Texas Basketball: 3 new grad transfers the Horns should pursue this week
Tyler Burton, F
While Texas is looking to still add some guard depth at this point of the offseason via the transfer portal, shoring up the depth in the forward rotation is also a priority. Texas doesn’t have a clear starting option at the three with the current personnel on the roster.
It sounds like the plan is to either have a potential portal commit to-be such as Love to complete a three-guard lineup in the starting unit, or to maybe have senior forward Brock Cunningham start at the three on opening day of the 2023-24 season.
Neither of those options sounds great to me. Thus, I think it makes a lot of sense to pursue a potential forward portal target heading into the summer such as the former Richmond Spiders two-time All-Atlantic-10 senior forward Tyler Burton. The 2020-21 A-10 Most Improved Player is one of the biggest transfers to emerge in the portal in the last few weeks.
Burton is a gifted scorer inside the arc, a gritty rebounder, and a pretty solid defender.
Given his 6-foot-7 and 220-pound frame, Burton is able to hit the glass effectively on both ends of the floor regardless of whether he’s playing at the three or the four. He’s averaged better than seven rebounds per game in each of the last three seasons at Richmond.
Burton could also be another weapon that Texas could use to slash to the rim. He just has better size and physicality than any other guard/forward Texas has among the starting candidates heading into next season.
More than 42 percent of Burton’s field goal attempts came at the rim last season, where he averaged 1.37 points per possession (good for the 88th percentile in the A-10).
Last but not least, Burton would give the Longhorns that ultra-valuable length that could help Terry and his staff more effectively match up with longer opponents on the defensive end. For Texas to be a truly effective starting unit on the defensive end from the one through the five, they’ll need more length at the three than someone like Weaver or Love.
Next. Predicting the remaining portal commits this offseason for Texas. dark
Outside of the inefficient scoring trends that Burton put on display last season at times for the Spiders, he was one of the better two-way forwards in the A-10. Burton is probably one of the best forward portal guys that the Longhorns could seek out to add a starter-quality player at this point of the offseason. The other two names to watch at the position in the portal are former Tennessee freshman Julian Phillips and Creighton sophomore Arthur Kaluma.