Former Texas Guard Jordan Pope on Verge of Landing With SEC Rival

The Texas Longhorns continue to work their way through summer practices ahead of the second season under head coach Sean Miller.

There's only four returners on the roster this upcoming season among 11 newcomers after an offseason of major turnover.

Many fans were hoping one of those returners could have been guard Jordan Pope, who played the past two years at Texas. He was even on campus in Austin at the team's facility in July while recovering from foot surgery, as Texas Longhorns on SI reported, while waiting out the 2022 eligibility court ruling.

However, the Longhorns don't have a roster spot open for Pope. As a result, he's now trending toward landing with the Texas A&M Aggies, per reports from Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68.

Texas A&M Already Has Two Former Longhorns on Roster

Texas A&M Aggies forward Jamie Vinson (4) makes a jump shot against Texas Longhorns center Matas Vokietaitis (8) during the first half at Moody Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Pope was down to Texas and Texas A&M two years ago when he entered the transfer portal after starting his career with Oregon State.

If Pope ends up choosing Texas A&M, the Aggies would then have three former Longhorns on their 2026-27 roster, all of whom were teammates for one season during the 2024-25 campaign.

Texas A&M brought in former Longhorns reserve forward Preston Clark along with returning big man Jamie Vinson for another season.

It doesn't stop there though, as Texas A&M also has on its staff former Texas assistant coach Frank Haith, former Texas strength and conditioning coach Darby Rich and former Texas video intern Edward Zeng.

Sean Miller Grateful for Jordan Pope, Chendall Weaver

Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller answers questions during a press conference before a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If Texas had the room for them, it's likely Miller would have been open to bringing either Pope or Weaver back for one more season, but their eligibility cases didn't get resolved until late in the offseason when the Longhorns had already put together their 15-man roster.

That said, Miller made it clear last month when speaking to the media that he's "forever grateful" for what Pope, Weaver and Tramon Mark all did for Texas during his first year as head coach.

"I want them to do well. They gave us everything that they had," Miller said. "They graduated from this university. Jordan graduated this summer. Chendall graduated in the spring. They poured their heart out, went through a coaching change, and both Chendall Weaver and Jordan Pope, and ditto for Tramon Mark, I look at those three guys as when we talk about creating momentum for the future. All three of those guys had a lot to do with creating that momentum for us moving forward, and I'm forever grateful. I think we all are. They're always welcome back, and if they get an opportunity to have a fifth year, and that's what they want to pursue, then I want them to do really well."

Of course, Miller will be hoping that Pope doesn't do well when the Longhorns and Aggies face off twice during SEC play on Feb. 16 and March 6 this upcoming season.

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