Texas Basketball: Impactful transfer additions continue with SF Timmy Allen

A lot of news out of the NCAA Transfer Portal surrounding new head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program has come about in the last few days. April 13 and 14 were especially busy days in the news cycle for Texas men’s hoops, with a couple of key players announcing their returns for next season, and two critical transfer portal pickups.

News seems to come in twos for Beard and the Longhorns in the last 48 hours. Texas also lost two commitments/signings from their 2021 recruiting class within the last 48 hours, which won’t help out their case on the trail.

Moreover, what will help the Longhorns for building out their roster for next season is landing a commitment out of the transfer portal from the talented and proven former Utah Utes junior forward Timmy Allen. Beard did a lot of good work in the transfer portal in the last two days to get commitments from both Allen and the former Kentucky Wildcats freshman guard Devin Askew.

https://twitter.com/timmybuckets35/status/1382125613314576385

The news was announced on the Twitter timeline of Allen on the night of April 13 that he will be taking his talents to the Forty Acres to join Beard and the Longhorns. This is nice to hear that the Longhorns will be restoring a lot of depth in their wing rotation by getting the likes of redshirt junior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones and senior sharpshooting guard Jase Febres back for next season.

Impact of Texas basketball getting Timmy Allen out of the portal

Despite getting both Jones and Febres back for next season, Texas did lose depth in the backcourt/wing rotation with a few losses from last season’s team and the 2021 recruiting class. Texas lost commitments from four-star IMG Academy shooting guard Tamar Bates and four-star Assumption combo guard Emarion Ellis of late.

Texas also saw sophomore shooting guard Donovan Williams enter the transfer portal and senior guard Matt Coleman is likely to leave for the NBA.

Depth had to be filled from somewhere. And getting Allen to the Forty Acres will be crucial. He can be an immediate plug-and-play piece that will be eligible to go next season. He is a two-time All-PAC-12 Team selection and was a member of the 2018-19 PAC-12 All-Freshman Team.

Allen was very productive for the Utes over the course of three seasons with the program. He’s a very good two-way player that hits the glass hard, draws a lot of turnovers, and drives the lane effectively. The main drawbacks to Allen’s game lie in his inconsistency in shooting from deep and tendency to turn the ball over frequently at times.

Last season, Allen played in 25 games for the Utes (all of which he started in). And he averaged 17.2 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.2 blocks. Allen shot 46.5 percent from the field, 26.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Allen was a well-rounded player for the most part with the Utes. In his three years playing for Utah, he registered a 3.5 box plus/minus rating, .131 win shares per 40 minutes, 54.5 true shooting percentage, and a 19.9 player efficiency rating.

Last season, Texas finished up with a record of 19-8 (11-6 Big 12) under the direction of the former sixth-year head coach Shaka Smart. Back on April 1, Texas replaced Smart with the former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Beard.