UCF transfer G Ithiel Horton signs with Texas

UCF Knights graduate transfer guard Ithiel Horton committed to the Texas Longhorns last week on a visit to the Forty Acres, according to On3.

The decision by Horton to pledge to Texas resulted in the cancelation of his planned trip to Kansas and on Monday, the Longhorns announced his addition to the program.

A 6’5, 200-pounder from New Jersey, Horton was unranked as a recruit in the 2018 recruiting class when he signed with Delaware over offers from Lafayette and Penn. As a freshman, Horton averaged 13.2 points per game on 40.9-percent shooting from three-point range. Horton opted to transfer to Pitt after that season and redshirt as a result of NCAA transfer rules before averaging 8.9 points per game and 9.8 points per game in his two seasons with the Panthers while continuing to shoot well from distance. Before the 2022-23 season, Horton transferred to UCF, where he averaged 12.3 points per game on 34.8-percent shooting from beyond the arc.

In late June, Horton entered the NCAA transfer portal after withdrawing from the NBA Draft process and will spend his final season in college playing for Texas with new head coach Rodney Terry and his staff hoping that Horton can provide the same type of production that Sir’Jabari Rice did in 2022-23 after transferring from New Mexico State.

Horton will provide the Horns with a proven shooter from three-point range and a capable overall scorer, though Horton is not particularly efficient at the rim or inside the arc in general — he hit only 42.9 percent on short twos and 38.2 percent on far twos at UCF. But he does fill a need for Texas and should provide solid defense after averaging a career-high 1.4 steals per game last season.