Texas basketball takes a hit with F Jaylon Tyson entering the portal

Multiple reports (including one from ESPN) indicated on Dec. 27 that new head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program will see the former blue-chip recruit and freshman forward Jaylon Tyson enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. Tyson is putting his name in the transfer portal after playing just eight games with Texas in his true freshman campaign.

There was some level of anticipation that the Longhorns could lose some of the players on the current roster to the transfer portal next offseason given the amount of depth that Beard has in the mix this season. But it is surprising to see someone as young and talented as Tyson putting his name in the transfer portal before even playing in a double-digit number of games this season.

Tyson was a player that was committed to Beard and his staff really wherever he was at. He’s a former Texas Tech Red Raiders commit that flipped to Texas once Beard was hired in Austin.

You would figure that Tyson was going to be in it for the long haul with Beard. But in the day and age of the transfer portal now, that notion can change in a hurry when a player like Tyson isn’t getting regular minutes in the rotation.

Texas basketball loses freshman F Jaylon Tyson to the transfer portal

Tyson is likely going to look for more playing time and a better shot to make an immediate impact elsewhere out of the transfer portal. Since he was only playing in around seven minutes per game in the eight games he played in with the Longhorns this season, that shouldn’t be too difficult of a feat for him to pull off.

In the eight games he played in for the Longhorns so far this season, Tyson averaged 1.8 points per game, 1.1 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks. And he shot 6-of-15 from the field (40 percent), 0-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line (66.7 percent).

There were only two games that Tyson played in this season for the Longhorns where he registered any points. He scored three points in Texas’ win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 14 and he put up a career-high 11 in the season-opening win over Houston Baptist last month.

Through the first 11 games of the regular season, the Longhorns are sporting a record of 9-2 (0-0 Big 12). Next up for Beard and the Longhorns after getting the news of Tyson putting his name in the transfer portal is a meeting with Incarnate Word at home on Dec. 28.