JONESBORO -- It's been 18 months since Norchad Omier left Bluefields, Nicaragua. Naturally, the 19-year-old misses home.
Family, friends and the seafood of the Caribbean coast feel distant. In Jonesboro, the closest Omier comes to home-cooking are meals at Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant.
"I eat Mexican food," he said. "It's different, but it's the closest thing I could compare with it."
Comfort on the basketball court in the United States has come easier.
Omier recorded 46 consecutive double-doubles in his lone season at Miami Prep, where he battled homesickness and competed with elite recruits such as 2020 NBA Draft pick Kenyon Martin Jr.