Texas Basketball: 3 must-get 2024 recruits for Longhorns this fall

Head coach Rodney Terry and his staff just finished the 2023 Texas basketball recruiting class with a couple of late-cycle additions this offseason. Most recently, Texas brought in the former LSU Tigers commit and three-star Houston (TX) PSAT-XEA Academy small forward Devon Pryor. Texas flipped Pryor from LSU and got him to reclassify from the 2024 class to 2023.

Pryor arrived on campus this summer as an enrollee a few months ahead of the 2023-24 college basketball season.

The other late-cycle addition for Terry and the Longhorns staff in the 2023 class was the former Kansas Jayhawks commit and high-four-star Montverde Academy combo guard Chris Johnson. Texas essentially added the depth back that it lost when five-star Duncanville forward Ron Holland and five-star Southern California Academy combo guard AJ Johnson de-committed from the Longhorns to go the G-League route earlier this offseason.

Now that Terry and the Longhorns staff have officially closed the book on the 2023 class, it’s time to look at what lies ahead for the 2024 cycle. We’re not far from the Early Signing Period for the 2024 class, which begins in mid-November 2023.

Must-get priority recruits for Texas basketball in the 2024 class ahead of the season

Here’s a look at three must-get recruits for the Longhorns in the 2024 class heading into the fall.

Nic Codie, PF

This spot on the list could go to one of two power forward targets for Terry and the Longhorns in the 2024 class heading into the fall. High-four-star Carrollton (TX) Newman Smith power forward Nic Codie and four-star Houston (TX) Pasadena Memorial power forward Robert Miller III are two of the top priorities in-state at this position in the 2024 class for Texas.

Texas isn’t in dire need of adding frontcourt depth, but it will replace senior big men Dylan Disu and Brock Cunninghan next offseason, as they will exhaust their eligibility. Sophomore forward Dillon Mitchell will also likely declare for the 2024 NBA Draft.

That leaves junior power forward and UTEP transfer Ze’Rik Onyema, Pryor, redshirt junior big man Kadin Shedrick, and sophomore forward Alex Anamekwe as the forwards/bigs on the projected roster for the 2024-25 season.

Among those four returning Longhorns players, I would be confident in saying that one of them, at most, would be a very capable starter for the 2024-25 campaign. That’s why adding an elite power forward in the 2024 class is a priority for this staff.

But after a successful unofficial visit and an offer from Texas last month, it looks like Codie could be the top priority at power forward for Terry and the Longhorns staff at this point of the offseason in the 2024 class. Texas made a big impression on Codie during his mid-June trip to Austin (per On3).

"“I really like it. The coaching staff had a real at home vibe to them. The campus and arena were nice. I got to watch the team play a little. The tutor, trainer and everybody had a family. They had a welcoming feel to them.”"

Codie is set to make a return trip to Austin this fall for an official visit on Sep. 29. He’ll also officially visit the TCU Horned Frogs (Sep. 1), Virginia Tech Hokies (Sep. 8), LSU Tigers (Sep. 22), and Houston Cougars (Oct. 13) this fall.

Tre Johnson, SG/SF

The top-ranked shooting guard recruit in the nation in the 2024 class, according to three of the four major recruiting services (247Sports, On3, and ESPN), is one of Texas’ top-priority recruits for this cycle.

The elite five-star Branson (MO) Link Academy shooting guard Tre Johnson has a great relationship with Terry. He’s visited Texas multiple times since last summer, including an official trip to Austin on Sep. 17, 2022.

Texas made the cut among Johnson’s top six schools, announced on social media on May 16. The other five finalists for Johnson are the Kentucky Wildcats, Baylor Bears, Arkansas Razorbacks, Kansas Jayhawks, and Alabama Crimson Tide.

As recently as last fall, Texas was pegged by many in the recruiting industry as the top school in the race to land a commitment from Johnson early on. Texas made a big move in this recruitment last fall when Johnson worked out with Longhorn hoops legend Kevin Durant during his official visit.

But the departure of former Texas head coach Chris Beard and some of his staff in the middle of last season set the Longhorns back with Johnson. Baylor and head coach Scott Drew have taken a slight lead in this recruitment as they seem to have the strongest and most consistent communication with Johnson this year.

Kentucky is another school making a big push this offseason among Johnson’s top six finalists.

Liam McNeeley, F

An elite recruit that the Longhorns sit in a great spot for this summer is the industry consensus five-star Montverde Academy forward Liam McNeeley. Terry and the Longhorns staff have made McNeeley one of their top out-of-state priorities in the 2024 class throughout this offseason.

And the relationships that Terry and the Longhorns staff have in this recruitment go back more than 18 months. The first visit that McNeeley took to Austin was an unofficial trip back in August 2021.

McNeeley has visited Texas three times since his first trip to the Forty Acres in the summer of 2021. That includes an official visit he took to Austin on April 24, 2023.

Moreover, this recruitment is a battle between Texas and the Indiana Hoosiers heading into the fall. Texas held the lead in this recruitment before Beard was let go roughly eight months ago. But Indiana holds pole position with McNeeley as it looks like he’s planning to return to Bloomington this fall.

Texas still has a chance to make up ground with McNeeley. But Terry and the Longhorns will have to get McNeeley back to campus as much as possible ahead of the Early Signing Period in mid-November. Texas also has to prove that the program is firmly headed in the right direction on the court next season under Terry as the new full-time head coach.

There is still a ways to go in this recruitment, so don’t count the Longhorns out. If there is a school not named Indiana that has a good shot at landing McNeeley’s commitment, it is Texas.