Report: Texas emerging as contender for No. 5 SF Brian Bowen

The 2017 recruiting class for Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns may not be complete yet, as consensus five-star small forward Brian Bowen is now seriously considering the ‘Horns.

According to a report from Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com, Texas is a “legitimate landing spot” for the La Lumiere prospect, along with Oregon, UCLA, DePaul, and Creighton.

Notice that there aren’t a lot of traditional basketball powers on that list other than UCLA, which hasn’t been much of a factor on the national stage for some time.

In the 247Sports Crystal Ball projections for Bowen, DePaul and Oregon appear to have the most momentum, but there’s not exactly an industry consensus at this time.

Given that the ‘Horns are reportedly surging, the most likely explanation is that the 6’7, 194-pounder simply hasn’t made up his mind.

But the recent addition of No. 1 power forward Mohamed Bamba and the return of sophomore guard Andrew Jones could entice Bowen to come to Austin as the likely starting small forward for Smart.

By adding a top-20 player nationally to a recruiting class that already ranks No. 4 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings, Texas could vault itself into a position of national contention.

That would assume that a lot of things go right, including landing Bowen.

Just don’t bet against Smart and his staff right now — they’ve pulled off a bigger miracle in the last five days.