Texas basketball could be in line to land ex-Creighton F Christian Bishop

The additions out of the NCAA Transfer Portal could continue for the Texas basketball program as head coach Chris Beard is rounding out his roster this week. Texas had two big transfer additions earlier this week. And more could be on the way in the very near future.

The first came in the form of the former elite five-star recruit and freshman Kentucky Wildcats guard Devin Askew. And then, Beard added more talent out of the transfer portal for the Longhorns in the same span of 24 hours by getting a commitment from the former Utah Utes junior small forward Timmy Allen.

One key portal target for Beard and the Longhorns that could be announcing his commitment decision heading into the weekend is the former Creighton Blue Jays 6-foot-7 and 220 pound junior forward Christian Bishop. This Lee’s Summit, MO, native and former underrated three-star recruit put his name in the transfer portal back on April 1.

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Texas basketball a contender to land Christian Bishop

Coincidentally, Bishop wound up putting his name in the transfer portal on the same day that the Longhorns hired the former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach to assume the same role with their program. And it might not take long for Bishop to find his next landing spot out of the portal after putting his name in just over two weeks ago.

The three report finalists in contention to land the commitment of Bishop out of the portal are the North Carolina Tar Heels, Kansas Jayhawks, and the Longhorns. That is some truly esteemed company that the Longhorns are in to try and snag Bishop out of the portal.

None of the three finalist schools to land Bishop out of the transfer portal were programs that offered him out of high school. In fact, the only four schools that offered the former three-star small forward recruit back during the 2018 cycle were the Mizzou Tigers, Tulsa Golden Hurricane, Wichita State Shockers, and Creighton.

Bishop consistently improved his game in the last few years with the Blue Jays. Last season was the first time in his career to date that he averaged in double figures for points per game. In the 31 games that Bishop played in for Creighton last season, he averaged 11.0 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.1 blocks.

And he shot 68.1 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 56.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Bishop is likely not going to be known as a floor-spacing forward wherever he takes his talents to next. He’s converted on just 2-of-8 attempts from beyond the arc in his college career to date. But he is efficient when he gets within eight feet of the rim.

What Bishop also brings to the table is a quality two-way forward that was among the better defenders in the Big East the last few seasons. He registered a career-best 93 defensive rating for the Blue Jays last season and tied a career-high with a 3.7 defensive box plus/minus rating.

This would be a solid addition that could help replenish some of the lost forward depth for the Longhorns this offseason. They’ve already seen the likes of junior forward Gerald Liddell and junior power forward Kamaka Hepa put their names in the transfer portal. And they could be losing breakthrough sophomore power forward Kai Jones and freshman power forward Greg Brown to the 2021 NBA Draft.

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. Back on April 1, Beard replaced Smart to become the next Texas head coach.