Texas basketball trending for 5-Star F Ron Holland

Less than two weeks from the start of the college hoops regular season, Texas basketball also looks to have something going for the 2023 recruiting class. Texas and head coach Chris Beard has yet to land a single commitment in the 2023 class. But that is probably going to change very soon.

Beard and the Longhorns are now trending for the elite five-star Duncanville power forward Ron Holland. Following a round of visits this fall for Holland, it sounds like Texas is leading the pack in the race to land a commitment from Holland.

According to a report from Jamie Shaw of On3 on Oct. 27 (paid content), Texas “has done the best job” in the recruitment of Holland up to this point. Beard and the Longhorns staff have apparently done the best job with their pitch of a vision to Holland and building the relationship with him and his camp.

I wouldn’t say that this comes as a surprise to me at this point since Beard and his staff have done a really nice job on the recruiting trail in the last 18 months or so since taking the job as the Texas head coach in April 2021.

Texas basketball taking the lead for 5-Star F priority Ron Holland

Moreover, Texas is looking to get Holland committed and signed early. Holland would be the foundational commitment that Beard and the Longhorns are looking for in the 2023 class to really get this group off the ground.

But there is still the possibility that he extends the recruiting timeline beyond 2022 to explore all options available to him.

Holland is also reportedly still looking at a potential G-League route and some other top schools in his recruitment such as the Arkansas Razorbacks and Gonzaga Bulldogs.

But if Holland chooses the college route for the next step in his hoops career, I think Texas holds a nice edge to land his decision.

It does help that there are multiple leading indicators that show where his decision could be leaning at this point.

In the last 48 hours alone, Texas has landed two On3 analyst picks in its favor to land Holland’s commitment. Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas and the aforementioned Shaw both put in On3 RPM picks in the last couple of days.

An expert 247Sports Crystal Ball Prediction was also put in earlier this week projecting Holland’s commitment to Texas.

These three forecasts are more than enough for me to say that Holland is trending to Texas if some of the major recruiting services are any indication.

Holland leads the charge among the top priorities for the Longhorns 2023 class this fall. Some other top names to watch for Beard and the Longhorns in the 2023 class on the recruiting trail this fall are five-star Carmichael Jesuit (CA) shooting guard/small forward Andrej Stojakovic and five-star Donda Academy (CA) combo guard AJ Johnson.