Basketball Tracker: Longhorns Land In Top-5 For Nation's Top SG Keyonte George, PG Arterio Morris
With Shaka Smart gone, and Chris Beard now officially introduced as the new Texas Longhorns head basketball coach, rumors are beginning to fly in terms of roster turnover, staff hires, and recruiting interest
Under new head coach Chris Beard, the Longhorns recruiting momentum will need to hit the ground running, and attempt to salvage what is left of an already decimated roster.
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Stick with Longhorns Country for all of the latest basketball updates below:
MAY 20 2 PM UPDATE: The Texas Longhorns landed in the top-5 for a pair of highly talented DFW area recruits on Thursday, including the nation's top shooting guard, Keyonte George.
George made the announcement of his top-5 from his personal Twitter account.
Alongside the Longhorns, George listed Kentucky, Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Kansas in his final group.
“Coach Ulric Maligi called me and told me that I was one of the first players that they were calling,” George told 247Sports of his recruitment and relationship with the former Red Raiders assistant. “They wanted to make sure that I knew that I was still a priority as they made the move from Texas Tech to Texas so that was big for me.”
As the second top DFW-area recruit to name the Longhorns, Dallas Kimball high school Arterio Morris is one of the top prospects in the state of Texas and has often been compared to Ja Morant thanks to his athleticism and length.
Morris also named Oregon, Georgia, Kansas, and Florida in his final list.
APRIL 16 6:20 PM UPDATE: Chris Beard landed yet another impact transfer for the Texas Longhorns on Friday afternoon, when Creighton forward Christian Bishop committed to the program.
Bishop made the announcement via his social media platforms, choosing the Longhorns over Kansas and North Carolina.
“I really like these teams' style of play and I feel like I can fit well in any one of their systems, make the team better, and they'll make me better as well,” Bishop told 247 sports. “They all have really good history, always successful, and even though there've been different coaches around a couple of them they're all really good coaches who have good programs that will utilize me in the best way possible.”
Last season with Creighton, Bishop averaged 11 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 blockers per game, while hitting 68.1-percent from the field and 25-percent from three.
Bishop was the fourth-leading scorer and the leading rebounder for the Blue Jays in their Sweet 16 run.
APRIL 14 4 PM UPDATE: The Texas Longhorns lost their final signee of the Shaka Smart era on Wednesday when forward Keeyan Itejere flipped his commitment to Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles.
"I decided to change my commitment from Texas to Marquette Golden Eagles," Itejere tweeted in his announcement. "I'm excited to continue my basketball development with (Coach Smart)."
A more under-the-radar recruit, the Longhorns were Itejere's lone power five offer, with the big man's other offers coming from Rhode Island, Radford, Elon, Charleston Southern, and now Marquette.
Itejere is now the third former Longhorn commitment from the 2021 class to follow with Smart to Marquette, after Emarion Ellis and David Joplin (who committed to Marquette on Wednesday as well) pledged to the Golden Eagles this week.
APRIL 14, 3:35 PM UPDATE: Just days after committing to new head coach Chris Beard, Jaylon Tyson officially signed his ASA and will join the Texas Longhorns next season.
In his senior season, Tyson led John Paul II in Plano to a 26-2 overall record and a trip to the state semifinals. He also earned first-team all-state and was named as district MVP, averaging 22.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
In his junior season, Tyson averaged 23.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, leading the Cardinals to a 40-1 record and the school’s first-ever state championship.
APRIL 13, 2:45 PM UPDATE: New Texas Longhorns basketball coach Chris Beard got even more good news on Tuesday afternoon, when starting guard Andrew Jones announced his return to the program for the 2021-22 season.
Jones made his announcement via his Twitter account, just minutes after the commitment of Kentucky Transfer guard Devin Askew committed to the Longhorns.
Jones has had a bumpy road in Austin, after being diagnosed with Leukemia in January of 2018, finishing his treatment in chemotherapy treatment in August of that year, and then requiring offseason surgery in the summer of 2018-19 to repair a hip injury.
Last season, however, Jones was finally able to find his stride with the Horns once again, finishing the season as the team's leader in scoring at 14.6 points per game, as well as the team's third-leading assist man with 2.3 assists per game.
