In this day and age of college sports, with NIL and the NCAA Transfer Portal, Texas basketball utilizing the portal to build the roster is more important than ever to remain competitive with other major conference schools on the hardwood. Texas has made up a significant portion of its minutes in the rotation over the past few seasons from transfer additions.
Texas basketball's most recent standout starters have mostly come from the transfer portal in the modern era of the 2020s decade in college basketball
Head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns have experienced considerable postseason success, largely thanks to big contributions from pickups from the transfer portal in the core part of the starting lineups. Texas has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the last three postseasons.
In addition, Texas's leading scorer and the leading rebounder for each of the past three seasons were transfers that the Longhorns brought in from the portal to make an immediate impact on the starting lineup.
With Texas now playing in the SEC for the 2024-25 regular season, it's a good time to take a look back at how transfer impacted the Longhorns rotations in this decade while it was playing in the Big 12.
Here are three of the most recent prominent transfers for the Longhorns in the 2020s decade.
Marcus Carr, G
Texas brought in guard Marcus Carr ahead of the 2021-22 season from the transfer portal after he spent one year with the Pitt Panthers and two seasons with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Carr played over 70 games in two seasons at Texas, leading the team in assists both years and leading the team in scoring in the 2022-23 season.
His game really transformed under Terry and staff before his final season at Texas for the 2022-23 campaign as a fifth-year senior. Carr became Texas's primary scoring threat, while improving his shooting efficiency and maintaining and outsized impact on the defensive end of the floor.
During Texas's Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament in 2023, Carr scored in double figures in every single game, while averaging 18 points per game and six assists in the final two games in the Big Dance.
Carr knew the impact he and the other Longhorns transfers had on the team that made that special run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament a couple of seasons ago.
"I know that we’ll forever be proud of the foundation that we laid here. Obviously the season that we just had. But most importantly, I’m just proud of, like we’ve been saying, just the family and the brotherhood that we have."Marcus Carr
In his final season, Carr was an All-Big 12 First-Team selection for the Longhorns in 2022-23. Carr, along with fellow former transfers, guard Sir'Jabari Rice and forward Timmy Allen, were among Texas's most productive and reliable players in the core part of the rotation in the 2022-23 season.