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Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes: Keep Austin Beard


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SG Keyonte George (iSchool Academy): George continues to be moving towards a decision in late August or early September with Texas the leader over Baylor, Kansas, and Oklahoma State.

CG Cason Wallace (Richardson High): The five-star guard is expected to make an official visit to Texas one of the first two weekends of September. The Longhorns have been working from behind in this recruitment, and continue to trail with Kentucky offering over the weekend. Tennessee is the third school seriously in the mix.

PG Rowan Brumbaugh (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA): The smooth playmaking point guard is in the process of scheduling official visits to Texas and Kansas. The Texas trip could be in late August or the first weekend of September.

PF Isaac Traudt (Grand Island, NE): Chances are growing that Traudt will make a visit to Texas before making a decision. The 6-foot-9.5 forward has taken a liking to Chris Beard. The Longhorns are late to the game in this recruitment, and are playing catchup with Virginia and Michigan State trending in recent weeks.

 

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After announcing decision date, how likely is it that Keyonte George commits to Texas?

Nick Harris

 

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Spoiler

After announcing decision date, how likely is it that Keyonte George commits to Texas?

Nick Harris
 

In case you missed it, Lewisville (Texas) iSchool Entrepreneurial Academy five-star shooting guard Keyonte George announced on Monday night that he will be making his commitment on August 8.

Despite a decision being previously expected before his senior season began in November, the timeline for George has been accelerated. This bodes well for Texas who has held a pretty substantial lead since Chris Beard and assistant coach Ulric Maligi had made him a priority early in their tenure in Austin.

"Coach Ulric Maligi called me and told me that I was one of the first players that they were calling," George told 247Sports. "They wanted to make sure that I knew that I was still a priority as they made the move from Texas Tech to Texas so that was big for me.”

From the early stages of Beard being in Austin to now, the relationship between the Texas coaching staff and George has been strong, as the staff making him a priority early on stuck out with the five-star and his family.

"I'm just looking for the same love they gave me when they were at Tech," he said after Beard was hired. "Knowing that our relationship is still there and that they still want me and that I'm able to fit in their style of play still. I already know he will coach me hard, just trying to make sure the relationship is still there and the love is still there."

The relationship and the love were more than there which led to George taking his first official visit to Texas in the first week of June. According to sources, the visit was described as a hit with the five-star and his mother. Two other schools that landed official visits in the month of June, Baylor and Kansas, provide as the competition in this recruitment along with Oklahoma State (who also landed an official visit in June) and Kentucky. If any school can give Texas a run down the stretch, it would be the defending National Champions in Waco, but this one is truly Texas' to lose.

Confidence Meter: 90% Texas

The consideration of going pro after high school will be something to watch next spring, but George has already told Horns247 in the past on multiple occasions that he plans on playing one year in college instead. With new NIL rules being passed since then, it seems even more likely that he will follow through on those plans.

"Me and my family and my trainer, education comes first in our household," he said. "We're looking at the college route right now, that's the most important thing. Everybody wants to go pro, but right now I'm looking at the college route."

If George does commit to Texas, he'll be the highest-ranked recruit to pledge to the Longhorns since Mo Bamba in the 2017 class. Bamba is the only top-five recruit that Texas has signed since 2010.

At 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, George is the No. 4 overall ranked player in the country for the class of 2022, according to 247Sports Composite. He is the No. 1 shooting guard in the country and the No. 1 recruit from the state of Texas.

 

IN Q&A

Q: Thanks Nick for the update. Things are looking up for Texas to secure his commitment in August since his teammate Morris has picked UT. Who else besides Kijani Wright will Beard & Co take in the 22 class? I think Anthony Black is trending toward one of the Basketball Bluebloods. Looks like we should be recruiting some more big folks for the front court and center.

Nick Harris:  Texas will continue to recruit Wallace and Black, and if they could land one of them, that would be ideal. The most likely outcome though is that they go after a small forward/power forward type and a guy in the front court to round out the class. Kijani Wright is one they're going after hard and Kel'el Ware has his official visit coming up in September.

