The Georgia Bulldogs have received a letter-of-intent from Somtochukwu “Somto” Cyril, a four-star prospect who is widely regarded as one of the top-50 players in the country for the Class of 2024, head coach Mike White revealed on Thursday.
For the previous two seasons, Cyril, a 6-10, 252-pound center originally from Enugu, Nigeria, has been a member of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta. In the Class of 2024, he is ranked as high as No. 42 by On3.com, No. 46 by 247Sports.com, No. 49 by ESPN.com, and No. 53 by Rivals.com.
Five freshmen and sophomores who are rated among the top 100 prospects in their class will be on Georgia’s 2024–25 roster: Blue Cain, Dylan James, Silas Demary Jr., and Asa Newell from 2024 and Cyril and Cyril from 2023.
Cyril averaged 8.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game over his two seasons at OTE. After spending the season between playing for Cold Hearts and City Reapers, he averaged a league-high 3.2 bpg, earning him the title of OTE Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. During the 2023–24 season, Cyril again topped OTE in blocks (3.3 bpg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg), ranking fourth overall. Before the team upset the top two seeds in the playoffs to win an OTE Championship, he assisted in leading RWE to a fourth-place finish in the regular season.
At Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, Cyril started playing basketball for his high school team. In 2021–22, he averaged 8.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.7 blocks per game. Against Carolina Basketball Academy, he recorded a triple-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 blocks.
Cyril joins Georgia’s 2024–25 roster as the team’s fifth recruit. He joins Newell, a 6-10, 215-pound power forward from Destin, Florida, who signed a contract with the Bulldogs last autumn and is ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite ledger for Class of 2024 prep prospects, as the second freshman.
Additionally, Georgia has announced the signing of three players via the transfer portal: Frank Abson, a 6-9, 235-pound forward from Pompano Beach, Florida, who finished fourth nationally in blocked shots at Appalachian State last season and was named the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year; Dakota Leffew, a 6-5, 185-pound guard from Jonesboro, Georgia, who was named to the first team of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) as a senior at Mount St. Mary’s; and De’Shayne Montgomery, a 6-4, 190-pound guard from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Mike White hopes to maintain a consistent and notable progress as he begins his third season at Georgia. The Bulldogs increased their regular-season victory total by 10 games during his debut campaign, which was the second-largest improvement of any Power conference club. Georgia posted the first 20-win season for the Bulldogs since 2016 and proceeded to the 2024 NIT playoffs.
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