Next year and the portal is now open

Abmas, Disu, Horton, Cunningham, and Shedrick are done. Hunter may be back but I wouldn’t count on it. Even less likely that Mitchell returns. That leaves only Weaver as anyone with any significant playing time. Terry is high on freshmen Devon Pryor and Chris Johnson. Onemya is the only big man and he didn’t appear to have great hands and needs a lot of work. He has a solid three man recruiting class if they all show up. He needs at least a solid point guard, and two strong physical f/c out of the portal.

 

Keeping Tre Johnson and Cam Scott signed are priority #1a and #1b. Johnson was other-worldly at LHHS and I haven't really kept up with him at the private/charter he transferred to. He's got a little bit of everything in his game (speed, slams, D, hands) and would be our best overall recruit since either Turner or Bamba. The big issue with retention is that he plays kind of the same position as Chris Johnson, so we'll see if they want Tre playing forward and Chris playing "big SG" or something like that.

Nic Codie out of Newman Smith would be a great keep, but he's very light in the frame. Some people joked that Durant was actually about 6'10" 165 lbs when he signed, and that might describe Codie pretty well. He can get to Mitchell's weight an athleticism, but we'll need to see how he develops.

Based on who else might leave that isn't on the aforementioned list, my guess is that we go for 5 in the portal:
PG
PG
SG
Post
Post

Weaver (assuming he stays) will be the combo guard in a 3-guard lineup.

Lineup on opening night in 11/2024 will probably be something like:
1. C Weaver - Portal PG
2. C Johnson - Portal SG
3. T Johnson - C Scott - A Anamekwe
4. Portal Swing? - D Pryor - N Codie
5. Z Onyema - Portal Post - Portal Post

 

This has to be a joke?? I know the tt fans hate him.

 

Trilly Donovan is saying that Mitchell will enter the portal.

 

He will have to work on ball handling and shooting wherever he goes. So if he can magically do those things by the start of next season, then we know it’s the coaching. If he can’t, then we know it’s him and his ability. It’s actually a perfect experiment.

 

Not surprised at all. I expect Hunter probably will as well, but that is just a guess.

 

Almost 1k players already in the portal. I read that is close to 20% of all D1 players.

I think this will be RTs biggest challenge yet. He has to replace this year's roster with a more talented competitive squad for next year.

Gone are the days of building a roster of HS recruits and developing them over a couple of years. It's now creating a whole new recipe for success every year.

 

A significant challenge lies in creating good team chemistry from year to year, while your roster is turning over at a higher rate than ever. So it's not just assessing a guy's game skills, but also assessing how all the pieces will fit together, both on and off the court.

 

SN you are exactly right. Most importantly it is about finding that keystone player. Just think of how different the season may have gone if Dalton Knecht had come to Texas instead of Tennessee (not that it was ever in the cards, its just an example). That one player potentially would have been an answer to a number of deficiencies that this year's team had especially opening up the floor for Disu and better looks for Abmas. If Terry holds on to Holland, that has the same effect but probably to a lesser degree as a freshman. In any event, Terry has to get bigger stronger players inside and at least one Alpha leader, preferably two with one being a point guard (didn't make any sense to me for Brumbaugh to transfer but maybe he just wanted to be closer to home).

 

Which is why everyone needs to read Coach K's book and get with the mindset. Duke would lose so many guys to attrition/draft each year, but if you have that culture it doesn't matter who shows up to play.

 

The article is free.

 

TFB reporting that Dillon Mitchell has entered the portal.

PG Max Abmas, F Dylan Disu, F Brock Cunningham, and W Ithiel Horton were all grad transfers or seniors and will be gone.

Terry trying to hold on to Weaver. Hunter might come back because NBA odds are not good for him.

Shedrick will return.

Texas has offered double-digit players in the portal already.

 

cnb thanks for the info it would be great to know who we sign

 

My thoughts on each of those guys mentioned:

Dia, Belmont - Even if he did have interest from us, I think he's more likely regionally-bound (Tennessee, Kentucky, etc.) and it looks like he's considering D-League too.

Dawes, Rice - He's kind of a nothing burger. Didn't really even play much against us.

Garrison, OK State - Similar to Shedrick if we lose Shedrick. He can get starter's minutes and fill a role on the post. I like that he pretty much stayed down low and we wouldn't have to rely on him to step out like Disu.

Lampkin, CU/TCU - Was ok against us with backup minutes when we played the Horned Frogs. Kind of gotten too big since he left Fort Worth. But we need post players and he'd be good for 10 minutes/night.

Mayo - South Dakota St. - He'd be our "Abmas" for a year. Can jack up shots with very little space. He was a lifelong KU fan, however, so I could see him going home for a year. I'm not sure if he'd make waves in the draft. Needs another college year.

