St. John's basketball transfer portal target Cliff Omoruyi visits Big East rival

As the days pass by, it's getting harder and harder to envision Rutgers transfer center Cliff Omoruyi in a St. John's basketball uniform.

The 6-foot-11 graduate transfer announced his Top-12 finalists, which included the Red Storm, but has been unable to schedule a visit to Queens to this point.

His other options are North Carolina, UCLA, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Baylor, Alabama, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, and Mississippi State.

However, Omoruyi has scheduled two visits to Georgetown and Alabama. His trip to Washington D.C. ended on Sunday while the expectation is that he will head to Tuscaloosa next weekend, according to On3. North Carolina is also expected to get a visit from the highly coveted prospect.

No other visits have been scheduled for the consensus Top-10 transfer.

St. John's has made Cliff Omoruyi a priority target since he entered the portal but it has become clear that the Johnnies are at a disadvantage with the Name, Image, and Likenesses (NIL) money that they can offer.

The program has yet to land a player from the transfer portal this offseason.

Omoruyi averaged 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season for the Scarlet Knights after posting 13.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest during his junior season. He was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team in both seasons.

St. John's has also shown interest in Drexel's Amari Williams and USC's Vincent Iwuchukwu, both of whom have taken visits to Queens. Williams is also considering Kentucky and Mississippi State while Iwuchukwu is visiting SMU, which is now the home of head coach Andy Enfield -- who recruited him to Southern California.

The Red Storm are tying to replace the production from captain Joel Soriano, who no longer has any eligibility remaining.