Head coach Chris Beard and the Texas Longhorns are set to host one of the best players in the NCAA transfer portal this weekend when former Iowa State Cyclones sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter visits the Forty Acres, according to multiple reports.
Hunter arrived in Austin on Friday and will take his official visit over the weekend, his fourth since entering the portal last month. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year named Texas in his top six schools as he started his visit process, with Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, and Tennessee as the other finalists. The Boilermakers hosted Hunter for his first visit before subsequent trips to Knoxville and Spokane in recent weeks.
A top-40 prospect in the 2021 recruiting class out of Racine, Hunter finished third in the Big 12 in assists per game, third in steals per game, and 20th in points per game in his impressive debut season, but he did struggle from beyond the arc, shooting 27.4 percent on 135 three-point attempts.
At the guard position for Texas, New Mexico State transfer Jabari Rice is an addition from the portal, Courtney Ramey departed for the portal, Devin Askew committed to Cal, Jase Febres graduated, Andrew Jones is turning pro, and Marcus Carr is set to return, joining 2022 signees Arterio Morris and Rowan Brumbaugh.
And while Hunter won’t help the Longhorns in a key area — three-point shooting, something Beard said this week super senior forward Timmy Allen is adding to his game — Hunter does have the pure point guard skills that Texas notably lacked last season as Carr was asked to take on a more multi-faceted playmaking role. If the Horns can land Hunter, a difficult task considering the competition, he would fill a key need at point guard and allow Carr to return to the score-first mentality that helped him average 19.4 points per game at Minnesota in 2020-21 while giving Brumbaugh time to develop.
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