Texas Basketball: Predicting next transfer addition after Avery Benson

Moussa Cisse, C

With Texas having missed out on the former Illinois State JUCO transfer and 6-foot-11 and 230-pound power forward out of the transfer portal over the weekend, they’ll have to find answers elsewhere. And that’s why it is so difficult to ascertain which particular targets sit at the forefront of Beard’s radar at the moment out of the portal.

One big man that would make sense for the Longhorns out of the transfer portal, considering what’s left at this point in time, is the former Memphis Tigers elite five-star recruit and 6-foot-10 and 220-pound freshman center Moussa Cisse. This Lusanne High School product and Guinea native is definitely one of the most talented players remaining in the portal in early June.

In terms of building both potency and longevity in the frontcourt rotation out of the transfer portal this offseason, Beard and the Longhorns couldn’t do much better than getting a commitment from Cisse. He was one of the top 15 ranked high school prospects in the nation for the 2020 recruiting cycle and has all four years of eligibility remaining.

Cisse was also a member of the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team last season. And he received the AAC Newcomer of the Year honors for the 2020-21 campaign.

This would be a nice addition to the Longhorns frontcourt rotation, and the recruitment of Cisse out of the transfer portal seems to be wide open at the moment. He would be a good one for Texas to target next with Mahorcic off to join the Utah Utes in the PAC-12.