Texas G Courtney Ramey declares for NBA Draft, enters NCAA transfer portal

On Thursday, the father of Texas Longhorns senior guard Courtney Ramey announced that his son is declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft while also entering the NCAA transfer portal.

While it’s still possible that the 6’3, 185-pounder from St. Louis goes undrafted and removes his name from the portal, Thursday’s announcement may end Ramey’s Texas career.

A member of the 2018 recruiting class, Ramey initially committed to Louisville in 2017, but reopened his recruitment after the scandal that eventually ended Rick Pitino’s tenure with the Cardinals and chose the Longhorns over Missouri, Louisville, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Ohio State, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, and SMU. Ramey finished the cycle as the No. 43 player nationally and the No. 10 point guard, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Ramey quickly established himself as a key contributor for Shaka Smart, starting 20 games among his 37 appearances in 2018-19, averaging 8.1 points per game, and leading the team in three-point field goal percentage (.386, 56-145) while finishing second in assists (3.1 apg), third in steals (33), and fifth in rebounding (3.3 rpg). In the NIT championship game against Lipscomb, Ramey showcased his ability as a tenacious defender, limiting Garrison Mathews to 15 points on 2-of-10 shooting, including a 1-of-5 mark from three-point range. Matthews entered the game averaging 21.0 points per game on 48.8-percent shooting.

As a sophomore, Ramey started 28 of 31 games, increasing his scoring to 10.9 points per game and ranking second on the team in assists (2.9 apg), rebounding (3.9 rpg), steals (31), and minutes (31.5 mpg).

While starting 26 of 27 games in 2020-21, Ramey improved his scoring once again, averaging 12.2 points per game — third on the team — while getting his three-point shooting back on track after struggling as a sophomore. After hitting 31.3 percent from beyond the arc in 2019-20, Ramey hit 41.4 percent of his shots from distance as a junior, leading the team among players with more than 16 attempts.

With the arrival of new head coach Chris Beard and a handful of transfers, Ramey gave up some of his scoring load, using a career-low 17.2 percent of the possessions he was on the court, but posting the best offensive rating of his career. And even though Ramey was snubbed from the All-Big 12 defensive team, his work on that end was consistent and dogged, including locking down Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji in two separate games and making it extremely difficult for Purdue guard Jaden Ivey in the NCAA Tournament.

Ramey is the first Texas player to officially open up the possibility of leaving the program with decisions still forthcoming from guard Marcus Carr, guard Andrew Jones, and forward Timmy Allen in the senior class.