Texas Basketball: 5 early NCAA Transfer Portal targets for 2020 offseason

There’s a handful of gem targets that Smart and the Texas basketball program could have in the transfer portal as they likely look to enter the 2020 offseason. The Longhorns do have positional needs across the board since they don’t have a single commitment in their 2020 recruiting class. Granted we don’t know exactly when National Signing Day 2020 will arrive in the college basketball world.

Still, Texas has to make sure their depth is taken care of at each spot in the rotation. If Texas loses any of the quad of guards that includes rising junior Courtney Ramey, senior Matt Coleman, junior Andrew Jones, and/or sophomore Donovan Williams, they are very much in trouble. This is where shoring up the backcourt depth with the Harvard Crimson to-be redshirt senior point guard Bryce Aiken is an idea that comes into play.

Texas could always use volume scoring help and a solid outside shooter. The outside shooting did improve under Smart in the season that was, but they could still use some extra help. Aiken shot 36.1 percent from beyond the arc and 87.1 percent from the charity stripe last season with Harvard. His field goal shooting percentage did leave a bit to be desired (41.2), but it was weighed down by him taking more than five-three point attempts per game.

In the season that was, Aiken averaged 16.7 points per game, 1.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 steals. His defensive improve by a good margin last season, at a career-best 98.4. His .137 win shares per 40 minutes is also a solid number that shows the value he brought in just seven games played for Harvard.

The usage rate of around 32 percent over the course of Aiken’s career shows that he could be a good volume scoring presence off the bench for the Longhorns next season.