Next year and the portal is now open

Pope would be great as a Marcus Carr type. He absolutely chews up minutes as a scoring PG. It would alleviate the issue of needing Larry to play PG instead of coming off the bench.
 
Horns11, I think you are spot on regarding Pope. When I watched some of his highlights he reminded me of Carr. He appears to be able to get his own shot when the offense breaks down and the shot clock is running low. Something the Horns lacked this year as Abmas wasn't built for that role and Hunter was too inconsistent/streaky. Pope would be a great get and has the potential to really solidify the back court.
 
Both good assessments on Pope. He shot the ball 14 times per game last season at 45% FG and 37% 3pt. I like that level of production.

in other portal news, Tyrese Hunter is a hard commit to Memphis and Chris Johnson is hard committed to…..SFA??:idk:
 
I think Chris Johnson just needs his confidence back. There's no way a guy who committed to KU and Texas would just vanish into thin air. SFA might be a building block for him to get back to a Power-6 team.
 
LonghornCatholic said:
I have a good feeling about this one :smile1:
Click to expand...

12E3A42F-2A06-4E2F-8AB9-97C3C7ABE14E.gif
 
Still would like one more PF/C to spell the forwards. If Tre stays with the good guys, he'll be enough to handle for any of the guard positions.

Brandon Garrison was apparently the "sleeper recruit" (compared to the football transfers) in town. Like I said earlier in the thread, he didn't play well against Texas during the regular season, but he really filled out scoresheets towards the end of the season.
 
On paper, it is an upgrade. More length in the backcourt, should be better shooting from multiple positions, and Pope looks to be stronger with the ball than Abmas or Hunter. Going to miss Disu for certain, but Johnson and Mark should make up for that. Still undersized inside and lack of depth to bang with the bigs. If the pieces fit together they should be better and more consistent than last year but that is always a big "IF".
 
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The only real upgrades over 2023-24 (as an entire unit) would be Tre Johnson over anyone/everyone and an edge to the new bench over last year.

Losing Disu and replacing him with Shedrick/Onyema is a big deficit.

I think adding Pope but losing Abmas and Hunter is kind of a wash.

Tramon Mark is kind of an x-factor where I'm not sure if he's going to be an offensive or defensive upgrade at the moment. I'd like to see which position he's playing and how many minutes.

Kent vs. Dillon Mitchell is about the same, but a slight nod to Mitchell for athleticism.

Pryor and Codie are unproven and are no better than whatever we were bringing off the bench as of this moment.
 
Horns11 said:
Still would like one more PF/C to spell the forwards. If Tre stays with the good guys, he'll be enough to handle for any of the guard positions.

Brandon Garrison was apparently the "sleeper recruit" (compared to the football transfers) in town. Like I said earlier in the thread, he didn't play well against Texas during the regular season, but he really filled out scoresheets towards the end of the season.
Click to expand...

insiders showing Garrison to OU
 
Norchad Omier out of Miami is still available. We briefly mentioned him the last time he portaled out of Arkansas State. Big body and incredible rebounder. He's pretty much a 15-10-1 guy every game. He was 11-9-2-2 against us in the Elite 8 game.
 
Jonas Aidoo out of Tennessee is kind of a question mark at the moment. The guy was SEC All-Defense and Barnes doesn't have room for him?

He didn't have great games against us these past couple seasons (XII/SEC challenge and against Tenn in the tournament), but his blocks are insane and he could provide frontcourt depth.
 
Moussa Cisse - Ole Miss

He followed Beard from OK State and has never put up exceptional numbers, but he's a solid blocks/boards guy. Never strays away from the paint. I'd love for him to be Shedrick's backup and use Onyema as more of a 4.
 
Horns11 said:
Jonas Aidoo out of Tennessee is kind of a question mark at the moment. The guy was SEC All-Defense and Barnes doesn't have room for him?

He didn't have great games against us these past couple seasons (XII/SEC challenge and against Tenn in the tournament), but his blocks are insane and he could provide frontcourt depth.
Click to expand...

Aidoo to Arkansas
 
Presley was a San Marcos Rattler and a lot of people caught on to him late in the recruiting process (including us). Hence, the commit out-of-state.

He was used off the bench as a minutes and defensive stopper, so my guess is that will be his role for us as well. He's a poor shooter but does enough with his length to frustrate opponents. He's most likely going to be part of an "energy" package featuring intense, defensive-minded guys when we need stops or at the end of game when we swap offense for defense on possession changes. He's always been listed as G/F, so I could see him going in at the 3 or 4 and maybe moving Johnson to the 2 when we need that kind of lineup.
 
UTexRulz23 said:
Wonder if we'll be an option for New Mexico's JT Toppin?
Click to expand...

