Nicaraguan forward leaves Arkansas, joins Miami

Sun Belt Player of the Year and prize recruit Norchad Omier will be transferring from Arkansas State to the University of Miami (UM) for the upcoming season.

Omier, who is the first Nicaraguan athlete to play Division I college basketball, revealed on Tuesday that UM made the most sense for him over Florida State, Texas Tech and Georgetown.

“They have a great coaching staff, Coach L (Jim Larranaga), Bill Courtney, great players. It was the best fit for me. Their style of play, the league they’re in, the exposure. It was everything I was looking for,” Omier said.

Omier is coming off a solid year with Arkansas, wherein he put up impressive averages of 17.9 points and 12.2 rebounds while shooting 63.2 percent from the field and 72.9 percent from the charity stripe.
The six-foot-seven 240-pound forward is the latest high-profile transfer to move to UM in the past six days. Earlier this week, former Kansas state star Nijel Pack and Fresno State twin guards Haley and Hanna Cavinder committed to the Hurricanes.