The month of May didn’t have much going on for the Texas basketball program and new head coach Chris Beard in the NCAA Transfer Portal or on the recruiting trail. Things calmed down for Beard in the month of May after what proved to be a pretty frantic April. But that was too be anticipated for the Texas men’s hoops program since Beard was only hired as head coach back on April 1.
Texas athletic director Chris del Conte had the hiring of the former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Beard done on April 1, subsequent to the departure of former head coach Shaka Smart back on March 26. Smart left Austin in late March to become the next head coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Big East and in his home state of Wisconsin.
In the weeks following the hire of Beard as the Longhorns next head coach, the frantic pace at which the roster turned over the in transfer portal was hard to keep up with. But Longhorns fans had time in the past few weeks to let a lot of the roster changes settle in.
Texas basketball getting pieces in place to round out the rest of the rotation
Key transfer portal additions such as former Kentucky Wildcats freshman guard Devin Askew, Utah Utes junior forward Timmy Allen, and Vanderbilt Commodores sophomore power forward Dylan Disu are now locked in. Yet, that only makes it just over half of the rotation that Beard and the Longhorns have in order at this point.
With a key month of June upon us with a few official visits to watch, which three transfer portal targets are coming to the forefront?
Dusan Mahorcic, PF
Among the potential visitors to watch out of the transfer portal or on the recruiting trail for Beard and the Longhorns in the month of June is the former Illinois State junior power forward Dusan Mahorcic. Texas looks to be one of the finalist schools in line to contend for a commitment out of Mahorcic out of the transfer portal this summer.
Mahorcic was playing in his first season with Illinois State last season after transferring to join the program last offseason. It was originally anticipated that Mahorcic was going to announce his commitment sometime during the month of May. Yet, that clearly didn’t come to fruition, and Texas will have to be patient with the recruitment of this transfer portal candidate.
As a big man that would surely be able to bring a new dynamic to the Longhorns frontcourt rotation in a very positive sense, Mahorcic is sought-after by multiple schools including Texas at this moment in time.
The three other schools to watch in the race to land a commitment from Mahorcic are the Florida Gators, BYU Cougars, and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Whoever lands Mahorcic will be getting a big man that averaged 9.9 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks, in 22 games played last season. And he shot 59.1 percent from the field, made his only attempt from beyond the arc, and shot 50.0 percent from the free-throw line.
Jordan Walker, PG
With the Longhorns largely looking stagnant on the front of finding some backcourt help out of the transfer portal at this point of the offseason, it might be time to turn to a new target. Texas didn’t have any luck landing the likes of former Georgia Bulldogs point guard Sahvir Wheeler, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers guard DeVante’ Jones, or even Minnesota Golden Gophers point guard Marcus Carr.
Granted if Texas wanted to go after Carr in the portal post-NBA Draft, they likely still could. Carr is going through the NBA Draft scouting process but might return to college hoops if he’s not picked up this summer.
Although, Texas would do well to at least scout out some new transfer portal targets for backcourt help entering the summer months. One recent entrant to the transfer portal that could fill a void for them at the point guard position is the former Tulane Green Wave and Seton Hall Pirates 5-foot-11 and 170-pound redshirt junior Jordan Walker.
This is the second time that Walker put his name in the transfer portal in his college career to date. Texas could do well to help elevate his game and round out his college career in the same swing. What they would be getting in Walker is a guard who averaged a career-best 13.0 points per game, 2.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and no blocks, in 23 games played last season.
And he shot 39.8 percent from the field, 32.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Kevin Samuel, C
One of my personal favorite new entrants to the transfer portal early in the month of June is the former TCU Horned Frogs 6-foot-11 and 255-pound big man Kevin Samuel. This junior center was solid for head coach Jamie Dixon and the Horned Frogs last season, but he decided to put his name in the transfer portal pretty late in this offseason.
That could be something that works out well for the Longhorns when it’s all said and done, though. Especially if the Longhorns wind up missing out on the commitment of the former UMass Minutemen sophomore big man Tre Mitchell this summer, Samuel could be a good place to turn to next.
Texas doesn’t really have a proven traditional big man in the sense of what Samuel showed he could do for the Horned Frogs of late coming back this season. That is unless former standout senior big man Jericho Sims doesn’t find any luck in taking his talents to the next level and returns to the Forty Acres next season.
Samuel was very productive and efficient for the Horned Frogs in the past few seasons. Last season, he averaged 8.8 points per game, 7.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.7 blocks. And he shot 62.5 percent from the field and a rather poor 39 percent from the free-throw line.
Outside of the bad free-throw shooting, Samuel’s numbers are about as good as it gets for a traditional big man in the portal if this is where the Longhorns wind up turning. He’s good defensively and a force on the boards. He’s got nearly 10 career wins, a 6.0 box plus/minus, and 22.8 player efficiency rating under his belt for his career.