Texas G Devin Askew enters the NCAA transfer portal

A little more than a year after committing to the Texas Longhorns after one season with the Kentucky Wildcats, rising junior guard Devin Askew entered the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday.

A 6’3, 195-pounder, Askew was originally a member of the 2022 recruiting class before reclassifying and starting in 20 of his 25 games at Kentucky during the 2020-21 season, averaging 6.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in 28.9 minutes per game while finishing second on the team in assists with 73.

Askew decided to depart Lexington after that season, during which he was forced into a larger role than anticipated, committing to Texas on April 13, becoming the first transfer to pledge to head coach Chris Beard and his staff less than two weeks after Beard returned to the Forty Acres.

But despite Beard lauding the long-term potential of Askew, the Sacramento native served as a role player in a deep and experienced guard corps that included four seniors — Marcus Carr, Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey, and Jase Febres.

Askew played in 34 games for the Longhorns, including three starts, averaging 2.1 points per game in 14.8 minutes per contest. Compared to Askew’s freshman season at Kentucky, it wasn’t just his counting stats that decreased, as his offensive rating, percentage of possessions used, percentage of shots taken, offensive rebounding rate, defensive rebounding rate, assist rate, fouls drawn per 40 minutes, and free-throw rate all decreased while his turnover rate increased. Askew was more efficient, improving his two-point shooting percentage and his three-point shooting percentage, but that was largely because he rarely looked at the rim, consistently turning down open looks and rarely trying to score until late in the shot clock.

While there were some positives, like Askew’s strong on-ball defense and his ability to penetrate off the bounce, he never came close to matching the public rhetoric from his head coach.

Because Askew has already used the one-time transfer waiver, he’ll have to sit out a year or apply for a waiver. He has three years to use his two remaining seasons of eligibility.

Askew is now the third player to enter the transfer portal since the start of last season and the fourth player to leave the program.