Texas men’s basketball gained a big boost to its 2024 class last Friday, landing four-star shooting guard Cam Scott as reported by On3’s Joe Tipton.
After the Longhorns’ improbable 2022-23 campaign closed on a high note with a Big 12 title and Elite Eight appearance, the stark reality of building a program from the ground up set in, with a pair of five-star recruits decommitting this offseason and the bulk of the team’s heavy lifters out of college eligibility.
Adding in the exodus of Arterio Morris, the rising sophomore who flashed his tantalizing two-way potential during March Madness and was expected to step in as the team’s starting point guard, head coach Rodney Terry and his staff were presented a roster with a lot of question marks and limited options to answer them.
As expected, Texas relied heavily on the transfer portal to plug the roster holes, adding five players that should contribute up and down the rotation. Guard Max Abmas out of Oral Roberts is the most prominent of those names and should shoulder the greatest load offensively, but Kadin Shedrick’s rim protection, Ithiel Horton’s microwave scoring and Chendall Weaver’s potential as an athletic combo guard shouldn’t be overlooked.
Going into year one with Coach Terry officially at the helm, there’s reason for optimism despite a roster that, on paper, could be described as mish-mash. While it’s fair to envision some regression in 2023, it’s clear that Terry gets the most out of his guys, and despite massive roster turnover it would be a major surprise if the Longhorns took a true step backwards.
With that said, Texas can’t live on transfers and players that narrowly miss getting drafted forever. Sophomore forward Dillon Mitchell and junior guard Tyrese Hunter’s respective returns after initially hitting the NBA draft will help Texas now, but they won’t be around forever. Senior bigs Dylan Disu and Brock Cunningham are entering their final year of eligibility, as are Horton and Abmas. Nine months from now, Texas basketball may find itself staring down the same depleted roster they entered this offseason with.
It’s not as if players aren’t wanting to play for Texas, though, as the Longhorns flipped LSU commit Devin Pryor and Kansas commit Chris Johnson late in the cycle, moves that will ideally inject the team with some youth for the long haul. The ability to consistently land top-ranked players will dictate how far he can go and the longevity he can bring.
This is what makes the Scott addition so big. The Lexington, South Carolina product spurned his hometown Gamecocks in his commitment to Texas. He eschewed other top programs in Alabama and Auburn, and turned down Ole Miss, now captained by Chris Beard. In his announcement livestream, Scott said Austin felt like home. And he’ll make it his a year from now.
Landing Cam Scott marks a much-needed get for a Texas basketball program undergoing an identity change. It’s the first big-name high school commit that Rodney Terry and his recruiting staff can really put their stamp on. Pending the Longhorns’ performance on the court this season, it could look like the first big domino to fall in Texas’ favor as Terry continues to implement his culture.
Most of all, the addition of Cam Scott stands as a proof of concept to this point in the Terry era. He’s done everything right so far, and for the time being, he’s checked another box.
