The SEC’s top shot-blocker and one of Georgia basketball’s most impactful players in recent memory is moving on, and his departure leaves a significant void in Athens.
Georgia basketball’s roster rebuild is already well underway, and it just got considerably more complicated. Somto Cyril, the 6-foot-11 sophomore center who emerged as one of the most physically dominant interior players in the Southeastern Conference this past season, announced through Instagram today that he plans to enter the transfer portal. The move makes him the third Bulldog expected to depart ahead of the offseason, joining leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson and forward Dylan James. The portal officially opens April 7.
A raw prospect who became a force
Cyril’s path to becoming a key piece of Georgia’s roster was anything but conventional. A consensus four-star recruit in the 2024 class, the Nigerian-born big man spent time with Overtime Elite in Atlanta before making his college commitment, initially pledging to Kentucky in June 2023. When former Wildcats head coach John Calipari departed for Arkansas, Cyril decommitted and ultimately chose Georgia and head coach Mike White, signing on April 30, 2024.
He arrived in Athens as a genuinely raw prospect who had not been playing organized basketball for very long, but his size, athleticism and natural instincts around the rim were impossible to overlook. His freshman season reflected exactly that profile: he averaged 14 minutes per game in a rotational role, sharing the frontcourt with future first-round pick Asa Newell, and posted 4.6 points and 1.5 blocks per contest. Even in limited minutes, his presence as a shot-altering force was evident, and he played a meaningful role as Georgia reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade.
A sophomore season that announced him nationally
If his freshman year was a preview, his sophomore campaign was a full statement. Cyril averaged 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, ranking 14th nationally in blocks per game and leading the entire country in dunks. He was not always a polished scorer, and foul trouble and a pair of ejections cost him minutes at critical stretches, but his impact as Georgia’s lone true rim protector never wavered. When Cyril was on the floor and locked in, opposing offenses were forced to recalibrate entirely.
His season-defining moments came early in conference play. On Jan. 3, he delivered 15 points, six blocks and six rebounds in Georgia’s SEC-opening 104-100 overtime win against Auburn, a performance that announced to the league that the Bulldogs had a legitimate interior anchor. A week later, he went a perfect 8 for 8 from the field in a 75-70 road win at South Carolina, finishing with 18 points, three blocks and five rebounds in one of the most efficient individual performances of the college basketball season.
The numbers and the tape earned him a spot on the 2026 SEC All-Defensive Team, a recognition that placed him among the conference’s elite defenders regardless of position, not just as a big man.
What his departure means for Georgia
Cyril’s exit creates a genuine problem for White and his staff heading into the 2026-27 season. He was one of only three returning starters from the previous year alongside Dylan James and Blue Cain, both of whom are now also expected to leave. Georgia leaned heavily on portal additions to build this past year’s roster, and the results were remarkable. White guided the Bulldogs to the most regular season wins in program history and earned back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
Rebuilding through the portal while achieving that kind of success is a testament to what White has built in Athens, but doing it again with even more attrition will require another precise offseason. Georgia will need to find a replacement for everything Cyril brought to the interior, and options at his level of rim protection and above-the-rim finishing are not easily found.
The portal window opens April 7 and closes April 21, giving programs just two weeks to reshape their rosters. For Georgia, the clock is already running.