Texas Longhorns coaches are still active on the transfer market after landing Tulane Green Waves transfer forward Dylan Osetkowski, with ESPN's Jeff Goodman reporting on Thursday that head coach Shaka Smart and his staff have been in contact with Duquesne Dukes graduate transfer forward LG Gill.
There will be plenty of competition for the 6'8, 220-pounder, however, as Marquette, Iowa St, Alabama, Cincy, ECU, and Maryland are only a few of the schools to reach out to Gill. Last week, after Gill announced his decision to graduate from Duquesne and explore his options, Texas assistant coach Mike Morrell followed Gill on Twitter.
The departures of Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh, and Connor Lammert will leave Texas light on frontcourt depth next season, even with the addition of James Banks and the possible addition of local five-star forward Jarrett Allen.
Unlike Osetkowski, Gill only has one year of eligibility remaining, but will also be able to use it this season to make an immediate impact at the school of his choice since he is a graduate transfer. Gill isn't expected to have any restrictions placed on where he can transfer beyond school's on Duquesne's schedule next season, something that is unlikely to disqualify Texas.
Since Gill is familiar with Morrell and Texas head coach Shaka Smart from their time at VCU -- and Morrell and Smart likewise familiar with Gill -- that intraconference tie could provide a little boost for the Longhorns if things advance between the two sides.
And the available playing time will certainly be appealing for Gill.
The 6'8, 220-pounder could play either forward position if he comes to Texas, with his greatest value coming at the four because of need. A native of Virginia, Gill was the leading rebounder (6.5) and third-leading scorer (10.1) for Duquesne last season. He's steadily improved each year in college and achieved notable jumps in field-goal percentage, three-point shooting percentage, and free-throw percentage from his sophomore to junior seasons, so there's even some possible upside left if he can continue that trajectory.
Gill was a late bloomer in high school who didn't receive much interest -- not even from VCU, it seems -- but reportedly has a 40-inch vertical and clearly has the strength to play bigger than his size if asked to defend post players.
If there's one concern for Texas, it's the ability to get Gill into a graduate program not offered at Duquesne, which is not at easy task and has limited available graduate transfer options in the past for the football and basketball programs.