Texas Longhorns Lose Another Player to the Transfer Portal

The Texas Longhorns are experiencing some more changes to the roster this offseason due to the transfer portal.

Per reports from On3, Texas forward Declan Duru Jr. is entering the transfer portal after just one season in Austin. He joined the team after playing overseas for Real Madrid and Germany's U19 FIBA World Cup team but averaged just 1.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 12 appearances with the Longhorns this past season.

Duru Jr. will now look for an opportunity elsewhere that will allow him more playing time next season, perhaps at the mid-major level.

Texas Has Lost Four Players to the Transfer Portal

Texas Longhorns forward Declan Duru Jr. dribbles the ball during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

The Longhorns have now lost four players to the portal, as Duru joins forward Nic Codie, guard Simeon Wilcher and forward Camden Heide as those that will be leaving Austin to pursue other opportunities.

But in return, Texas has built the No. 2 overall portal class so far with the additions of Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson and TCU forward David Punch, who both committed to the Longhorns over the weekend.

As for Duru, he scored a season-high five points and had two rebounds in Texas' win over Chaminade in the Maui Invitational. He also appeared in SEC games against Tennessee and Arkansas.

Miller said early in the season that he had been "very impressed" with Duru, particularly on defense when it came to getting deflections.

"I've been really impressed with Declan," Miller said. "It's very difficult for freshmen in college basketball to miss the summer. In his case, played for his national team, we weren't able to get him here into the country until the fall semester began. But his ceiling is high. And in 12 minutes of play, he had 10 deflections, just so you guys know, if you get six deflections in a game and you play 32 minutes, that's outstanding. That means you're impacting winning in a big way."

Miller added that he wanted to see Duru play a role off the bench but things never turned out that way.

"My hope is that Declan becomes one of the story lines of this season off the bench, where he can give us a spark in depth, and we can call on him throughout the season. But Declan is also one of our youngest players, so he's very young. ... Just watching the progress he's made, it's very exciting to see, because I think he has a bright future."

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