Courtney Ramey – Saint Louis, MO
Guard | 6-foot-3 | 170 lbs | No. 43 overall
There are not many point guard prospects in the 2018 recruiting class as college-ready as Courtney Ramey. An elite playmaker who can stretch the floor out to 3-point range, Ramey should see an immediate role as a freshman with the Longhorns. However, even though he is the top-rated recruit in the class, he will have to work to find consistent minutes in the backcourt. This is due to the fact that the Longhorns return both Kerwin Roach Jr. and Matt Coleman, who started the majority of the season a year ago.
Regardless, Ramey will see plenty of minutes either as a starter or a primary back-up to both guard positions. Even though Ramey has a well-rounded set of skills, it is his perimeter shooting that will likely make the biggest impact this season. As already mentioned, Texas was among the worst shooting teams in the country last season and Ramey can help in that department. As a high school senior, he averaged 17.7 points, per game while shooting 38.3% from beyond the arc (128 3PA) and 54.4% from inside the arc.
This shooting will add a whole different dimension to the team during this upcoming campaign but it is also important to note that Ramey also sees the floor as a playmaker quite well. For that same high school campaign, he averaged 4.8 assists to go with 8.5 rebounds per game. Even though he is mostly seen as a point guard, he has the potential to easily slide to the shooting guard position and still be very successful. The point guard of the future for Texas, Ramey should also see his fair share of minutes this season.
It may be a challenge to replace some of the talents lost this offseason but these newcomers should keep Texas basketball very competitive in the Big 12. The program will once again have NCAA Tournament aspirations this season and head coach Shaka Smart should be able to get it done. If this happens, could this be the Longhorns team that makes a deep run?