Somto Cyril is a BEAST (but please don't hurt yourself, big guy)

To state the obvious, Kentucky commit Somto Cyril is a very large human being. The four-star center is listed at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds. He does not resemble anything close to a high school senior. And according to a video that surfaced on Monday night, he can also lift 415 pounds with just one leg.

There’s a reason his nickname is “Baby Shaq”.

Kentucky commit Somto Cyril lifting 415 lbs with ONE LEG 🤯 @OvertimeElite pic.twitter.com/r5tbOMhYCZ

— Overtime (@overtime) December 19, 2023

Now I’m no weight-lifting guru, but that certainly seems like an… odd way to go about adding muscle. I’m glad that he has three people in the vicinity to make sure nothing bad happens, but shouldering 415 pounds while balancing on one leg has to be some sort of safety hazard.

But again, I’m not the athletic trainer here. I’m just a blogger who spends 45 minutes at the High Street YMCA a few times a week — and my routine looks a lot different than Cyril’s. No one is doubting his ability to lift that weight, just please be safe out there, big guy.

For all we know, this could be easy work for Cyril. Whenever coaches or scouts talk about the Nigerian native, the first thing out of their mouths has to do with his overwhelming size and strength.

“He’s big. He’s athletic,” Kentucky associate to the head coach Bruiser Flint said last week. “Just physicality, from a high school kid that’s gonna come into college, you’ll see him next year, he’s a big kid. He’s got some work to do. Got to work on some skill level, but what he brings to the table in terms of athleticism and physicality. You’re not getting that from a kid that’s coming from high school to college.”

On the floor, Cyril has always been a dominant rebounder, efficient finisher, and elite rim protector. That was the case during his first season with Overtime Elite in 2022-23 and it remains true so far in 2023-24. Granted, he’s only appeared in two games for RWE so far this season as he recovers from a hand injury, but Cyril still hauled in 33 rebounds and 10 blocks across those two games while shooting 62.5 percent from the field.

“From a physical standpoint, he’d arguably be the best big guy in the country,” Flint added.