Texas MBB Timeline: Commitment Woes and Portal Heroes

Photo: © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

It has been a very tumultuous past two months for Texas Men’s Basketball. From falling to Miami in the Elite Eight to losing both of their 5-star commits in the 2023 class, newly-signed Head Coach Rodney Terry has had his hands full. Let’s take a look at a timeline of all the recent news and player transactions to keep you up-to-date. 

March 26: Texas falls to Miami in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight by a final score of 88-81, and the top 3 scorers in that game for Texas have all played their final collegiate basketball game. 

March 27: Rodney Terry is hired as the 26th Head Coach of the Texas Men’s Basketball team. 

March 31: G Tyrese Hunter declares for the NBA Draft. Hunter started all 38 games for the Longhorns this past season and averaged 30.2 minutes per game to go with 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as well. Hunter had the lowest FG% of any player that averaged more than 10 minutes per game with 39.4%, yet was a vital young piece to Terry and company. He did state, though, that he will maintain his college eligibility and may make a return to the Longhorns after all. 

April 7: G Rowan Brumbaugh enters the transfer portal. Brumbaugh red-shirted last season and didn’t play a game for the ‘Horns but was a top 100 player in his 2022 class. 

April 10: G Arterio Morris enters the transfer portal. Morris averaged 4.6 points and 1.4 rebounds a game while playing 11.8 minutes per game off the bench for the Horns. Morris was in-line to start for the Longhorns this coming season after losing both Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice. Along with this, Brumbaugh commits to play at Georgetown. 

April 12: F Dillon Mitchell declares for the NBA Draft. Mitchell averaged 17.4 minutes, 4.3 points, and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Longhorns this past season and played in all 38 games as well. Mitchell, who showed very promising flashes as a freshman yet also struggled at times, is a super-athlete that has scouts foaming at the mouth. He has immense rim-protection ability and his potential seems to be through the roof. He also will maintain his college eligibility and could return to Terry and co. next season. 

April 13: 5-Star PG A.J. Johnson decommits from Texas to join Australia’s NBL. The 6-foot-6 youngster from California is a projected 2024 NBA Lottery Pick and will be skipping collegiate basketball to head for the pros. 

April 23: F Dylan Disu announces he will return to Texas for the upcoming season. This might be, up to this point, the biggest win for Rodney Terry and the Horns, as Disu averaged 19 minutes, 8.8 points, and 4.4 rebounds per game last season. In the NCAA tournament, though, is where the real magic happened. Disu averaged 22.5 points and 10 rebounds in the first 2 tournament games, yet only played 2 minutes against Xavier and sat out against Miami. Regardless, he seemed unstoppable when on the floor at the end of the year and should be a high-caliber player this coming season. With this news as well, F Kadin Shedrick transfers to Texas from Virginia. The 6-foot-11 giant averaged 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds last season, along with a solid 17.5 minutes per game as well. Shedrick gives the Longhorns some much needed defense and rim-protection for this coming season. 

April 27th: G Max Abmas transfers to Texas from Oral Roberts. Abmas, the top guard in the portal at the time, averaged a whopping 21.9 points per game last season along with 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Abmas is an absolutely huge pickup for the Horns and should be an immediate impact player this coming season. 

April 28: 5-star F and No. 2 recruit in the class of 2023 Ron Holland decommits from Texas. At 6-foot-8, Holland is an elite player that can dominate at both ends of the floor. The McDonald’s All-American will look to find a new home, but Texas does remain in the mix as they will continue to pursue Holland throughout the recruiting process. Along with this, Arterio Morris commits to playing for Kansas next season. 

May 4: PG Chandall Weaver and F Ze’Rik Onyema both transfer to Texas. Weaver, who played at UT-Arlington his freshman season, averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while playing an average of 29.5 minutes per game as well. He shot over 40% from the three-point line and now provides Texas with some more offensive fire-power. Onyema played at UTEP last season and averaged 7.1 points along with 4.4 rebounds and 20.2 minutes per game. He should provide some nice depth for the Horns and be an important bench presence as the season progresses. 

There is still plenty of time before the season starts for the Texas Men’s Basketball team, so it will be interesting to see how the new roster looks by then… Only time will tell. 

-Twitter: @RSwantkowski