Breaking down 3 blue-chips visiting Texas basketball this fall

Ron Holland, PF

Potentially the top in-state priority for Beard and the Longhorns in the 2023 class is the elite five-star Duncanville power forward Ron Holland. Texas has continued to stay in the fight among the top schools in the race to land a commitment from Holland throughout the offseason. That came despite Texas looking like they were falling behind at a few different points in time within the last few months.

But there is still a long way that Texas has to fight back in order to get themselves among the true frontrunners in Holland’s recruitment heading into the fall.

Moreover, Holland announced his five finalist schools on social media roughly one month ago. Texas made it through the latest round of finalist cuts which also included the Kentucky Wildcats, UCLA Bruins, Arkansas, and the G-League.

It was a tad bit surprising to see Holland eliminate head coach Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers after his official visit last fall. But Memphis was seemingly falling behind with Holland of late.

Holland is slated to take his official visit to Austin on Sep. 3, which will come right before the visits for Fall and Garrison to the Forty Acres. That is if Garrison’s official visit to Austin still holds serve through the next few weeks following his commitment to the Pokes.

Texas still has a fight on its hands in the race to land a commitment that should namely come from Arkansas and Kentucky. You definitely can’t rule out UCLA or the possibility of the G-League for Holland. But Texas has the potential to make a big move here in what could amount to the final official visit on the books for Holland before a decision comes about.