Texas Basketball: Myles Turner wanted to be a Duke Blue Devil

The biggest signee in the 2014 Texas basketball recruiting class apparently almost choose either Duke or Kansas over the Longhorns.

As one of the top six ranked 2014 high school prospects in the nation during his recruitment, former Texas basketball standout center Myles Turner was one of the biggest commits that former head coach Rick Barnes ever landed during his time on the Forty Acres. Turner was part of a loaded center class during the 2014 recruiting cycle that was able to make a lot of noise at the college and NBA level so far.

The 2014 recruiting class in general, at least among the players that wound up going the college route instead of overseas, had a ton of raw forward and big talent. And the Texas Longhorns basketball program was able to get in on the action by signing the National Letter of Intent for the nation’s third ranked 2014 high school center prospect Turner.

However, in an interesting conversation with ESPN’s college hoops insider and analyst Jordan Schultz on May 6, Turner opened up on the feelings he had during his recruitment (more specifically on the morning he was announcing his decision). Apparently the decision for Turner to commit to the Longhorns wasn’t as clear as some would think.

On the morning of his commitment, Turner stated that he was considering choosing head coach Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks. But he ultimately decided to commit to Texas because “it felt like home”. He also state that “I love my Longhorns”, ensuring the hoops fans on the Forty Acres that he doesn’t fully regret that decision for his college career.

The final set of 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions for Turner before he announced his commitment to Texas did have the Longhorns out as the favorites over the likes of Kansas, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and SMU Mustangs. This Trinity High School Product and Euless, TX, native would stay in-state at the college level.

As a whole, Turner held offers from nearly two-dozen schools. One of those offers did come from the Duke Blue Devils, which is apparently the school that he was initially leaning toward over the likes of the Longhorns and Jayhawks. There’s nothing wrong with that since Duke tends to land the top ranked men’s hoops recruiting class in the nation often.

Other significant offers he held came from the Ohio State Buckeyes, Arizona Wildcats, Baylor Bears, Indiana Hoosiers, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, Oklahoma Sooners, Purdue Boilermakers, Texas A&M Aggies, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, and defending National Champion Virginia Cavaliers.

Back during the 2014 recruiting cycle, Turner was the top ranked prospect out of Texas. He was ranked just ahead of eventual Kansas signee and Phoenix Suns small forward Kelly Oubre Jr.

And the top two ranked centers from the 2014 class ahead of Turner were Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s quite a group of accomplished college centers, and one NBA star, to be ranked behind in just one recruiting cycle.

Turner wouldn’t have the best season in his one year with the Longhorns, at least compared to the hype he had coming out of high school. He would play in the final season for Barnes as head coach of Texas men’s hoops. Turner is now standing out as the starting center of the Indiana Pacers.