18. Texas Longhorns
It’s been an offseason of ups and downs for the program, which is in an interesting spot after giving the full-time head coaching job to Rodney Terry, which some may find controversial. The team knew that they were going to be without four key players via eligibility, guards Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice and forwards Christian Bishop and Timmy Allen.
More departures have followed. Dillon Mitchell has entered the NBA Draft process with the intention of staying in. Freshman guard Arterio Morris transferred out and is now at Kansas, while top-30 guard commit AJ Johnson has de-committed and opted to go pro. Making matters worse, Ron Holland, a five-star prospect and consensus top-10 overall player in the 2023 class, has recently de-committed as well.
The good news is that Coach Terry has had some success in the transfer portal. 6’11 center Kadin Shedrick comes over from Virginia and gives Texas true size and a quality interior presence inside. And they were able to land arguably the best free agent guard out there in Max Abmas. The transfer from Oral Roberts averaged 21.9 ppg and led the program to its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.
A backcourt of both Abmas and Tyrese Hunter will be a quality duo outside, while Shedrick and returning forward Dylan Disu will be good inside. The Longhorns will have one of the better starting lineups in NCAA Basketball but needs to find some depth to round out the roster to be viable.