Texas Basketball: 3 5-Star recruits the Longhorns can land in December

Yves Missi, C

One of the hottest recruitments for Beard and the Longhorns of late is with the elite five-star Colora Prolific Prep (MD) center Yves Missi. This uber-talented 6-foot-10 and 210-pound big man is also one of the most interesting recruitments to take place for the Longhorns in the last few months.

Texas is an extremely fast riser in this recruitment as Beard and his staff weren’t really in the picture among his top schools as recently as the summer. But Texas made a huge move in this recruitment in the last few months.

In fact, the Longhorns are currently hosting Missi on an official visit to Austin this weekend (which looked to start on Dec. 8). If the Longhorns come out of this weekend having left a big impression on Missi and his camp, I wouldn’t rule out the idea of Texas becoming the pacesetter in this recruitment as he nears a decision.

It looks as if Missi is likely to arrive at a decision in the next few weeks to a couple of months. He’s pegged his decision timeline to come to a head around December or January.

But Missi also mentioned that Texas is likely going to be the final official visit that he takes before arriving at a final decision.

It’s clear to see how that would benefit Texas as getting the final word in this recruitment could be a huge advantage for Beard and his staff. That’s why this official visit this weekend is so imperative for the Longhorns to really knock it out of the park with Missi.

At the moment, I believe the top two schools in this recruitment are Texas and the Baylor Bears. Missi took an official visit to Waco to see Baylor back on Oct. 8, and that trip went well by most accounts in the last couple of months.

Moreover, the major twist in this recruitment is the possibility that Missi could reclassify to the 2023 class if he so chooses in the next few months. The idea is that Missi would likely finish out his junior season at Prolific Prep and then decide to either reclassify late in the spring or after the AAU run next summer.

Missi would fill an immediate need for the Longhorns in the frontcourt. Texas could clearly use the help in the starting frontcourt from a lengthy two-way big man with NBA tools such as Missi.

If Texas can convince Missi that he is the missing piece in the 2023 class that could really take this team to the next level heading into the 2023-24 campaign, that pitch might be hard for him to ignore as he draws closer to a decision in the next few weeks.