 

 

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Doesn’t seem to made it in this thread yet but news breaking in multiple places that it is Baylor for Keyonte. 
 

very strange considering all that has transpired with months of confidence. A one and done person probably doesn’t care about conference affiliation, but as discussed Beards bag game should not be taking a back seat to Baylor. 

Edited by mantis toboggan
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NickKnacks: What we're hearing on Keyonte George, where Texas goes next

Nick Harris

 

Warning:

 

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Spoiler

NickKnacks: What we're hearing on Keyonte George, where Texas goes next

Nick Harris
 

A recruitment that was once Texas' to lose has started to become just that.

After months of holding a substantial lead in the race for Lewisville (Texas) iSchool five-star shooting guard Keyonte George, Texas has seen that lead slip away in the last 24 hours to Baylor who has also made George priority number-one in the 2022 class.

Since exiting the sweepstakes for Richardson (Texas) five-star combo guard Cason Wallace, Baylor has made George their one and only prize in the backcourt, and that pitch has paid off. We had heard following his official visit to Waco that he was able to connect with Scott Drew and the Bears staff, and that connection continued through the summer.

Ahead of Arterio Morris' commitment, there were rumors that the iSchool duo were about to make their commitments to Texas pretty close together, and the timeline matched up when George announced his intentions of committing on August 8.

As I mentioned in a board post earlier today, this shift is a surprise to not only me, but many guys that are on the ground in the Dallas hoops scene. Nevertheless, this one is shifting towards Baylor and it doesn't seem like there is much to be done to shift it back in time. I have flipped my Crystal Ball in favor of Baylor with a confidence score of 8.

Where does Texas go from here?

The Texas coaching staff spent most of July on the road seeing recruits from across the country, and their solution in the backcourt to pair with Arterio Morris could still be within state lines. Coppell (Texas) five-star combo guard Anthony Black has seen a huge rise in his recruitment with schools like Gonzaga and Duke getting involved, so Richardson (Texas) five-star combo guard Cason Wallace seems to be the most likely option at this juncture. Other options include Fort Bend (Texas) Hightower four-star point guard Bryce Griggs and Montverde Academy (Fla.) four-star combo guard Jalen Hood-Schifino who was just offered by Texas on Monday.

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Get ln My Van said:

Arterio Morris is the better player and I don’t think it’s close.

Go watch the highlights from the Arterio vs Keyonte game and it’s obvious who the better all around talent is.

Let's not do this. KG is a bucket and exactly the kind of go-to scorer Beard needs in his system. He's also improving defensively. Morris is a twitchy athlete, has a higher ceiling, and is an amazing player already, but KG is a huge loss after basically having him in the "bag"

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1 hour ago, Lonestar88 said:

I keep seeing this, but unless Cason Wallace was in the fold, I don’t understand how it makes sense.

Gerry said that once Wallace confirmed he would visit, Beard moved him to #1 on his board. They wouldn't take George's commitment until things were sorted out with Wallace. It's a pretty big f'ing risk, but Beard hasn't really been told no so far at Texas.

 

Gerry also said that Beard hasn't missed a Wallace game during the summer circuit.

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2 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Agreed.   I could definitely see Wallace being the number 1 option for Beard since he’s also a 5 star and he’s a stud defensive player.  His game is probably tailor made for Beard’s style.  

But I don’t see passing on George being plausible for any other reason than an imminent Wallace commitment or legal issues, neither of which seems to be the case.    

It is hard to question Beard’s recruiting decisions, but man, I don’t see how you put George on the back burner unless you’re really sure about Wallace.  

Getting mudholed by Jai Lucas would be a real kick in the teeth

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18 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Gerry said that once Wallace confirmed he would visit, Beard moved him to #1 on his board. They wouldn't take George's commitment until things were sorted out with Wallace. It's a pretty big f'ing risk, but Beard hasn't really been told no so far at Texas.

 

Gerry also said that Beard hasn't missed a Wallace game during the summer circuit.

 

Damn, I like Wallace a lot and plenty of smart people think he’s better than George, but that is one hell of a gamble if George was ready to commit here. 
 

3 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Agreed.   I could definitely see Wallace being the number 1 option for Beard since he’s also a 5 star and he’s a stud defensive player.  His game is probably tailor made for Beard’s style.  

