Texas Basketball: Keyonte George highlights key visitors for Beard
A big month for new head coach Chris Beard and his 2022 Texas basketball recruiting class started this weekend. In fact for both the Texas men’s hoops and football programs, this was a big weekend to start official visit season up again after a long hiatus that lasted more than a full calendar year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first weekend of visits for the Longhorns basketball program this month, the two names to watch were the former Illinois State big man and junior transfer Dusan Mahorcic along with the elite five-star iSchool Entrepreneurial Academy shooting guard Keyonte George. Both Mahorcic and George are important names to watch this weekend. But their pursuit serves very different paths for the Longhorns at this point in time.
George is arguably the top target of the Longhorns 2022 class. And Mahorcic is potentially the biggest target for Texas out of the NCAA Transfer Portal at the moment.
If Texas is able to use this week of visits to get commitments from both Mahorcic and George in the near future, it could do wonders for the immediate and long-term outlook for this program.
Chris Beard and Texas basketball clearly prioritizing the OV of Keyonte George
According to a report from 247Sports this week (paid content), Beard and the Longhorns intentionally had George on campus as the lone official visitor this weekend among high school prospects. They wanted to make the best impression possible, and give him the most focused treatment that they could.
George was also reportedly spotted at the home field of the Longhorns baseball program, at Disch-Falk Field, on June 4 watching the game against the Southern Jaguars in Regionals. He was also spotted with Beard, assistant coaches Ulric Maligi, Jerrance Howard, and Chris Ogden, and fellow incoming Longhorns Devin Askew and Jaylon Tyson.
It was a big crowd giving attention to the uber-talented and potent in-state product George this weekend. This is something that Beard might have to do to keep George’s interest in landing on the Forty Acres when it’s all said and done with his recruitment.
Texas is one of 10 schools that have now offered George. Some of the other schools to watch in his pursuit include the Kansas Jayhawks, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Baylor Bears, and Kentucky Wildcats. All of those schools do sit in his top five.
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Moreover, George ranks as the nation’s No. 6 2022 high school prospect, and the top overall shooting guard and prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 13 high school prospect, and the top overall shooting guard and prospect out of Texas.