NCAA Basketball: Tommy Bruner, Norchad Omier headline latest Players of the Week
By Bryan Mauro
Norchad Omier - Miami Hurricanes
Omier is an absolute mismatch nightmare in the paint for every team that the Hurricanes play. There are few players who are as skilled as he is around the basket and very few with the kind of athleticism that he has to score in the paint and rebound. He impacts a game in a lot of ways and even though the big man is not always flashy, I mean by putting up points in large quantities, he is extremely consistent, and the Hurricanes and the rest of the ACC always know what they are going to get. That is usually a double-double.
Omier’s talent was on full display this week. In a game against Notre Dame the big man went for 33 points on 12-14 from the floor, 2-3 from deep, and 7-9 from the free throw line. Notre Dame isn’t a good team, but he dominated them on the offensive end of the floor and was able to get whatever he wanted. The big man also added 10 rebounds. In the next game against Pitt, Omier got back to his averages but still had a fantastic game. He scored 18 points on 8-13 from the floor. Included in that was 2-3 from deep, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Two double-doubles and a thirty-point game while shooting 74% from the floor is going to earn you the player of the week most weeks.
Miami needs Omier in the lineup, they rely on him to do so much on the offensive end and the defensive end. I am glad that he is finally getting the recognition he deserves. He was fantastic last year in the NCAA tournament, and he is doing his best to try and get Miami back there this year. Congratulations to Norchad and is Miami teammates for being named the Player of the Week.