Texas Basketball: Predicting next commit in Longhorns 2021 class

3) Predicting next commit in 2021 Texas basketball recruiting class: AJ Neal

If Smart and the Longhorns really want to dig deep to find their next gem to help the backcourt rotation in the 2021 recruiting class, then look no further than three-star West Oaks Academy combo guard AJ Neal. While landing a commitment from Neal wouldn’t look as big on the surface as the pledge from Ellis did, it would still be crucial to add depth to the backcourt rotation.

Texas is soon to lose the likes of junior combo guard Courtney Ramey and senior point guard Matt Coleman. Smart will soon need to find a way to replace the production of those two. He did well to land commitments from Ellis and four-star IMG Academy shooting guard Tamar Bates. He could go one step further by winning over a commitment from Neal.

The 6-foot-1 and 175 pound Neal does have some traction with the Longhorns already. Texas is one of the two dozen schools on his lengthy offer sheet as of the evening of Sep. 23. Other highlighting schools that have offered this skilled product coming out of Orlando, FL, includes the Florida State Seminoles, Auburn Tigers, Kansas State Wildcats, NC State Wolfpack, Ole Miss Rebels, Oklahoma State Cowboys, SMU Mustangs, TCU Horned Frogs, and UCF Knights.

Neal ranks as the nation’s No. 140 2021 high school prospect, No. 12 combo guard, and No. 18 prospect out of Florida (247Sports Composite). As a versatile offensive scorer with some upside on defense, Neal would add a lot of utility to Smart’s backcourt rotation. That would be nice to have on top of commitments from Ellis and Bates.