Peavy, TCU/Tech - I'd take him in a heartbeat. He's got swing forward size and a history of solid contributions in games. It's a little concerning that he's transferring his way through every Texas school, but whatever.

Porter, MTSU - Out of Cy Ridge, he was a risk factor and the big Texas schools passed on him. Looks like he's got his act together and he'd be ok off the bench as a guard.

Stojakovic, Stanford - We were in the final 3 for his recruitment because his famous dad liked Beard, but looks like he didn't do well at a pretty crappy year for Stanford. If he can improve his 3-point percentage, he'd be a great fit anywhere.

Storr, Wisconsin/St. Johns - He's one of those people who never seems happy where he is. Transferred to like 3 different HS's and now is looking for the third college in three years. He was easily Wisconsin's best player this year, and that would translate well to the SEC. He was the best conference tournament player in the B1G but didn't shoot well in their upset to JMU.

 

Any idea on who has been offered. I tried to look at some lists of players in the portal, but it made my head hurt. Shedrick has a covid year left?

 

Chris Johnson is headed to the portal according to BON.

 

Tre Johnson lit it up from the arc in the McD AA game:
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/fiv...e-pleased-by-the-mcdonald-s-all-american-game

The other Johnson portalling kind of frees up that spot for Tre, assuming he honors the commitment. He clearly wants to play the swing role, sitting beyond the arc until they need him to slash elsewhere.

 

And the hits just keep coming. I am sure we can build from the portal but doesnt seem like a recipe for success.

 

The post I saw on BON said he had an agent. So probably looking for nil money (what his value would be after not being able to crack the rotation on a very thin team I have no idea). He did originally sign with KU and backed out and came to Texas. From a basketball minute standpoint it makes no sense with the lack of production coming back. Maybe he and his agent feel like Terry's system is not a good fit. But LL you are right that this ongoing turnstile is not a recipe for success unless you are bringing in 2-3 lottery or near lottery picks every year.

 

Bronny James has been posting uniform pics in pretty much every major college basketball team gear, including Texas. Word has it that he'll go play for Duquesne for a year before Lebron/Bronny sign for the same NBA team.

 

Never got to post about Johnell Davis when I heard he was portaling. Figured he would just head to NBA/G-League.

He's a tournament wizard. Makes really tough shots and plays D well. If I had to put him on a spectrum of former Texas players, he'd be somewhere between Brandon Mouton (good shooting) and Royal Ivey (good energy and team D). He's about their size too. Davis really was the glue that held FAU's tournament run together until they hit SDSU last year. I'd LOVE for him to sign here if he doesn't get out of the portal to go pro.

Watched a ton of Brandon Garrison's clips from the last couple years and his HS recruitment. He's the kind of guy who could go off for 18/10/3 any given night, but I wasn't really paying attention to him the last time we played the Pokes. He was really limited in 20 minutes of play and didn't make any impression. But he had some great games against BYU and WVU (who OK State beat while we lost to them). Had 5 blocks in the conference tournament loss to UCF. We've been lacking a post presence on D for a while.

 

Looks like Johnell is looking at Louisville pretty hard. If not G league.

I just read Stojakovich has a visit with Cal 4/20.

Not seeing any other movement in the crystal ball for us. There are 46 coaching changes happening in Men’s bball. Gonna be a wild ride this portal season.

 

Storr to Illinois. Good move for him.

Mayo to KU as predicted.

Javon Small spent last year with the Pokes as well. He was consistent on the offensive side of the ball, but kind of a turnover machine. We're in dire need of all positions right now, and beggars can't be choosers, so I wouldn't be opposed to him following us to the SEC.

Oumar Ballo making waves today... 247 moved him to their #1 portal recruit. I always thought he looked goofy out there but he was just so consistent for Arizona. It was like a guaranteed "Chris Mihm" kind of night every night statistically.

Our biggest fears haven't quite been realized yet, but the way the portal is shaping up, we've got to start building momentum by nabbing someone in the top-30(ish) available. Others will follow if we can say we're building something. Our only big selling angle right now is "come play with Tre Johnson!" and that only really invites bigs or really small combo/point guys.

 

My impression is that Texas is currently, at best, a second-tier destination for players in the portal. Terry will have to change that, and I don't think last year will move the needle in that direction. On the upside, it only takes one, or possibly two to change everything.

 

When has Texas NOT been a second tier destination for basketball?

 

I guess it depends on the definition of top tier. Unlikely that Texas will ever be on the level of Uconn, Duke, Kansas, NC, Arizona, Kentucky and the like, but Beard was pretty successful with guys that were highly thought of such as Carr, Allen, Hunter (at the time for sure), Rice (not sure about Disu given his injury concerns but I think he was as well). Terry's portal recruiting was not at that level even coming off the elite 8 run. Holland was the biggest loss and if he had not gone to gleague ignite we might be having a different discussion.