Texas Basketball: 3 must-get portal targets for Horns early this offseason

Max Abmas, G

There are a few priority guards that Terry and the Longhorns staff are pursuing in the portal early this offseason. My personal favorite among the priority portal guards that could really be impactful for Texas next season is the former Oral Roberts two-time Summit League Player of the Year and senior 6-foot-1 point guard Max Abmas.

There is a lot of smoke going around right now around the college hoops media landscape in terms of what schools are actually leading the way in the race to land a commitment from Abmas out of the portal. We’ve seen a lot of people speculating and reporting that the Wichita State Shockers are the favorite to land Abmas.

Similar levels of confidence have come from the likes of the Baylor Bears and Kansas State (per 247Sports). Texas also looks to have some confidence in its position with Abmas at the moment.

What I do know is that Texas, Wichita State, Kansas State, and Baylor all make sense in different ways for Abmas. Texas, Kansas State, and Wichita State all have opportunities in the backcourt for Abmas to come in and start right away.

And depending on what happens with Baylor and star guard Adam Flagler, the Bears could also have a spot in the starting backcourt for Abmas. Baylor lost standout junior guard LJ Cryer to the portal earlier this offseason.

Abmas is the type of portal guard that essentially checks all the boxes that Terry and the Longhorns are seeking to build out the backcourt unit ahead of the 2023-24 season. He’s an experienced guard that can score at a high level (averaged at least 21 points per game in each of the last three seasons) while facilitating the offense to make the players around him better.

The veteran voice that Abmas could bring to the Texas locker room would also be extremely valuable given all the roster turnover Terry is dealing with this spring.