Impact of commitment from 3-Star PF David Joplin to Texas basketball

The 2021 Texas basketball recruiting class continued to improve their outlook on Aug. 16 by landing a commitment from 3-Star PF David Joplin.

Head coach Shaka Smart continued his resounding work on the trail of late for the 2021 Texas basketball recruiting class over the weekend with the announcement of the commitment of another three-star prospect. On the afternoon of Aug. 16, the Texas men’s hoops program had it announced to the public that they would be adding the commitment of three-star Brookfield Central power forward David Joplin to the 2021 class.

This is the fourth commitment that the Longhorns have landed on the hoops recruiting trail since the end of the month of April. Texas added the elite five-star hometown Vandegrift power forward Greg Brown as the lone signee in the 2020 recruiting class back in spring.

Since then, the Longhorns have also added the pledges of three-star Assumption 6-foot-5 and 175 pound point guard Emarion Ellis and three-star 6-foot-9 and 190 pound Grace Christian School power forward Keeyan Itejere. The commitment of Itejere was the first in the 2021 class, which came back on June 22.

And the commitment of the promising Ellis came just a few weeks back, on July 28.

Moreover, the announcement of the pledge of Joplin to the Longhorns 2021 class dropped on his Twitter timeline on Aug. 16. He is now the highest rate commit in the 2021 class, and adds another valuable potential piece of this frontcourt rotation.

Texas definitely needs the depth help from the 2021 class, as Brown was the lone addition to the program from the incoming 2020 signing class.

https://twitter.com/David_Joplin24/status/1295105267265179648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1295105267265179648%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.burntorangenation.com%2F2020%2F8%2F16%2F21371351%2Fshaka-smart-texas-land-pledge-from-3-star-pf-david-joplin

Joplin picked the Longhorns over offers from 11 other schools. Out of the dozen schools on his offer sheet, the highlights included the Georgetown Hoyas, Iowa State Cyclones, Butler Bulldogs, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Mizzou Tigers, UNLV Rebels, and Vanderbilt Commodores. He also had reported scout looks from the Iowa Hawkeyes, Marquette Golden Eagles, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Wisconsin Badgers.

This 6-foot-7 and 215 pound potent forward hails out of Brookfield, WI, and was largely trending to the Longhorns over the last couple of weeks. He ranks as the nation’s No. 187 2021 high school prospect, No. 38 power forward, and No. 5 prospect out of Wisconsin (247Sports Composite). The Top247 slots him as the nation’s No. 147 high school prospect, No. 30 power forward, and No. 5 prospect out of Wisconsin.

Rivals is even higher on Joplin, ranking him as the nation’s No. 112 high school prospect and the No. 20 power forward.

What Joplin brings to the table for the Longhorns is a very versatile and strong forward that offers a lot of value on both ends of the floor. He’s a very solid rebounder, on-ball defender, and smart defending off-ball too. He has the size and strength to hold his own on both ends of the floor down low. And he can drive through contact and effectively finish at the rim when needed.

Joplin already has the strength and frame to hold up at the three or the four playing in the Big 12. That could be scary for what he’ll do once he actually arrives on the Forty Acres for his freshman campaign, ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Moreover, Joplin is an underrated distributor and runs effectively with the ball in transition. He’s quick enough to beat opposing perimeter defenders off the dribble, and he could also be an effective ball handler to run a pick-and-roll from the three or the four.

Where Joplin needs to improve is with his consistency in outside shooting and shot selection in general. He can get impatient at times and pull up when there’s better options out there. The good news there is that he has plenty of time to consistently develop his court vision, and he definitely has a lot of promise in that area.

Although Texas already has one commitment in the 2021 class at the power forward position, Itejere and Joplin bring very different skill sets to the table. They should play well off of each other and add a lot of utility to Smart’s frontcourt rotation.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas hoops recruiting class ranks at No. 24 in the nation and is up to the third spot in the Big 12. The only two programs out of the Big 12 that rank ahead of the Longhorns are the Baylor Bears and Kansas Jayhawks.

Next up for Texas should be targeting further the elite five-star Atlanta High School big man Daimion Collins. Texas seems to have a leg up in pursuit of the in-state product Collins, but the momentum should be building to continue winning his interest over to the Forty Acres.