Texas basketball targeting PAC-12 Sixth Man of the Year from USC

An incredibly busy week in the news cycle for the Texas basketball program now includes movement in the NCAA Transfer Portal for the new full-time head coach Rodney Terry and his staff. As Texas is expected to face some serious roster turnover this offseason thanks to the plethora of core rotation players that are running out of eligibility, it appears that Terry and his staff will be busy in the portal rebuilding this squad.

One of the names that we’ve heard about in the transfer portal that Terry and the Longhorns could vehemently pursue early this offseason is the former USC Trojans 6-foot-5 and 210-pound junior transfer shooting guard Reese Dixon-Waters. A report from Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas on March 28 (paid content) mentions that the Longhorns have some “real interest” in Dixon-Waters out of the portal early this offseason.

Dixon-Waters is a true two-guard that could fill a need in the backcourt/wing rotation for the Longhorns ahead of the 2023-24 season. With Texas set to lose the likes of senior guard Marcus Carr, senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice, and senior forward Timmy Allen, Dixon-Waters could help fill some depth needs in this rotation and bring an experienced voice to the locker room.

Per a tweet from Rivals’ Travis Graf on March 25, Texas is in the midst of a large group of schools that have reached out to Dixon-Waters since he entered the portal last week (specifically on March 22). Some of the other schools he’s reportedly heard from are the Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, Mizzou Tigers, UCLA Bruins, and Alabama Crimson Tide.

Texas basketball has reportedly made contact with USC transfer SG and PAC-12 Sixth Man of the Year Reese Dixon-Waters

But it does sound like Texas will be one of the real players in the race to land a commitment out of the portal from Dixon-Waters. It looks as if there is interest from both sides since contact was established in the last few days.

Dixon-Waters spent three seasons at USC as mostly a rotational guard. He did earn more playing time each year he spent at USC, though, eventually working his way into the starting rotation by the end of the 2022-23 season.

In the season that was for the Trojans, Dixon-Waters was a critical source of offense coming off the bench. He is a gifted scorer that often filled the role of a secondary ball-handler and playmaker for USC’s offense.

And for the first time in his career, Dixon-Waters came close to scoring in the double figures as he averaged 9.8 points per game during the 2022-23 campaign. He was also USC’s third-leading scorer during the season.

Dixon-Waters’ offensive contributions for USC off the bench this season earned him PAC-12 Sixth Man of the Year honors.

Texas knows how valuable it can be to have that valuable source of bench scoring, just like Dixon-Waters provided the Trojans during the 2022-23 season. Terry and the Longhorns boasted the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and the USA Today National Sixth Man of the Year in Rice.

The Longhorns nabbed Rice out of the transfer portal last offseason from the New Mexico State Aggies. Adding Rice proved to be one of the best transfer moves that any major conference team was able to make in college hoops last offseason.

Texas finished up the 2022-23 season with a record of 29-9 (12-6 Big 12) following a tough 88-81 loss at the hands of the five-seed Miami Hurricanes in the Elite Eight on March 26. A busy offseason for the Texas men’s hoops program kicked off with a bang early this week with Terry signing a five-year deal to become the next full-time head coach.