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7-foot-2 Omar Oraby cleared to play immediately at USC

Rice UTEP Basketball

Rice’s Omar Oraby (34) fouls UTEP’s Gabriel McCulley (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game between Rice and UTEP on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Houston. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Karen Warren) MANDATORY CREDIT

AP

USC got a big -- and I mean BIG -- boost late on Thursday afternoon when it was announced that 7-foot-2 Rice transfer Omar Oraby had been granted a waiver by the NCAA to play immediately.

Oraby, who is a native of Egypt, averaged 6.0 points. 3.6 boards and 1.6 blocks in just under 12 minutes per game as a sophomore. He’ll be in the lineup tomorrow night as the Trojans host Coppin State. He’s been practicing with the team as well and could end up starting, although he’ll likely be sharing minutes with Dewayne Dedmon later on in the season.

What’s interesting about this USC group is that, just like Iowa State last year, they are going to be relying almost entirely on transfers this year. In fact, one USC beat writer is predicting a starting lineup that includes nothing but transfers.

The bigger question now becomes the status of Oraby’s former teammate, Arsalan Kazemi. Kazemi, who averaged a double-double for the Owls as a junior, transferred to Oregon during the offseason, and the general belief has been that if one of the two players got a waiver, than both would.

So does that mean that Dana Altman will have Kazemi at his disposal this season? With him in the mix, Oregon’s chances for an NCAA tournament bid just got that much better. Kazemi is an high-energy rebounding machine that will join EJ Singler, Tony Woods and Waverly Austin in giving the Ducks a versatile front line.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.