Texas Basketball: 4-Star PF David Jopling requests release from LOI

More bad news arrived for the 2021 Texas basketball recruiting class on the afternoon of April 3. As new Texas head coach Chris Beard gets things set following his hire to replace Shaka Smart from back on April 1, the program is still reeling with the negative impacts on the recruiting trail. Texas has largely seen their 2021 class fragment off since Smart left the program to take the head coaching job with the Marquette Golden Eagles back on March 26.

The Longhorns already saw the talented now former four-star commit and IMG Academy blue chip shooting guard Tamar Bates request a release from his signed National Letter of Intent last month. Now half of the Longhorns 2021 hoops recruiting class is looking like it will be gone, as four-star Brookfield Central 6-foot-7 and 215 pound power forward David Joplin also requested a release from his signed letter of intent on April 3.

On his Twitter timeline on the afternoon of April 3, the Wisconsin native Joplin posted a statement on the request of release from his letter of intent. He stated that he requested the release “after a lot of discussion with his family”, which is a pretty usual way for commits to publicly announce the re-opening of their recruitment.

What Texas basketball is losing in 4-Star PF David Joplin?

As the decommitments from the Longhorns 2021 class continue to rain down, we have to take a look at what kind of impact that will have on Beard with this new-look coaching staff. Losing Bates and Joplin in the 2021 class is a big deal. But both roster attrition and volatility on the recruiting trail are expected with an abrupt change in coaching regimes at a program like Texas.

Joplin was one of three commits/signees remaining in the Longhorns 2021 class. Now the two remaining are four-star Assumption combo guard Emarion Ellis and three-star Grace Christian School power forward Keeyan Itejere.

For the time being, it looks like the Longhorns will be able to hang onto the signed LOI’s of Ellis and Itejere.

Joplin in particular ranks as the nation’s No. 114 2021 high school prospect, No. 19 power forward, and No. 3 prospect out of Wisconsin (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 74 high school prospect, No. 17 power forward, and No. 4 prospect out of Wisconsin.

Originally having received his Texas scholarship offer back on July 15, 2020, it didn’t take long for Joplin to commit to Smart’s 2021 class. He gave his commitment to the Longhorns 2021 class back on Aug. 16 2020 and then signed his letter of intent during the Early Signing Period on Nov. 11.

Joplin had committed to Texas in August 2020 over offers from more than 10 other schools. Some of the other notable schools that offered him include the Butler Bulldogs, Georgetown Hoyas, Iowa State Cyclones, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Mizzou Tigers, and Vanderbilt Commodores.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class will now rank at 55 in the nation following the loss of the commitment of Joplin. Texas previously held a top 25 recruiting class in the nation with both Joplin and Bates. And even without Bates, Texas had a top 40 class in the nation.