2023 signees Ron Holland and AJ Johnson affirm intentions to play at Texas

Since last month’s felony arrest of Texas Longhorns head coach Chris Beard, one of the significant storylines has involved any potential public recruiting fallout for the program. But on Monday and Tuesday, both members of the 2023 signing class — Duncanville forward Ron Holland and Castaic (Cali.) Southern California Academy guard AJ Johnson both affirmed their intentions to play for the Longhorns.

But while those assertions are positive for Texas in the short term, both players still have months until they are set to enroll in classes on the Forty Acres in June and Beard’s future remains in limbo thanks to his indefinite suspension without pay and the lack of any further decisions by the school.

A 6’8, 195-pounder, Holland committed to Texas over Arkansas, Kentucky, Memphis, and UCLA, among other programs, and signed one week later. An official visit in early September helped the Longhorns land the consensus five-star prospect who is ranked as the No. 10 player nationally and the No. 3 power forward, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Johnson, a 6’5, 160-pounder, committed to and signed with Texas on Nov. 21 after taking an official visit to Austin on the same weekend as Holland. Louisville and LSU also hosted Johnson for official visits. Also a consensus five-star prospect, Johnson is ranked as the No. 15 player nationally and the No. 2 combo guard in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

The Longhorns do not currently hold any commitments in the 2024 recruiting class.