Five days before the Sean Miller era officially begins with the Longhorns taking on the Duke Blue Devils, the Longhorns received good news on the recruiting front. Joe Sterling, a four star, 6-4, 180 lb. combo guard and native of Encinitas, California, committed to Miller and the Longhorns on Thursday afternoon.
Sterling was offered by Texas in September and visited the 40 Acres last weekend.
The other finalists for his services included New Mexico, UCSB, Washington State and Northern Iowa.
Sterling, who attends Harvard Westlake High School (Studio City, CA), is ranked as the 100th best prospect in the country, the 12th best combo guard in the nation and the eighth best player in the state of California according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
The scouting report from 247Sports has this to say about Sterling:
Sterling is a big-time shooter off the basketball who made 44% of his threes, on over 8 attempts per game, during the Pro16 season. He has extreme gravity as a floor spacer (12-18 on open catch-and-shoot threes), but is also a tough shot-maker off the bounce. He’s the type of threat who coaches can run off various types of screening action. Simultaneously, he’s a good ball-handler, who is very adept at probing the lane and holding his dribble until he gets just enough separation for his pull-up.
Adam Finkelstein
Physically, Sterling has solid positional size, but some athletic limitations, particularly at the rim. He actually shot a lower percentage inside the arc than he did beyond it during Pro16 play. Defensively, there are some correlating concerns as well, especially when he gets extended away from the basket or put in long close-out situations.
For whatever physical gifts he may lack, he compensates not just with skill, but intangibles and feel for the game. He passes and cuts well, all while understanding what his niche is, and has been extremely well coached. He’s also an elite competitor with innate competitiveness.
Sterling joins shooting guard and Westlake High School product Bo Ogden as recruits in the Longhorns’ 2026 recruiting class.