Jones also shot 40.8-percent from the floor and 33.8-percent from three in his redshirt junior season.
Earlier in the day senior guard, Jase Febres, also announced his return to the program, giving the Longhorns another sharpshooter and defender on the outside.
APRIL 13, 8:40 AM UPDATE: Texas Longhorns senior guard Jase Febres announced his intentions to return for one final season in Austin on Monday night, marking the first win for Chris Beard in terms of roster turnover.
Feres announced his decision on Instagram and will be using the COVID-19 eligibility rule to extend his playing career.
Last season, the senior averaged 5.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game for the Longhorns, making just 13 appearances.
With the losses Texas has suffered throughout the roster, however, Febres is likely to see his role increase to what it was in the previous two seasons under Shaka Smart, where he played an average of 30.4 minutes per game in 2019 and 27.1 minutes per game in 2018.
In those two seasons, Frebres averaged 9.1 points per game and shot 37.3-percent from three.
APRIL 9, NOON UPDATE: Texas Longhorns sophomore guard Donovan Williams has become the latest Longhorn to transfer from the 40 Acres, pledging his commitment to the University of Nevada Las Vegas on Friday.
Williams is the second Longhorn to pick the Rebels as his destination, after senior Royce Hamm committed to the Rebels on April 3.
A coveted recruit coming out of Houston Texas in the 2019 recruiting class, Williams never found his footing under former head coach Shaka Smart, averaging just 3.3 points over 41 appearances and just one start in two seasons with the Longhorns.
Williams' best game of the season came in the Longhorns 80-79 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in Austin on January 26, when he scored 11 points on 5-10 shooting in 20 minutes of action.
APRIL 7, 8:45 AM UPDATE: The Texas Longhorns lost another member of the 2020-21 roster on Tuesday when junior forward Kamaka Hepa entered the NCAA Transfer Portal as a grad transfer.
A former Gatorade Player of the Year for two different states (Alaska and Oregon), Hepa was one of the key team leaders for the Longhorns but never found his footing under Shaka Smart on the floor, averaging just 2.9 points and one rebound 6.4 minutes per game.
Hepa's time on the floor actually decreased every year during his time in Austin, playing 28 games his freshman season, 23 games his sophomore season, and just nine this past season.
Hepa's best game of the year came in the Longhorns 82-67 win over Kansas State on January 16, when he stepped for a COVID-affected Texas roster and scored 15 points in 26 minutes on 5-of-9 shooting.
APRIL 4, 8 AM UPDATE: The recruiting fall out from the exit of Shaka Smart continued for the Texas Longhorns on Saturday evening, when talented forward David Joplin asked for a release from his letter of intent.
“After a lot of discussion with my family I have decided to request a release from my letter of intent with the University of Texas Men’s Basketball team,” Joplin tweeted.
Joplin is the second Longhorn signee to ask for his release, following the same request from IMG Academy guard Tamar Bates on March 29th.
Following the exits of Joplin and Bates, the Longhorns 2021 recruiting class is down to just two players, in combo guard Emarion Ellis, and forward Keeyan Itejere.
APRIL 3, 6 PM UPDATE: Former Texas Longhorns forward Royce Hamm Jr. has officially found a new home after entering the transfer portal on March 23rd, selecting UNLV as his school of choice.
Disgruntled at his lack of playing time under former head coach Shaka Smart, Hamm's search for an increased playing time and a bigger role now takes him to the Group of Five, where the Rebels went 12-15 and finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference.
Hamm Jr. averaged 1.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and averaged 52.8-percent from the floor for the Longhorns this past season.
APRIL 2, 1 PM UPDATE: After cutting his list of top schools down to just five, elite frontcourt prospect Charles Bediako has added the Longhorns to his finalists, alongside a quartet of elite programs.
The 6-foot-11 215-pound big from IMG Academy is one of the top players at his position in the country and is known for his elite wingspan and his abilities as a shot-blocker and rebounder. Bediako also has skills in the paint but will need to improve in that area as he develops.
Bediako also listed Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State, and Duke in his top-five, but is thought to be leaning Alabama at this point.
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