NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 2020 G Bryce Thompson’s final 7 teams
Texas Longhorns
From the days of Rick Barnes to now Shaka Smart, Texas has always had a history of landing five-star talent. And recently, the team has seen some players develop into “one and done” NBA Draft prospect. However, the wins and tournament appearances haven’t been there for the Longhorns. Landing a player like Thompson absolutely could change that immediately.
There are a couple of issues though with this possible pairing. The first being that Coach Smart isn’t 100% guaranteed to be around by the 2020-21 season. He’s not fully on the hot seat but the struggles of the Longhorns don’t make him safe either. The other six coaches on the list aren’t going anywhere, creating a disadvantage for this option.
Playing time is also a small concern as well. Unlike the other teams on this list who have either NBA Draft prospects or rising seniors, Texas has a trio of rotation guards (Matt Coleman, Jese Febres and Courtney Ramey), along with an incoming top-70 shooting guard recruit in Donovan Williams who’ll be around for a couple of years. Of course, Thompson would leapfrog these players to get minutes as a starter. But he’d be part of more of a committee of guards rather than operating as the star of the team.
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As the fourth Big 12 program on the list, it’s hard to envision a pathway for Texas to land Thompson. They don’t have the local ties like the Oklahoma schools do and the Longhorns aren’t as good overall as Kansas. There’s a clear separation between those three and the others with less of a shot, including the school from Austin.