But I don’t see passing on George being plausible for any other reason than an imminent Wallace commitment or legal issues, neither of which seems to be the case.    

It is hard to question Beard’s recruiting decisions, but man, I don’t see how you put George on the back burner unless you’re really sure about Wallace.   Of course, maybe this means they’re really sure about Wallace.  In which case, wow.

If this were football, I’d be vehemently against it. Beard deserves more benefit of the doubt than the football staff, but man. Hopefully the Wallace situation is more in our favor than we realize at the moment.

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21 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Agreed.   I could definitely see Wallace being the number 1 option for Beard since he’s also a 5 star and he’s a stud defensive player.  His game is probably tailor made for Beard’s style.  

But I don’t see passing on George being plausible for any other reason than an imminent Wallace commitment or legal issues, neither of which seems to be the case.    

It is hard to question Beard’s recruiting decisions, but man, I don’t see how you put George on the back burner unless you’re really sure about Wallace.   Of course, maybe this means they’re really sure about Wallace.  In which case, wow.  He was supposed to be all Kentucky/Tennessee.

Well to be fair, the George news hit about the same time as the news of Texas to the SEC and Wallace is on record of preferring to play in that conference. Could have been the needed jolt Texas needed to get him on campus.

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On 7/29/2021 at 5:43 PM, longhornmatt said:

Agreed.   I could definitely see Wallace being the number 1 option for Beard since he’s also a 5 star and he’s a stud defensive player.  His game is probably tailor made for Beard’s style.  

But I don’t see passing on George being plausible for any other reason than an imminent Wallace commitment or legal issues, neither of which seems to be the case.    

It is hard to question Beard’s recruiting decisions, but man, I don’t see how you put George on the back burner unless you’re really sure about Wallace.   Of course, maybe this means they’re really sure about Wallace.  In which case, wow.  He was supposed to be all Kentucky/Tennessee.

 

Is Wallace expected to be a one-and-done, too?  Else, if he's expected to stay for multiple years, could that be a factor?

 

 

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5 hours ago, Getafix said:

 

Is Wallace expected to be a one-and-done, too?  Else, if he's expected to stay for multiple years, could that be a factor?

 

 

He's more of a guy who prior to this past Peach Jam and summer league season was expected to stay 2 or 3 years because his offensive skillset, while sound, isn't particularly special in anyone area. But his performance during the most recent summer session opened a lot of eyebrows. Not only Beard, but scouts like Mike Schmitz and Sam Vecenie have taken notice and sung his praises over his recent performances so who knows what will happen.

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7 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

He's more of a guy who prior to this past Peach Jam and summer league season was expected to stay 2 or 3 years because his offensive skillset, while sound, isn't particularly special in anyone area. But his performance during the most recent summer session opened a lot of eyebrows. Not only Beard, but scouts like Mike Schmitz and Sam Vecenie have taken notice and sung his praises over his recent performances so who knows what will happen.

How exactly does somebody open an eyebrow? 

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16 hours ago, Getafix said:

 

Is Wallace expected to be a one-and-done, too?  Else, if he's expected to stay for multiple years, could that be a factor?

 

 

I think NLI is gonna change the dynamics of one and done and pretty much kill the direct to developmental league deals. Financially it probably makes more sense to return unless you are a guaranteed lottery pick.

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https://www.rockytoptalk.com/2021/8/6/22612734/tennessee-makes-top-five-top-30-guard-jalen-hood-schifino-vols-basketball-recruiting

I don't see anything lately on here about Jalen Hood-Schifino. He dropped his 5 remaining schools on his twitter feed with Texas among them.

I linked to the Rocky Top article because there are a couple of interesting items. 

"He’s already seen Tennessee once, joining five-star guard Cason Wallace on his official visit back in June."

Also, no credit given to Texas on Wallace, which is just the way I like it.

"Hood-Schifino is one to pay attention to over the next few months, along with what appears to be a Tennessee-Kentucky battle for Wallace."

An extra item about Memphis - the top ranked recruit in the 2022 class, Jalen Duren (sooooooo many Jalens) just reclassified to 2021 and has committed to Memphis. He's a current (former?) teammate for Hood-Schifino.

 

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