NCAA Basketball: Updated early top-25 rankings for 2021-22 after NBA Draft deadline

The Longhorns offseason primarily involved the incredible amount of transfer pickups but there were still some loose ends regarding some of the players involved in the NBA Draft process. In the end, those who were considering moving on all did, including lead guard Matt Coleman, along with forwards Kai Jones, Greg Brown, and Jericho Sims.

Clearly, the new coaching staff led by Chris Beard was anticipating the departures and had already brought in several key transfers to replace them. The biggest name was Tre Mitchell, a 6’9 center that averaged 18.0 ppg and 7.2 rpg in two years at UMass. He’s considered to be one of the top transfers this entire offseason and will be paired with Dylan Disu (Vanderbilt), Timmy Allen (Utah), and Christian Bishop (Creighton) in the new frontcourt. How the minutes get divided up will be interesting but from an individual talent standpoint, few teams can match with what the Longhorns have inside.

The backcourt didn’t have as much turnover, thanks to both Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones coming back. The rising senior duo combined to average 26.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 6.2 apg last season and over 10 three-point attempts a game. If the frontcourt is as good as it currently looks on paper, these guards, along with Kentucky transfer Devin Askew, will have plenty of space and room to operate.

Considering that this team is still reportedly looking to add more talent, they could end up No. 2 or even 1 overall in the preseason polls. In just a few short months, Coach Beard has added a ton of quality-level talent from all over the country. Now we’ll have to see how it gels.