers. A few blue blood programs were fighting for his services but ultimately, Alabama won out. Center was a position of need for Oats all of last year, despite the Final Four run.

Entering Tuesday night, Omoruyi is averaging 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He is one of the nation’s most efficient players from a shooting percentage standpoint, making 74.3% of his attempts. Just ask any of Alabama’s guards, it’s nice to have Omoruyi around the rim to catch lobs.

Cliff Omoruyi suffers another in-game injury

This is not the first time Omoruyi has dealt with an in-game injury. Back when Alabama traveled to Texas A&M, a twisted ankle saw him leave the game. A locker room visit was required there as well.

But the good news was that Omoruyi eventually made his way back out onto the court. Oats praised his center’s toughness following the game, saying it would have been easy for Omoruyi to not play.

“A lot of guys would have just sat that one out after they rolled their ankle like he did,” Oats said. “And he manned up, wanted to play, wanted to be there for his teammates. He ends up with 10 rebounds in 16-plus minutes, and you can’t say enough about it because we ended up getting 54 and he got about 20 percent of our rebounds. So big game for him.”