Texas Named Finalist for a Defensive Player of the Year in Transfer Portal

The Texas Longhorns made the final list for a lockdown defender in the transfer portal.

Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller speaks with the media during a practice session ahead of the first four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at University of Dayton Arena. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns have yet to add their first transfer portal commitment of the offseason but the program could be on the cusp of changing that.

The only major roster news Texas has received since the end of the season is that star forward Dailyn Swain will declare for the 2026 NBA Draft, as expected. Other than that, no one on the roster has entered the portal and no new players have committed. That will certainly change over the few weeks.

But on Wednesday, Texas found itself involved in some more portal news, though it remains to be seen what will come of it.

Texas Among Finalists for San Diego State Guard Miles Byrd

San Diego State Aztecs guard Miles Byrd against the Arizona Wildcats during the Hall of Fame Series at Mortgage Matchup Center. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Per reports from college basketball insider Jeff Goodman, the Longhorns are one of seven finalists for San Diego State guard Miles Byrd, who was named the Defensive Player of the Year in the Mountain West this season.

The other six finalists are Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Baylor, Louisville and Providence. Per reports from On3, Providence is seen as the leader to land Byrd. He is expected to announce his decision on Thursday.

He finished the year averaging 10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, a career-high 1.2 blocks and 1.9 steals. Byrd stuffed the stat sheet on the defensive end while being a consistent double-digit scoring threat.

Texas being named a finalist for Byrd certainly came as somewhat of a surprise. There had been no reports of the Longhorns being heavily involved in his portal recruitment, so for Byrd to have them as a finalist means he either sees Austin as his next home or is simply just trying to gain NIL leverage at his preferred destination. The latter appears more likely.

If the Longhorns were to land Byrd though, he would give Texas a lockdown defender on the wing. The Longhorns struggled mightily on defense this past season and will need to address that area in the portal in a major way, with or without Byrd.

Texas is already saying goodbye to solid backcourt defenders in Tramon Mark and Chendall Weaver to go along with likely losing Swain, who led the team in steals per game (1.6) this season.

Seeing Texas as a finalist for Byrd is a positive sign about how recruits view Sean Miller and the program, but Longhorn fans shouldn't get their hopes up about landing him.

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