Texas Basketball: Transfer additions continue with SG Avery Benson

What did seem to be a rather long dry streak in terms of additions for new Texas basketball head coach Chris Beard to the roster this offseason came to an end on June 5. The Texas men’s hoops program added a commitment from the former Texas Tech Red Raiders 6-foot-4 and 195-pound junior shooting guard Avery Benson.

The addition of the former Red Raiders guard Benson reportedly arrived for Beard and the Longhorns this weekend to help round out the backcourt rotation. Texas still looks to have a long way to go to round out their roster altogether, even after the addition of Benson, but this is a good place to start.

Getting this type of role player can help the Longhorns get some character to their roster. And there was some value that Benson showed he can contribute from his limited playing time in Lubbock over the course of the past three seasons.

Benson got action in 72 games over that time with Texas Tech, although that only resulted in 6.6 minutes played per game. He averaged 1.3 points per game in his career to date, 1.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.2 blocks. And Benson shot 47.8 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 43.5 percent from the free-throw line.

But Benson did shoot 60.0 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc last season. Maybe he can build off that in the Longhorns backcourt rotation next season.

Texas basketball getting closer to a full rotation after adding G Avery Benson

The addition of Benson is the fifth out of the NCAA Transfer Portal so far this offseason for Beard and the Longhorns. The other four include the former Kentucky Wildcats freshman guard Devin Askew, Utah Utes junior forward Timmy Allen, Creighton Blue Jays junior forward Christian Bishop, and Vanderbilt Commodores sophomore power forward Dylan Disu.

The Springdale, AR, native Benson was a fan favorite in Lubbock, despite the less than 100 total points he scored over the course of three years at Texas Tech. In limited playing time, some of his advanced metrics at Tech were truly impressive. He registered a 6.2 box plus/minus last season, .161 win shares per 40 minutes, 64.9 true shooting percentage, and a 15.2 player efficiency rating.

Adding Benson could be something valuable to the Longhorns backcourt rotation moving forward. But more so than anything else, Benson is nice to get for the Longhorns since it signals the progress of Beard building out this new-look roster in Austin.

Texas finished up last season with an early exit in March Madness in the Round of 64 under the direction of former head coach Shaka Smart. The former Texas Tech head coach (who coached up Benson in Lubbock) Beard was hired to replace Smart back on April 1.