Texas Basketball: 3 international prospects the Longhorns should pursue
Texas basketball has made some sizable progress in rebuilding the roster under new full-time head coach Rodney Terry ahead of the 2023-24 season in the last couple of months. Texas currently has nine scholarship players on the projected roster for next season upon the announcement of the return of rising sophomore forward and former five-star recruit Dillon Mitchell.
Terry and the Longhorns are still looking in the NCAA Transfer Portal for one or two more guys to help round out this roster. And it appears that the Texas coaches are mainly seeking out proven grad transfers to round out the roster on the wing and in the backcourt.
But another route that the Longhorns can take to add some depth to the roster is via the international prospect market. There are still at least a dozen notable international prospects that the Longhorns could bring in as late signees in the 2023 class that could help to round out the roster heading into next season.
Intriguing international prospects Texas basketball should consider pursuing
With that in mind, here’s a look at three international prospects the Longhorns could pursue ahead of the 2023-24 season.
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Rokas Jocys, SG
Texas’ primary roster need at the moment is a lengthier guard or wing to add depth to that part of the rotation. Ideally, Texas could use two remaining roster spots to address the following needs:
- Quality wing with some length
- Depth guard with long-term upside
An international prospect that could check one of those boxes for the Longhorns is the 6-foot-5 and 200-pound 19-year-old GBA Lions shooting guard/wing Rokas Jocys. The Lithuanian two-guard is a quality ball-handler that has the ability to both shoot at a high percentage from deep while putting the ball on the floor to drive to the basket and finish through contact.
Jocys already has filled out his frame pretty well for his age and the level of basketball he’s playing in Europe. He uses that frame and ball-handling ability to push his way to the rim and finish closer to the basket.
Meanwhile, Jocys showed in the 18U Euro Championships in 2022 that he can shoot the ball at a high level from deep. He shot north of 39 percent from deep on nearly five attempts per game.
Jocys is a pretty average defender that can hang in one-on-one matchups at the two or the three. He isn’t the greatest athlete and occasionally gets lost with his off-ball assignments. Some of that can get touched up as Jocys continues to develop in the next couple of years before he’s NBA Draft eligible (2026, per EuroBasket.com).
From what I’ve seen, Jocys doesn’t have any collegiate offers at the moment. But given his strong international performances in the last couple of years combined with his versatile and potent offensive skill set, he could be an interesting hypothetical fit at Texas as a long-term developmental guard/wing.