Texas Basketball: 3 possible transfer destinations for G Arterio Morris

The second departure to the NCAA Transfer Portal of the offseason surfaced for newly-hired full-time head coach Rodney Terry and the Texas basketball program on the evening of April 10. It was reported early this week that freshman guard and the former elite five-star recruit Arterio Morris will enter the transfer portal after spending just one season at Texas.

Morris enters the transfer portal with three years of eligibility remaining at his next collegiate destination.

This is a sizable loss for the future of Texas’ backcourt unit. Morris was the highest-rated recruit among the guards that were expected to return to Texas for the 2023-24 season. He is a high-energy two-way guard that has NBA-caliber physical tools and skills that fits more of a combo guard mold.

During his one season at Texas, Morris was a rotational guard that averaged a little under a dozen minutes per game off the bench. He was in the rotation behind more experienced guards for the Longhorns such as senior Marcus Carr, sophomore Tyrese Hunter, and senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice.

Morris averaged 4.6 points per game, 1.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.2 blocks, and 0.6 turnovers while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from deep, and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line in 38 games.

Potential transfer destinations for former Texas basketball G Arterio Morris

Here’s a look at three possible transfer destinations for Morris after entering the portal on April 10.

Ole Miss

The potential landing spot that comes to mind immediately for Morris since he entered the portal earlier this week is with new head coach Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels. It would make sense if Morris wanted to follow Beard to Ole Miss.

Beard was the coach that recruited Morris to Texas out of Dallas Kimball High School in the 2022 class. And with Beard rebuilding the Ole Miss roster largely by way of the portal as we speak, Morris would have a chance to earn more playing time in Oxford than he had under Rodney Terry at Texas last season.

SMU

If Morris wants to get closer to home, there are a couple of schools that stick out among some of the bigger men’s hoops programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex he could consider. The top two options for him would probably be the SMU Mustangs and TCU Horned Frogs.

SMU and TCU were two of the first three D1 offers that Morris received as a high school recruit.

The reason I chose SMU over TCU among the possible landing spots on this list is the potential for more immediate playing time. SMU has one or two guards with proven experience on the projected 2023-24 roster at the moment, while TCU brought in standout transfer guard Jameer Nelson Jr. along with what is already a pretty solid group of guards for next season.

If immediate playing time and proximity to home are big factors for Morris as he makes his next collegiate decision in the portal this offseason, SMU could be appealing to the former five-star recruit.

Memphis

A possible wildcard landing spot to watch for Morris out of the portal this offseason is the Memphis Tigers. Head coach Penny Hardaway and the Tigers could be an interesting collegiate destination out of the portal for Morris ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Morris originally committed to Memphis as a blue-chip point guard recruit in 2020. But Beard and his staff were able to swing this recruitment during the 2021 offseason, eventually getting him to commit to Texas that summer.

Memphis is losing multiple experienced seniors due to a lack of eligibility this offseason, including a few key guards (i.e. leading scorer Kendric Davis). Hardaway has also lost two guards to the portal early this offseason.