St. John's basketball priority transfer target, Norchad Omier, commits to Baylor

Another high priority transfer target for the St. John's basketball program has gone elsewhere.

This time it's Miami forward Norchad Omier, who announced his commitment to Baylor on Sunday night.

Omier, who declared for the 2024 NBA Draft, announced he was entering the transfer portal last week when he became clear his chances at being selected were a long-shot. He entered the portal with a 'do not contact' tag and many considered St. John's the favorite.

However, a 'do not contact' tag doesn't necessarily mean that the favorite will always land the player. It's more for the player not to be bombarded by every program in the country, his camp are the ones to initiate contact with schools that he is interested playing for.

"Thank you to everyone that took the time to reach out to me during this process," Omier said on social media. "This was one of the most difficult decisions of my life."

Things started to turn over the weekend when Baylor was picking up a lot of steam in the recruitment, eventually winning the race.

"My main goal always has been to help my team win at the highest level, while continuing to develop as a person and a basketball player," he continued.

Omier has shined at both of his previous stops, Arkansas State and Miami.

He was the Sun Belt Player of the Year as a sophomore and an All-ACC selection in each of his two seasons with the Hurricanes. He averaged 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game this season.

St. John's has now missed on two of its biggest frontcourt targets in the transfer portal with Rutgers' Cliff Omoruyi, who committed to Alabama on Sunday afternoon and didn't include the Johnnies in his Top-4, and Norchad Omier.

The Red Storm still have three open scholarships and a glaring hole in its frontcourt despite the addition of Southern Cal center Vince Iwuchukwu.