Texas Basketball: 3 biggest positions of need to tackle in the portal
Center
There are a lot of Texas hoops fans out there that have wanted the Longhorns to add more length down low for the better part of the last two years. But Texas often opted to play some smaller forwards at the five in the last couple of seasons, namely Disu and Bishop.
While playing smaller bigs at the five does have its advantages, such as being able to run in transition more often and effectively, Texas has also been bullied at times by teams with more length in the frontcourt (i.e. Purdue and Tennessee).
Texas has also protected the rim at a pretty mediocre level in each of the last two seasons (averaging around 3.5 blocks per game since 2021). That’s not to mention some of the struggles that Texas had winning battles on the glass in Big 12 play this season.
Those three aforementioned factors along with the potential of needing to replace multiple seniors in the frontcourt unit this offseason have opened up a pretty big depth need for Terry, Bob Donewald, and the Longhorns to fill.
Two names that we’ve heard about this offseason that Texas has either shown interest in or made contact with are the former Texas Tech Red Raiders and Utah Valley big man Fardaws Aimaq and Oregon Ducks center Kel’el Ware.
I would probably prefer Texas to go after a center such as Ware that has that next-level potential as a former five-star recruit. Yet, Aimaq is a name that Texas fans are probably familiar with as the Longhorns were pursuing him in the portal last offseason before he committed to the Red Raiders.
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Texas does have a pretty solid and talented frontcourt trio in the mix on the projected roster for next season between Ron Holland, Dillon Mitchell, and potentially Disu. But I would feel better about the depth situation in the frontcourt if Texas is able to add more length and rim protection, especially with the risk of losing either Disu or Mitchell (potentially to the NBA Draft) this offseason.