Texas Basketball: 3 late-cycle hidden gems the Longhorns should offer

Juslin Bodo, C

Texas does have a quality forward signed in the 2023 class in the Dallas-Fort Worth area native Holland that can join a frontcourt unit that should also be comprised of Dylan Disu, Brock Cunningham, and potentially even Dillon Mitchell.

But in the last year or so, I’ve often talked about how it would be wise for the Longhorns to add some length down low to bolster the frontcourt rotation. At times throughout the last couple of seasons, Texas was bullied in the paint by some of the lengthier top teams in college hoops (i.e. Purdue, Iowa State, and Illinois).

Texas was clearly trying to prioritize adding a big man to either the 2023 or 2024 recruiting class last fall prior to the firing of now-former head coach Chris Beard.

The Longhorns were working on four-star Balboa center Cedric Lath in the 2023 class and the staff seriously prioritized the recruitment of the elite five-star center Yves Missi in the 2024 class in the past few months. But Lath wound up committing to the Houston Cougars late last year.

And upon the Beard news coming to the surface last month, Missi wound up committing to the Baylor Bears over Texas.

If Texas still wanted to add some length in the frontcourt via the 2023 class, there aren’t a ton of options remaining. But one center prospect that I happened to notice is also a teammate of the Texas signee Johnson. The underrated three-star Southern California Academy center Juslin Bodo would be an interesting offer for the Longhorns 2023 class.

The California product Bodo is an insanely lengthy and athletic 6-foot-11 and 230-pound big man that excels at protecting the rim and finishing with some gusto around the rim on the offensive end. He also can be a dominant rebounder thanks to his length and surprising vertical ability.

From the limited film I’ve watched on Bodo, he is also someone that is pretty fluid for a big man. He can run the floor pretty well in transition, which could be a nice fit at Texas given the heightened usage of the fast break for the Longhorns this season.

Bodo does still need to work on his ability to defend one-on-one when he’s pulled away from the rim. And he still could use some development in terms of his body positioning down low on the offensive end. He tends to get too low at times when he’s posting up a defender, which doesn’t take full advantage of his length.

This looks like a really interesting potential offer if Texas wants to add some size down low in the 2023 class. Bodo currently holds a handful of Division I offers from schools like the East Carolina Pirates, New Mexico State Aggies, and Montana Grizzlies.