Sean Miller and Texas basketball had an incredible weekend as they locked up PG Isaiah Johnson and PF David Punch, both top three-ranked players at their position, for the 2026 season. In an unfortunate corresponding move, Longhorns versatile forward Declan Duru Jr. who Coach Miller was pretty excited about, has just entered his name into the transfer portal alongside Simeon Wilcher, Cam Heide, and Nic Codie.
The young power forward from Munich, Germany was most likely in line to see a fairly large uptick in work next season, as he was one of the best pure shooters in Texas' frontcourt. It was even floated around that he might get some work on the wing depending on his athleticism/size ratio in 2026/2027.
Right before he committed to the Longhorns, he was shooting 41.9% from the three-point line for Real Madrid's U19 team and helped Germany's national team post a 6-1 record and earn a silver medal at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
BREAKING: Texas forward Declan Duru is entering the transfer portal
— Jalen Brown (@jalenpolobrown) April 13, 2026
Duru averaged 1.3 PPG, 1.2 RPG, and shot 50% from the field #Hookem | #Texas pic.twitter.com/u1JDRmRQYI
As mentioned earlier, though Duru Jr. only played in 12 games in 2025/2026, he was potentially set to become one of the team's top bench options in the frontcourt next year. He would've most likely spent the rest of the offseason competing with So. PF John Clark for the top spot behind David Punch, and he could've been an asset as a mid-range shooter in 2026/2027.
It's going to be interesting to see if Texas brings in another big man now that the Longhorns only have five players in the frontcourt now including incoming freshman Coleman Elkins.
Stay tuned for more 2026 Texas transfer portal coverage!