Texas Basketball: 3 former LSU Tigers to get out of the portal

Josh Gray, C

The second LSU player to have the name Josh Gray is also the first to put his name in the transfer portal. The sizable and athletic 6-foot-11 and 255-pound former four-star recruit would be a nice get if Beard and the Longhorns are still seeking out an underrated center to potentially backup Mitchell in the frontcourt rotation heading into next season.

I’ve mentioned the idea of the Longhorns pursuing someone to be the backup center behind Mitchell moving forward. That could still be a goal to achieve for Beard and his coaching staff this offseason. But it’s one that is difficult to tell where they are at right now, of if it’s something that the staff will even try to tackle at all this summer.

Texas could go with the option of just having Mitchell as their true starting center, and then keep some switchable power forwards play at the five occasionally off the bench. But it doesn’t seem like it would hurt anything to use a roster spot to bring in a potent and developing center like Gray.

Gray only got to play in 10 games last season, registering less than 10 total points. He still has a long way to go in his development, but that is something that Beard and the Longhorns could help solve in the next year or two.

Pursuing Gray in the portal would be for one main reason for Texas, and that’s to find a backup center that could be some type of an insurance policy behind Mitchell.