Texas Basketball: Longhorns making big moves on recruiting trail

Texas basketball has been one of the more aggressive teams this offseason.

Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns have done serious work this spring. Since we reviewed them in May, they have added a freshman, and two transfers from other Division I programs.

All in all, it has resulted in a top-15 class for the boys in Austin and could result in a very competitive squad for this upcoming season.

The prospect that grabbed the most headlines recently is number one overall center and the 15th best player in the class of 2016, Jarrett Allen. The 6’10”, 220 pound center was a huge commitment from Texas’ backyard in Austin.

Allen projects as a high-energy guy with a ton of versatility on both ends. He will need to get stronger, because even at his ability level he can still get pushed around by bigger, more experienced post players.

This is a home-run commitment though that will help Texas mightily after the loss of several senior front court contributors.

If you get one quality guy at the center position, why not get two? That is the feeling one gets with James Banks, the number seven center and 57th best player in the class of 2016.

Banks signed all the way back in October 2015 out of Atlanta. He stands 6’11”, 230 pounds, and has just about the same level of athletic talent that Allen has. He is maybe a better shot blocker, but with slightly less offensive range.

There is a very good chance that these two will combine to form UT’s starting front court on day one.

Two other freshman that accompany the centers, come in at the shooting guard position.

The first is Andrew Jones from Irving, TX. The 6’4″, 195 pound guard is rated as the number seven shooting guard and 29th best player overall on ESPN.

He has excellent size for his age and has the sort of aggression that coaches like to see. Jones has three sophomores at his position directly ahead of him, so he’ll need to work on his ball handling if he wants to play besides them or in their place.

The other guard isa 6’0″, 165 pound from Houston named Jacob Young. The only player not rated in this class, Young nevertheless has a good chance to fight for a starting spot.

With his size, he should look at transitioning towards point (a serious hole in UT’s starting lineup) over trying to stick at the two-position. He will need to get stronger with the ball and work on his ability to direct other players, but Texas might have grabbed a nice asset in the wake of Isaiah Taylor’s jump to the NBA.

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Of the two transfers, just Mareik Isom is eligible as a graduate. The Austin, TX native is transferring back home for what could be a very successful final campaign.

Isom stands 6’9″, 215 pounds. He also averaged 5.9 points and 2.7 boards per game for the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.

His raw output doesn’t show too much, but he did average 40 percent from beyond the arc on 106 attempts.

Texas looks like a team that will have tons of dynamic talent to slash into the paint, but not the kind of shooters common in modern college offenses. Isom can definitely play either the small forward or stretch-four position, and fill a key role alongside the talented youngsters.

The Longhorns also have Dylan Osetkowski coming in from Tulane starting in 2017-2018. The junior will be a major piece of the front court puzzle after sitting out his requisite year. He has the kind of size (6’9″, 255 pounds) to battle hard against Big 12 competition.

Even on a team as bad as Tulane was last year, Osetkowski averaged 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game, while he molded into one of the Green Waves’ most reliable players.

Texas could lose one or both of their freshman centers to the NBA and Osetkowski’s addition will go a long way towards preventing a major drop off.