Texas Basketball: 3 new portal targets the Horns are interested in May

A new week has brought about new targets in the NCAA Transfer Portal for the Texas basketball program and new full-time head coach Rodney Terry. Texas has now contacted a few new emerging transfer targets after landing four portal commitments in the last three weeks or so.

Last week, Texas landed portal commitments from the former UTEP Miners junior power forward Ze’Rik Onyema and UT-Arlington Mavericks freshman guard Chendall Weaver. Landing Onyema and Weaver brings Texas to seven scholarship players on the current roster. That number is eight if sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter decides to withdraw from the 2023 NBA Draft by early June.

The other two portal commitments Terry and the Longhorns picked up so far this offseason were from the former Oral Roberts standout senior guard Max Abmas and Virginia redshirt junior center Kadin Shedrick. According to the 247Sports 2023 Transfer Team Rankings, the 2023 portal class for the Longhorns ranks at No. 3 in the nation.

Given that Texas is now up to eight scholarship players on the roster if Hunter does withdraw from the NBA Draft, Terry and his staff still have a couple of spots remaining in the rotation ahead of the 2023-24 season.

DJ Rodman and the top Texas basketball portal targets to watch in May

Here’s a look at three new portal targets the Longhorns are interested in early May.

DJ Rodman, F

The newest top-priority portal target for Terry and the Longhorns this offseason is the former Washington State Cougars senior forward DJ Rodman. The son of the NBA Hall-of-Famer and Dallas, TX, native Dennis Rodman surfaced in the transfer portal last week.

And it didn’t take long for the Longhorns to make contact with the to-be fifth-year senior forward. Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas reported on May 8 (paid content) that the “Longhorns currently have interest” in Rodman out of the portal this offseason.

Rodman could fill the need we’ve talked about for the Longhorns to add more length from a potential three-and-D type of wing in the rotation. And that’s what Terry and his staff could add to this wing rotation with a hypothetical portal commitment from the 6-foot-6 and 215-pound Rodman.

In the last few seasons at Wazzu, Rodman has emerged as a serious catch-and-shoot threat from deep. He shot better than 38 percent from beyond the arc last season. And he hit his open catch-and-shoot looks last season at a clip north of 54 percent, good for best in the PAC-12 among wings.

Rodman is also a plus defender that would be a switchable wing on that end of the floor with a lot of chops for efficiency on the boards. He posted a defensive box plus/minus north of 2.0 in the last three seasons combined at Wazzu, along with averaging a career-best 5.8 rebounds per game during his senior campaign.