Texas basketball suffers huge loss with G Arterio Morris entering the portal

The second and biggest loss to the NCAA Transfer Portal of the offseason thus far for newly-hired full-time head coach Rodney Terry and the Texas basketball program arrived on April 10. On3’s Joe Tipton reported on the night of April 10 that the former elite five-star recruit and freshman Texas guard Arterio Morris “will enter the transfer portal”.

This is clearly a big loss for the Longhorns as Morris was expected to be one of the more productive and talented returning guards for Terry’s squad next season. Morris was going to be in a spot to compete for a starting spot in the backcourt unit next season, potentially alongside to-be junior guard Tyrese Hunter.

Morris will now be looking elsewhere to find his second collegiate destination in as many years. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at his next stop out of the portal ahead of the 2023-24 season.

The 6-foot-3 and 190-pound Dallas, TX, native and Dallas Kimball High School product Morris spent one season at Texas before entering the transfer portal on April 10. He played in 38 games for the Longhorns last season, averaging 11.7 minutes off the bench.

Texas basketball loses a huge piece of the backcourt unit with Arterio Morris entering the transfer portal

Morris put up 4.6 points per game, 1.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.2 blocks, and 0.6 turnovers during his freshman campaign.

The 2022-23 season was an up-and-down campaign for the true freshman. Morris proved to be a high-energy two-way guard that could be an offensive spark when given the opportunity. He had a half-dozen games off the bench where he scored in the double figures, all of which he played at least 15 minutes.

Yet, playing time was hard to come by for Morris during the postseason. He played more than 10 minutes in just one of the four NCAA Tournament games for the Longhorns in 2023, which was essentially mostly in garbage time when Texas was up big late in the Sweet 16 against the three-seed Xavier Musketeers.

Morris did have a nice run for the Longhorns, though, during the Big 12 Men’s Tournament. He put up at least eight points and two steals in two of the three Big 12 Tournament games for the Longhorns, helping to provide a boost off the bench as Texas eventually claimed the tourney crown.

Terry and the Longhorns have now lost two guards to the transfer portal in the last few days. On April 7, Texas lost fellow freshman guard and former blue-chip recruit Rowan Brumbaugh to the transfer portal.

Texas technically doesn’t have any guaranteed returning scholarship guards from last season’s squad at the moment. Morris and Brumbaugh have both entered the transfer portal. Hunter declared early for the 2023 NBA Draft while maintaining his collegiate eligibility.

And both senior guard Marcus Carr and senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice ran out of eligibility this offseason.

That essentially leaves Hunter as the only returning guard for the Longhorns next season if he doesn’t get drafted to the NBA this year and ultimately wants to return to school for at least another year.

Texas does have the elite five-star Southern California Academy combo guard AJ Johnson coming into the mix as he signed with the Longhorns 2023 class last November. It looks like Terry and the Longhorns staff will be busy in the transfer portal this offseason trying to replenish all of the depth lost in the backcourt unit.