5-Star Texas basketball C target Yves Missi commits to Baylor

One of the big early targets of the 2024 Texas basketball recruiting class now looks to be headed elsewhere.

The elite five-star Napa Prolific Prep (CA) center Yves Missi announced his commitment to the Baylor Bears on Jan. 4. Missi chose to commit to Baylor over other top schools such as Texas and the Stanford Cardinal.

This comes less than one month after it looked like the Longhorns were starting to take the lead in this recruitment following a successful official visit to Austin for Missi. But the legal situation surrounding head coach Chris Beard wound up stalling any momentum that Texas had in Missi’s recruitment.

Baylor was already considered a top contender with Missi prior to the Beard situation taking place back on Dec. 12. And when Missi announced an early January decision date a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t look like a good sign for the Longhorns.

5-Star Texas basketball priority C target Yves Missi commits to Baylor over the Longhorns and Stanford

That wound up being the case as the elite big man will be suiting up for a rival of Texas’ on the hardwood next year.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew and assistant John Jakus have a good connection with Missi. He has spoken very highly of Baylor in the last few months.

"“Baylor is really like a family. I spent two days there and I actually felt like it was home. I love the city and also coach (Scott) Drew. Also, I have a good relationship with them too.”"

Prior to his commitment to the Bears, Missi also valued the relationships he built with the coaches on Texas’ staff, namely Brandon Chappell.

"“I’m looking forward to building a better relationship with coach (Chris) Beard and also coach (Brandon) Chappell. Also, I’m excited to see the style of play of Texas.”"

After missing out on Missi, the Longhorns will turn its attention on the recruiting trail for the 2024 class elsewhere. Some of the other top targets to watch for the Longhorns 2024 class at the moment are five-star Dallas Lake Highlands shooting guard/wing Tre Johnson, five-star Montverde Academy power forward Liam McNeeley, and four-star Plano Prestonwood Christian (TX) small forward Jalen Shelley, among a few others.

Texas is still without any commitments in the 2024 class as of Jan. 4. Meanwhile, the Longhorns have signed five-star Southern California Academy combo guard AJ Johnson and five-star Duncanville forward Ron Holland.