Undrafted free agent Clifford Omoruyi has officially signed a two-year contract with Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv, the team announced in a press release.
“Heading into this summer’s free agency, we were looking for a player with impressive physical presence and dynamism at center,” explained general manager Claudio Coldebella (translation via Eurohoops.net). “One who can rebound at the highest level (especially on offense), protect the paint and rim with athletic presence, and be effective in pick-and-roll defense. All while also offering offensive ability to run the floor thanks to his athleticism, and complementing the dynamism of our guards.”
Israeli journalist Moshe Barda reported (via Twitter) a few days ago that Omoruyi was a candidate to join Maccabi Tel Aviv (hat tip to BackdoorPodcast.com).
A 6’11” big man from Nigeria, Omoruyi spent his first four college seasons at Rutgers, earning Big Ten All-Defensive honors in back-to-back years (2023 and 2024) prior to transferring to Alabama. As fifth-year senior in 2024/25, he averaged 7.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 19.2 minutes per game across 37 appearances for the Crimson Tide.
While we don’t typically cover international signings of players with no NBA experience, multiple reports indicated that Omoruyi was expected to sign a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal with the Raptors shortly after he went undrafted in June. However, that contract was never finalized, and now the 23-year-old will begin his post-college career overseas.