© Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA
Texas Longhorns Edge Billy Walton III To Enter NCAA Transfer Portal
The Texas Longhorns have suffered a talented loss to the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The Texas Longhorns are beginning to take some talented, albeit expected losses to the NCAA Transfer Portal.
In fact, on Monday alone, the Longhorns have now lost two talented prospects to the transfer market.
The first loss came from linebacker S'Maje Burrell, who announced his intentions to enter the portal following a suspension last week. The next came from interior offensive lineman Payton Kirkland, who was reported to be entering the portal on Monday morning after one season with the team.
Now, a third member of the 2023 class has followed suit, with reports indicating that edge rusher Billy Walton III plans to enter his name into the portal when it opens on Tuesday.
Texas defensive end Billy Walton III (31) gestures at the crowd of Texas fans as the team runs out
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA
Coming out of South Oak Cliff (TX), Walton was rated as a consensus three-star recruit by all four major recruiting services.
All that said, none of these three losses were entirely unexpected. Entering the offseason with 89 scholarship players on the roster, some movement needed to be made in order to get down to the 85-player limit.
And due to the suspension of Burrell, and the plethora of depth ahead of Kirkland on the interior of the offensive line - and the fact that neither ever appeared in a game for Texas - both players seemed like prime candidates to exit the program for new opportunities.
The same cannot be said for Walton, however, who appeared in two games during his freshman season against Wyoming and Baylor. He did not record a stat in either game, however, and was facing similar competition at his position from both returning starters and new incoming talent on the edge.
After the departure of Walton, the Longhorns will still have to find two more spots to trim down in order to reach the 85-player limit - And should they want to make any more additions, perhaps more.
