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Texas Basketball Recruiting: Ranking the past five classes for the Longhorns

By Andrew Miller

AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 21: Jarrett Allen #31, Andrew Jones #1 and Shaquille Cleare #32 of the Texas Longhorns high five during the game with the UAB Blazers at the Frank Erwin Center on December 21, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 21: Jarrett Allen #31, Andrew Jones #1 and Shaquille Cleare #32 of the Texas Longhorns high five during the game with the UAB Blazers at the Frank Erwin Center on December 21, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 19: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns talks to Myles Turner #52 in the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Consol Energy Center on March 19, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 19: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns talks to Myles Turner #52 in the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Consol Energy Center on March 19, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

5. 2014

One of the most highly-touted recruits of the 2014 class in the nation for high school basketball was five-star Euless, TX, center Myles Turner. While Turner is a well-known name in the NBA now with the Indiana Pacers, and went as a lottery pick in the 2015 NBA Draft to the same team, he wasn’t used the right way with Texas.

Turner was expected to be the next be thing under Rick Barnes, but he was misused given his unique skill set as a center/power forward. He’s a stretch forward that can both guard the rim down low and hit some mid-range shots on a consistent basis. In his one season with the Horns, Turner started just seven games.

The decision to depart early for Turner was definitely a good one since he had a solid rookie campaign in the NBA with the Pacers. He’s been through a few different star teammates in Indiana too including the Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George (and looming free agent) and breakout shooting guard Victor Oladipo.

However, this was the only occasion in the past five recruiting cycles in which the Horns didn’t have a top 20 ranked class. The only other commitment in this class came from four-star small forward Jordan Barnett who ended up transferring to join the Mizzou Tigers prior to the 2015-16 season. Barnett and Turner combined to start just seven games for Texas in total which could be considered an absolute catastrophe for the 2014 recruiting class for the program.

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