Texas Basketball: 2 big Rodney Terry vs. Chris Beard portal battles

Ze’Rik Onyema, PF

One of the portal priorities on the radar of Terry and the Longhorns for the last week or so now is the former UTEP Miners junior 6-foot-8 and 230-pound power forward Ze’Rik Onyema. The Jon Jay High School product out of San Antonio, TX, already has a few schools courting him this spring since his name emerged in the portal less than 10 days ago.

Onyema already made the trip to Nashville, TN, to see the Vanderbilt Commodores this week. He made the multi-day trip to Vanderbilt starting on April 24. And the visit is expected to last through April 27.

Two of the other schools involved in this portal recruitment are Ole Miss and Texas. Terry is interested in Onyema after he originally recruited the 6-foot-8 power forward to UTEP when he was the Miners’ head coach through the 2020-21 season. Terry also coached Onyema during his true freshman campaign at UTEP.

Meanwhile, it also looks as if Beard and the Rebels are interested in what Onyema brings to the table. Ole Miss is looking to rebuild its frontcourt unit, and the dominant physical force that Onyema could be for the Rebels down low could set the tone for that squad coming off the bench.

No visit dates are in place to Texas or Ole Miss for Onyema as of the writing of this article on the night of April 26. But a report from Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas on April 26 (paid content) notes that a visit to Texas for Onyema to the 40 in the next couple of weeks is “likely”.