Miami is entering this year’s NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed, meaning it is in the perilous position of taking on a No. 12 seed, in their case Drake.
Making things more difficult could be the absence of forward Norchad Omier, the Hurricanes’ premiere interior defender. The 6-feet-7-inches, 230-pound defensive specialist is a lynchpin of the Miami defense, so if the Canes are missing him against Drake look for the Bulldogs to attack inside early and often.
Omier is averaging 1.3 blocks per game this season, along with 9.7 rebounds. Teams are averaging .13 points more per possession when Omier is off the floor for Miami (0.97 with vs. 1.10 without).
Could Miami be primed for a big upset? Without Omier, the likelihood would certainly increase.
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What is Norchad Omier’s injury?
Omier, a transfer from Arkansas State, suffered an ankle injury in Miami’s ACC Tournament loss to Duke.
Miami’s Norchad Omier steps on Dereck Lively’s foot coming down from a rebound…not putting weight on the right ankle.
Averages 14 PPG and would be a big loss. pic.twitter.com/1abJVQjzzF
— Travon Miles (@TrayABC11) March 11, 2023
Omier landed on the foot of Duke’s Dereck Lively II, rolling his ankle. The school has only confirmed Omier didn’t break his ankle, but the extend of the injury was otherwise unknown.
UPDATE: Good news. No broken bone. Get well, @NorchadO … we’re all with you! https://t.co/uBNi4HR5Xy
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) March 11, 2023
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How long will Norchad Omier be out?
There’s no definitive return on when Omier will return to the court.
Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga has been coy about Omier’s timeline, saying he had “no update” as of Monday.
“There’s really no update at this point,” he said, per On3 Sports. “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.”
Norchad Omier 2022-23 season stats
- AAC Player of the week this past week
- 13.6 points per game
- 9.7 rebounds per game
- 1.3 assists per game
- 1.6 blocks per game
- 1 steal per game
- 2 turnovers per game
- 59.1% field goal shooting
- 33.3% three-point shooting
- 71.5% free throw shooting