An Alabama player you would not expect is a top 10 most efficient player

Alabama men’s basketball has a variety of offensive threats.

Mark Sears leads the way. He is second in the SEC in points per game with 19.2. Then there’s Grant Nelson. He’s second on the team with 12.1 points per game. Meanwhile, Aden Holloway, Labaron Philon and Chris Youngblood each average in double figures. All three are threats beyond the arc.

None of those players is Alabama’s most efficient offensively, though. That distinction belongs to center Clifford Omoruyi.

KenPom measures offensive rating, which he explains on his website as “a measure of personal offensive efficiency developed by Dean Oliver. The formula is very complicated, but accurate.”

Omoruyi has an offensive rating of 137.6. That ranks 8th best in the entire country.

The next closest on the roster are Aden Holloway with an offensive rating of 123.2 (148th nationally), and Mark Sears at 119.3 (289th nationally).

So, why is Omoruyi Alabama’s most efficient offensive player?

“The offensive rating I think is a byproduct of how we use him and how effective he is at the rim,” Oats said. “He’s not taking any bad shots. He shoots at the rim shots. He dunks them and he makes most of them. He makes his free throws and he doesn’t turn the ball over much because we’re not asking him to do a lot of creation. I’m sure that’s significantly improved.”

Prior to this season, Omoruyi’s best offensive rating came in 2022: 115.2, which ranked 258th nationally. Omoruyi spent four seasons at Rutgers prior to transferring to the Crimson Tide before 2024-25.

This season, Omoruyi has shot 74.6% from the field and 69% from the free-throw line. Both are career highs in his fifth season of college basketball. The next closest in shooting percentage is Mo Dioubate at 58.5%.

“They actually threw it a lot more to him in the post and a lot more of his shots were contested last year,” Oats said. “He’s pretty skilled. Good footwork. He’s skilled in the pocket. He knows how to play off the tosses, the dribble handoffs. He’s gotten really good at that.”

Clifford Omoruyi blocking far fewer shots

Omoruyi’s offensive rating has skyrocketed, but his block rate (blocked shots divided by opposing two-point attempts) as measured by KenPom has plummeted.

A season ago, Omoruyi logged a block percentage of 12.7%, which ranked third among all players nationally. Now it’s down to 4.8%, ranked 205th.

Oats thinks that tumble in block rate is also a byproduct of a few different elements.

“One is, the Big Ten is a little bit more smashmouth,“ Oats said. ”So he was in the paint all the time. The SEC has opened up a lot more. He’s having to guard, look at guarding Kentucky: Their five is always on the perimeter. So he’s not able to just camp out in the lane and protect the rim and block everybody’s shots there because other team’s fives are all over the place.”

That’s similar, Oats said, to what the NBA requires.

“That was part of the point of him coming here: To get himself a little more NBA ready,” Oats said. “NBA offenses are more spread out. There’s fewer blocks. More open at the rims, more open threes.”

Oats also thinks Alabama’s pace is less conducive to blocking shots.

“Think he was a tad more fresh to go make some of those explosive, athletic blocks,” Oats said of Omoruyi’s time at Rutgers.

Still, the more shots Omoruyi can block, the better. So Oats has thought about ways to help Omoruyi, such as managing his minutes.

“I think when he’s fresh, he’s super explosive and able to go make those blocks,” Oats said.

The Crimson Tide will play in the SEC Tournament this week as the No. 3 seed. The Alabama will face either No. 6 seed Kentucky or No. 11 seed Georgia/No. 14 seed Oklahoma on Friday, likely around 8:30 p.m. CT in Nashville. Georgia and Oklahoma will play Wednesday, and the winner will face Kentucky. The winner of that game will then face Alabama.