Could Miami standout make switch to football?
HOUSTON – The University of Miami birthed one of the great basketball-to-football conversions of all time when Jimmy Graham, a four-year basketball role player for the Hurricanes, picked up football as a graduate student in 2009.
NFL scouts saw enough of Graham’s size, speed and athleticism in that one year of college football to make him a third-round draft pick. He went on to catch 713 passes in the NFL, make five Pro Bowls and become one of the best tight ends of his generation.
People who watched Miami for the first time Saturday when they played Connecticut in the Final Four may have gotten flashbacks when they saw center Norchad Omier, a 6foot-7 block of steel whose physical profile suggests he could be a big-time NFL prospect.
But Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said his professional future is going to be in basketball.
“He’s going to be in the NBA,” Larrañaga said. “I’m telling you. In football, you get hurt. I don’t want him even thinking about football. I don’t think he ever will because he’s a dynamic basketball player.”
Raised in Nicaragua and primarily considered a pitching prospect until he was a teenager, Omier abandoned baseball and pursued college basketball after moving to Miami for a post-graduate high school year at Miami Prep.
But Omier remained under the radar until he landed at Arkansas State with Mike Balado, a Spanish-speaking coach with deep ties in
South Florida. It was apparent immediately that Omier was a high-major talent, winning Sun Belt freshman of the year and then returning the following season to become player of the year while averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds.
After last season, Omier said he was going to return to Arkansas State as a junior. But two weeks later, he changed his mind and entered the transfer portal.
“I think I had already accomplished everything I wanted to in that conference,” Omier said. “I wanted to go on a bigger stage and showcase my talent somewhere else.”
Omier received a deluge of interest, with approximately 90 schools reaching out. But Omier’s familiarity with the city of Miami and the Hurricanes’ roster made it a comfortable fit in addition to the name, image and likeness deal he signed with LifeWallet, a company run by billionaire Miami booster John Ruiz.
Omier’s nonstop motor, his physical presence in the post and ability to rebound against taller players was crucial to the Hurricanes’ ascent to the Final Four. But his charisma and always-smiling demeanor was just as much of a galvanizing force for the Miami locker room.
“He’s 6-foot-7, 240 pounds of dynamite,” Larrañaga said. “His personality, his body language, his ability to relate to everybody. Here’s a young man whose first language is Spanish and he’s up on stage speaking English and still very, very comfortable and confident that he can relate to everyone.”
With Omier’s body type, however — and especially at a football-centric school like Miami — the possibility of trying football gets mentioned to him often. Like Graham, he would be a natural to slot in and tight end and see what happens.
Of course, the difference is that Omier is just a much better basketball player than Graham, even if he might be undersized to play center on the next level.
Omier just laughed when asked about the possibility of switching sports.
“I’m locked in with basketball. I’m not thinking about that right now,” he said.
Larrañaga insists that he doesn’t need to worry about football coach Mario Cristobal stealing one of his best players — yet.
“I hadn’t thought about that, but I better start,” a chuckling Larrañaga said. “He hasn’t even scratched the surface. His offensive skills, as good as they are, can reach not just one level up but two or three levels up. And we’re going to spend a lot of time with him spring, summer and fall leading into next season, and we’ll see a much improved offensive player. He’s just getting better and better.”