Is Texas basketball the favorite for transfer G Tyrese Hunter?

The biggest NCAA Transfer Portal target at this point of the spring for head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program is the former Iowa State Cyclones stud freshman point guard and the reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Tyrese Hunter. Texas looks to be in the mix among the top schools for Hunter at the moment.

And this comes after Hunter took a multi-day official visit with Beard and the Longhorns a couple of weeks ago, specifically back on May 14 and 15. Hunter originally arrived in Austin for his official visit with the Longhorns back on May 13.

Texas is now one of five schools that Hunter has visited. And it looks like there are now around three schools in the mix in the race to land a commitment from Hunter out of the portal. This group includes the Tennessee Volunteers, Louisville Cardinals, and Texas.

At this point, some of the top six schools that Hunter announced earlier this month such as the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Kansas Jayhawks, and Purdue Boilermakers have mostly fallen behind ahead of his likely weekend decision in the next few days.

The anticipation seems to be building at this point of Hunter’s recruitment out of the portal that a decision is likely in the next 48 hours. A recent report from Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas (paid content) affirms that a decision from Hunter is expected “by the end of the week”.

IT points to the Longhorns and Vols being the top two schools that Hunter is deciding between at this point of his transfer process.

Texas basketball the emerging favorite for Iowa State transfer G Tyrese Hunter?

Given how much of a priority Beard and the Longhorns staff are making Hunter early this offseason, I would presume that Texas has a good shot to be at the top of the list for him at the moment. But Tennessee and head coach Rick Barnes appear to be making a huge push too this spring to land Hunter’s services out of the portal.

What could potentially be working against Texas is the depth already present at the top of the backcourt rotation. Texas is bringing in the likes of five-star point guard Arterio Morris and four-star point guard Rowan Brumbaugh this offseason along with the return of super senior guard Marcus Carr.

But the same argument could be used against the Vols as they landed a commitment from the former Indiana State point guard Tyreke Key and signed the blue-chip point guard BJ Edwards in their 2022 recruiting class.

Thus, I could easily see how Texas could at least hold a slight edge over the Vols at the moment. Texas is making Hunter potentially the biggest priority ever of any portal player for Beard’s staff since he arrived on the Forty Acres last offseason.

Hunter was a great freshman guard for the Cyclones last season where he averaged around 11 points per game, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals. That led him to get the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors along with a Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection.