Positive news for Miami on the Norchad Omier injury front

Miami could have some good news ahead of the NCAA Tournament as the Norchad Omier injury that has plagued the ‘Canes big man might not keep him out of a first-round matchup with Drake.

Omier practiced with the Hurricanes on Wednesday, then practiced again on Thursday.

According to a report from Jon Rothstein, Omier will play “if his ankle doesn’t swell overnight,” per coach Jim Larranaga.

Omier’s reintegration to the Miami lineup would be a huge deal, as he’s the team’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer. To this point in the season, Omier has averaged 13.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

He was injured when he hurt his ankle in an ACC Tournament game against Duke.

During the season he had recorded 14 double-doubles, while he had really been on a tear of late just prior to the injury. Before going down against Duke, Omier had logged double-doubles in three of the last four games, averaging 15.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in that span.

Thursday’s update is a real positive turn on the Norchad Omier injury front, as Larranaga had said just a few days prior that he had no update on the ailing big man. Now there’s a definite sense that he might be able to play.

“There’s really no update at this point,” said Larrañaga on Monday. “We’ve got our fingers crossed and we wish him the best but we’ve got to prepare both ways. We’ll have him or we don’t have him. Because we don’t know what his status will be for quite a while.”

While Miami can get by without Omier, there’s no doubting his overall importance to the program.

“We have doctors and trainers taking care of him 24/7… Norchad is working on it,” Larrañaga said. “Of course, he wants to play… He’s got more energy than anybody. He’s always going to have a smile on his face. And he’s going to do everything possible to get himself ready and to help this team.”

Miami’s first-round game against Drake is slated for a 7:25 p.m. ET tipoff on TBS on Friday, so the ‘Canes have almost the maximum possible amount of time for the Norchad Omier injury to heal.

Miami has won nine of its last 11 games heading into the NCAA Tournament, so the ‘Canes have some significant moment. An Omier return would only boost the outlook even further.