I think I'd still prefer Omier or Cisse, but Toppin checks all of the boxes for our remaining needs. Boards and blocks. He actually scores, too, but I think that number would go down in our system.
 
Horns11 said:
Norchad Omier out of Miami is still available. We briefly mentioned him the last time he portaled out of Arkansas State. Big body and incredible rebounder. He's pretty much a 15-10-1 guy every game. He was 11-9-2-2 against us in the Elite 8 game.
Click to expand...

Omier to Baylor.
 
Kadary Richmond out of Seton Hall exploded up the rankings this week after he entered the portal. But since we got Pope, it's doubtful he'll come here.

I'd never heard of Great Osobor until this week, but I find his videos intriguing. He reminds me of an improving Elton Brand (before his peak) from Duke. Big body which makes him kind of immovable on the offensive block. Averaged almost 34 minutes (!) last year. I think the prospect of having him as a 4 so that Kent doesn't have to be there would be great.

I'd take Toppin, but honestly, having Mitchell return would probably be preferable.
 
Welp, Richmond to St. John's. Figured it would still be east coast.

Davis to the Pigs. Calipari getting a fresh start has really inspired this transfer crew for Arkansas, but I'm willing to bet it won't be smooth sailing.

Forward is obviously the position of concern remaining for us. Getting Pope and Mark is basically enough to put a lineup together, but adding Tre Johnson to that mix is kind of "guess we don't need any more guards." I still wonder if Mitchell might come back after seeing the market for his skills (or perceived ones).

Coleman Hawkins, Illinois:
Reminds me a lot of Shedrick, and so if we're going with parity/continuity for the starter vs. subs, it makes sense to go for him. He's pretty much a 10-6-1 guy with long arms and a lot of range, but his passing is what made him super valuable to the Illini. He was great at the pick-and-pop and getting the ball into the shooter's hands.

Ven-Allen Lubin, Vandy and Notre Dame:
It'd be his 3rd school in 3 years, so that's never my preference to go for guys like that, but he seems very good. Highly recruited out of Florida, he hit some bumps in the road, but that body size and his reliability as a starter for the Commodores is hard to ignore. Decent scorer and rebounder compared to the forwards we had beyond Disu last year. I think since we got Presley, it's tempting to say he might follow.

DJ Burns, Youngstown:
A one-year rental who decided to use his Covid year after going all-conference and all-defense last season. He chews up minutes and if he came to Texas, he'd probably start at the 4 and be used as the boards man. Managed 8 defensive and 11 total rebounds last year. His usage went up every year (also attended Southern and Murray State).
 
From the mothership: way-too-early predictions for 2024-25 -

21. Texas Longhorns
Previous ranking: 20

Texas is another school that has had a love-hate relationship with the transfer portal and offseason. Out the door went Tyrese Hunter and Dillon Mitchell, while top-50 recruit Cam Scott decommitted. Incoming are Tramon Mark (Arkansas), Jayson Kent (Indiana State), Julian Larry (Indiana State) and Jordan Pope (Oregon State). At least three could start. Rodney Terry also landed top-five prospect Tre Johnson, one of the elite scorers in the 2024 high school class. Whether Kadin Shedrick can play with some consistency will be key.

Projected starting lineup

Jordan Pope (17.6 PPG at Oregon State)
Tramon Mark (16.2 PPG at Arkansas)
Tre Johnson (No. 5 in ESPN 100)
Jayson Kent (13.5 PPG at Indiana State)
Kadin Shedrick (7.7 PPG)

I don't disagree. I still think nabbing Omier would have been the icing on the cake and having Kent back him up at the 4, but we can work with this lineup that Terry has put together.

Looks like Hawkins is going to stay in the NBA Draft based on all of his quotes this week.

Hookem Headlines says Toppin is going to commit to us as soon as the NIL dust clears. Great Osobor really did all the bigs remaining in the portal a favor by disclosing what he was looking for, and now the expectation is that they'd have to use that as the bar for remaining available bigs. If we get Toppin, we're pretty much done:

Pope - Larry
Mark - Weaver
Johnson - Pryor - Presley
Toppin - Kent - Codie
Shedrick - Onyema

Talent-wise has a slight edge for 2024-25 (solely because of Johnson). I'm actually pumped about the depth:
  • Larry is a real PG and was credited with a lot of IndSt's success, especially in the NIT.
  • Weaver is Weaver and will probably be the first guy off the bench when we go small ball.
  • Kent is solid, and while he doesn't have the athleticism of Mitchell, he's better at playing solid minutes for longer stretches of time. My guess is that he'd be called for the "Brock Cunningham" role on D.
  • Little worried about rotating Shedrick and Onyema, but if that became a problem, we could play a smaller lineup with Toppin at the 5 and move everyone else up a slot (Weaver, Mark, Johnson would be 2, 3, and long-range 4).
 
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