Somto Cyril was once a Cat -- now he's taking on Kentucky

Once upon a time, Somto Cyril was set to join the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington this season. The former four-star recruit was one of six signees in John Calipari‘s 2024 recruiting class, joining five-stars Jayden Quaintance and Boogie Fland, plus fellow four-stars Karter Knox and Billy Richmond.

“Somto is a great kid with an unbelievable story. He fell in love with basketball while watching YouTube and Anthony Davis highlights. He made it his goal to get to Kentucky and he achieved that goal by being an incredible athlete, shot-blocker and rebounder with a great personality. We’re happy to have him joining us next year,” Coach Cal said of the 6-11, 260-pound center at the time.

You know the rest of the story. Calipari left for Fayetteville and brought Fland, Knox and Richmond with him while Quaintance found himself in Tempe playing for Bobby Hurley at Arizona State. As for Cyril, he stayed local — he finished his high school career in Atlanta at Overtime Elite — to play for Mike White at Georgia.

How are things going for the freak-of-nature athlete, who closed as the No. 45 overall prospect in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking? About as expected, Cyril showing signs of physical dominance using his God-given gifts as a 260-pound monster with a 7-7 wingspan and a 43-inch vertical.

That leads to stuff like this:

LOOK OUT BELOW 😤 @somto_cyril#GoDawgs x #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/QRJPZCeK7s

— Georgia Basketball (@UGABasketball) December 15, 2024

And this:

NO MERCY 😳

SOMTO CYRIL IS FOR REAL 😤 @UGABasketball pic.twitter.com/oZUTnsl4yk

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 22, 2024

Or this:

😳 @somto_cyril #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/BqTOwi1wu5

— Georgia Basketball (@UGABasketball) November 13, 2024

On the year, the freshman center is averaging 5.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-leading 1.9 blocks in 15.4 minutes per contest while shooting a ridiculous 73.2 percent from the field. That tends to happen when you’re dunking anything and everything that comes your way, finishing at a rate that would be good for third nationally if he hit the minimum of five field goals made per contest.

That doesn’t mean Cyril has been perfect, though. He’s a raw prospect who doesn’t bring much to the table outside of the paint — hence his status as a top-50 recruit, not top-five. Some of his flaws showed up in Georgia’s SEC opener, playing just 12 minutes in a 63-51 loss at Ole Miss, tied for fourth-fewest on the year. He would finish with one points on 0-2 shooting, four rebounds, one block and two turnovers in those limited minutes.

“He struggled a little bit defensively,” Mike White said of the first-year center’s performance when asked why his time on the floor was short. “… Sometimes with our frontcourt, it’s not as much about the guy that didn’t play as much as maybe other people thought he should have or could have played. It’s about trying to get someone else in when you’re kind of searching a little bit.”

How much will he have in the tank when taking on the school he was once ready to call home? Kentucky was Cyril’s dream school growing up, and now, the Wildcats are the enemy coming to town.

He’ll certainly look to throw down a statement poster slam or two in the head-to-head battle.