Texas Basketball: Dillon Mitchell helping establish elite wing depth

New head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program have found a new way to build out a roster that is ready to contend in the Big 12, and nationally, right away. In his first few months after getting hired as Texas head coach to replace the departed Shaka Smart, Beard had already hit the NCAA Transfer Portal to start building out a truly deep roster across the board.

And while the transfer portal can be a useful tool to help build out rosters, most would figure that Beard and the Longhorns will have to do more on the recruiting trail eventually to sustain a high level of success for the program. But with how big of a role the transfer portal has played in altering the outlook of the college hoops landscape in the last couple of years, maybe this is something that can help to build programs from the ground up and establish them too.

Beard and the Longhorns have found success recruiting in numbers at one particular position group, though, out of the transfer portal and on the trail. At the wing position, the Longhorns could be establishing something very special for the future.

Texas landed commitments from the likes of standout forwards in former Creighton Blue Jays stud Christian Bishop and Utah Utes multi-time All-PAC-12 honoree Timmy Allen. Those two came from the transfer portal.

Beard and the Longhorns have also now landed commitments from/signed the likes of former Texas Tech Red Raiders commit and four-star forward Jaylon Tyson and five-star small forward Dillon Mitchell as part of the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes. Texas signed Tyson as the lone scholarship commit in the 2021 class.

And Texas just landed the commitment of Mitchell in the 2022 class. Texas now has two five-star commits in the 2022 class between Mitchell and Dallas-Kimball point guard Arterio Morris. The depth that Texas is establishing on the wing thanks to the recruiting trail among high school prospects, and the transfer portal, is something that the coaching staff can use as a cornerstone of the program moving forward.

What makes the duo of forwards/wings in Tyson and Mitchell so potent for the future of this Texas men’s hoops program is the two-way ability in their game. Tyson comes in as a polished inside and mid-range shooter, excellent rebounder, and great on-ball defender. He’s lanky and has good size and strength at 6-foot-6 and 195 pounds.

Jaylon Tyson and Dillon Mitchell establishing elite pipeline of wing depth for Texas basketball

Texas has another potent two-way wing/forward that could be coming into the program very soon in Mitchell. It looks like Mitchell has a higher ceiling than Tyson, but he’s not as ready-made of a prospect coming out of high school.

The 6-foot-7 and 180-pound Mitchell is also a very solid on and off-ball defender given his excellent physical tools and athleticism. He will be a real force to be reckoned with in college. And his inside and mid-range scoring abilities are very potent, just like Tyson.

Where Mitchell needs to improve more so than Tyson is with his shot selection and outside shooting. Mitchell still needs more polish in that part of his offensive game. He also still needs to put on some more weight before he arrives on the Forty Acres.

All in all, it looks like Beard and the Longhorns are going to have a plethora of wing depth to use as a potential cornerstone for this program for a long time. Texas has a very strong wing rotation building already with the likes of Bishop and Allen leading the way.

But it won’t be long before those two can pass the torch in this spot in the rotation to the young duo of Tyson and Mitchell. Texas has to be happy about the strong pipeline it has established on the recruiting trail, likely with more good things to come recruiting on the wing in the near future.