It may not exactly be the Findlay Prep connection of previous years, but the Texas Longhorns will add another pair of teammates in the 2012 basketball recruiting class following the Sunday pledge of Garland Naaman Forest guard DeMarcus Holland, who visited Austin over the weekend.
Now the sixth member of the 2012 class, Holland will play his collegiate basketball with his high school teammate Prince Ibeh, the forward/center who inked during the fall signing period.
After losing junior guard J'Covan Brown to the NBA Draft and amid rumors that freshman Sterling Gibbs could depart the program, adding another guard in the class makes some sense, especially since there's currently no back up to sophomore-to-be Julien Lewis at shooting guard, a significant depth concern.
At just under 6-4, Holland is known as a tough defender and projects as a four-year player at Texas, a positive for many fans tired of constant departures following short Texas careers. However, for others, Holland is a reach with five-star Devonta Pollard still on the board, especially since Holland shot only 31% from three as a senior and wasn't much better at the foul line for his position, hitting just over 70% of his attempts at the charity stripe.
The major issue here is that Texas now has only one scholarship available, with Pollard and possible Tulsa transfer Jordan Clarkson both now competing for it. Perhaps Texas stood the chance of losing Holland by slow-playing him and waiting for decisions from the other two, but the fact remains that both are significantly better players.
Only time will tell whether Rick Barnes has made a mistake. The realistic chances of landing both Pollard and Clarkson were low in the first place, so there's some merit in locking up Holland from that standpoint, then hoping to land one of Pollard and Clark, which was probably the best-case scenario for those who choose to participate in reality.