Texas Basketball gets enormous transfer pickup in Devin Askew

The potential configuration of the roster for next season for the Texas basketball program is starting to come together of late. Newly hired Texas head coach Chris Beard is starting to take advantage of all of the craziness to the NCAA Transfer Portal around the college hoops landscape this offseason.

As anticipated, most of the roster movement in and out of the transfer portal for Beard and the Longhorns in the first couple of weeks after he was hired as head coach looked pretty bad. Texas experienced a plethora of roster attrition in the first two weeks after the former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Beard was hired back on April 1.

But things are starting to steady out of late for Beard and the Longhorns as they could be moving into another phase of the offseason with the NCAA Tournament now concluded. Texas has two additions out of the transfer portal in the last few days after experiencing a plethora of losses in the prior 10 days.

One of the most notable transfer portal additions in recent memory for the Longhorns basketball program arrived this week in the form of a former elite five-star recruiting target. To-be sophomore point guard and the former Kentucky Wildcats five-star recruit Devin Askew was one of the initial hauls out of the transfer portal this offseason for Beard and the Longhorns.

What Devin Askew brings for Texas basketball?

The report that Beard and the Longhorns landed a commitment out of the transfer portal from the 6-foot-3 and 200 pound California native Askew arrived courtesy of 247Sports on April 13. Landing Askew is a huge boost for this backcourt rotation that got a lot of good news altogether early this week.

Texas also figured out that they would be getting back the likes of senior sharsphooting guard Jase Febres and redshirt junior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones for next season. Since volatility on the current roster and recruiting trail seem high at the moment, getting some stability in the mix this week is a good sign.

Landing Askew could mean that the Longhorns backcourt rotation gets another NBA-caliber talent that could have a really high ceiling on the Forty Acres as soon as next season. He was a target of the Longhorns 2020 class before he committed to head coach John Calipari and Kentucky.

Coming out of Mater Dei High School during the 2020 cycle, Askew ranked as the nation’s No. 32 high school prospect, No. 7 combo guard, and No. 7 prospect out of California (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranked him as the nation’s No. 37 high school prospect, No. 7 combo guard, and No. 7 prospect out of California.

Askew surely had his ups and downs during his true freshman campaign, as did the entire young Kentucky team. But he showed flashes of becoming the twitchy playmaking guard that Calipari recruited him to be, especially down the stretch in SEC play.

He played in 25 games last season for Kentucky, starting in all but five of them. And he averaged 6.5 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks. Askew shot 34.5 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line.

During his true freshman campaign at Kentucky, Askew actually showed a better-than-expected proficiency on the defensive end of the floor. But his shooting percentages need to improve heading into his sophomore season.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 19-8 (11-6 Big 12) under the direction of former sixth-year head coach Shaka Smart. Beard replaced the newly hired Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Smart back on April 1.