Sean Miller keeps stacking wins on the recruiting trail, and Texas is starting to look like a destination that can go toe-to-toe with the sport’s biggest names.
The latest sign comes from Darius Wabbington, the No. 13 prospect in the 2027 class. The five-star center has trimmed his list to six schools: Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, and Texas. That puts the Longhorns in the same group as some of college basketball’s most recognizable powers, with Wabbington’s home-state Arizona also in the mix.
Texas already has an official visit lined up with Wabbington, and the 6-foot-11 big man has the Horns on his calendar for Oct. 9.
His other scheduled official visits are Indiana on Sept. 5, Louisville on Sept.
11, Arizona on Sept. 25, and North Carolina on Oct. 30.
Kentucky, for now, is not on the visit schedule.
Wabbington is only the latest high-end recruit to circle Texas. The Longhorns have also lined up official visits with Beckham Black, the new No. 1 recruit in the 2027 class, NaVorro Bowman Jr., who is the No. 5 point guard in the cycle, and Justin Wise, the No. 4 shooting guard.
That kind of momentum is hard to miss. Texas men’s basketball may not carry blue-blood status, especially in recent years, but Miller is making the program look like a real threat in elite recruiting battles.
And the Longhorns are doing it after one of their strongest cycles in years. Texas landed the No. 5 recruiting class and the No. 4 transfer portal group in the country, while losing only four players to the portal: Camden Heide, Declan Duru Jr., Simeon Wilcher, and Nicolas Codie. Those four combined for fewer than 14 minutes per game on average.
Texas also kept center Matas Vokietaitis and added 11 players through the portal and recruiting trail. Among the biggest pickups were freshmen Austin Goosby and Marcus Spears Jr., along with transfers David Punch from TCU and Isaiah Johnson from Colorado.
For a program trying to keep climbing, the message is clear: Miller has Texas in the conversation with the heavyweights, and the Longhorns are making plenty of noise while they’re there.
In Other News...
Steve Sarkisian Is In A Heated Fight For Must Have Texas Lineman
Texas has made interior offensive line a priority in the 2028 class, and Kendrick Harris sits near the top of that board. The four-star prospect from Duncanville has already drawn serious attention as one of the best interior linemen in his cycle, which is exactly why Steve Sarkisian and his staff are treating this recruitment like an early heavyweight battle rather than a distant future decision.
The Longhorns are trying to sell more than just the brand name, because Texas A&M, Oklahoma, LSU and SMU are all in the mix as well. For a program that has dealt with the offensive line as one of its biggest question marks under Sarkisian, landing a player like Harris would carry obvious value, but the real challenge is still ahead as he weighs the coaches and the fit that matter most to him. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Still Has A Shot At A Massive 2027 Recruiting Flip
Texas has already put together a strong 2027 recruiting class, but the Longhorns are still working through the usual churn that comes with chasing elite prospects this far out. Even after a few losses and decommitment flips, the staff is staying active on the trail, and one of the names it continues to circle is a highly regarded athlete whose profile fits what Texas likes to target on both sides of the ball.
Honor Fa'alave-Johnson remains one of the more intriguing players in the 2027 cycle because evaluators see real value beyond one position. He is widely viewed as a safety at the Power 4 level, yet his high school production has included major work as a runner and receiver, which is part of why Texas is still so interested. If the Longhorns are going to make a late move here, they will need to keep pressing on a recruitment that already has plenty of attention and no shortage of moving parts. [Read more 🡒]