Texas basketball hosting G Tyrese Hunter on official visit this weekend

This coming weekend is bound to be one of the biggest of the entire offseason in terms of hosting targets out of the NCAA Transfer Portal on campus for head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program. Texas is reportedly (per multiple sources, including Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesmen) set to host the former Iowa State Cyclones standout freshman transfer guard Tyrese Hunter for a multi-day official visit this weekend.

Hunter is reportedly set to arrive in Austin on May 13. And then, his multi-day official visit will actually begin with the Longhorns on May 14 and carry through the end of the weekend on May 15. This is definitely going to be one of the longer visits that Texas has with any prospective transfer portal target this offseason.

Moreover, this is the fourth official visit that Hunter is set to take with his presumed list of finalist schools. He’s also taken official visits with the Purdue Boilermakers, Tennessee Volunteers, and Gonzaga Bulldogs.

It’s also worth noting that the initial list of finalist schools for Hunter just after he put his name in the transfer portal late last month included Texas, Purdue, Tennessee, Gonzaga, the Kansas Jayhawks, and Louisville Cardinals.

Texas basketball set for important multi-day official visit with ISU transfer G Tyrese Hunter this weekend

And it looks like the final official visit for Hunter will likely go to Louisville. There’s still a chance, though, that the final official visit will come with head coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks.

Moreover, Hunter looks to essentially be the top target out of the transfer portal at the moment for the Longhorns. He would obviously add a tremendously impactful guard to the backcourt rotation for Beard and the Longhorns staff ahead of next season if Hunter does commit to Texas this offseason.

Adding Hunter to the backcourt unit would Texas a true playmaker and floor general to a group that is otherwise still seeking out a solution in the starting five. Texas does have options among the candidates for the starting point guard role for this coming season. Returning super senior guard Marcus Carr and the incoming five-star recruit/Dallas-Kimball point guard Arterio Morris would be the likely favorites to start at the one next season.

But adding Hunter out of the portal would likely give Beard and the Longhorns the best option for their starting point guard heading into next season.

Texas could also be getting a long-term upgrade to the backcourt unit, along with the immediate impact we’ve just talked about, depending on how long Hunter wanted to stick around in college before taking his talents to the next level in the NBA.

This weekend will need to see Beard and the Longhorns staff make some big moves with Hunter if they want to start setting the pace in his recruitment out of the portal at this point of the offseason. Texas does look to be in a good position with Hunter at the moment. But there are still a number of other attractive and successful programs in the mix for his commitment.

Hunter wound up taking home the honors for the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year last season. He is familiar with the Longhorns. The same could be said for Beard with Hunter from their time competing in the Big 12 last season.