Former Kentucky target Ron Holland decommits from Texas

The No. 6 prospect in the 2023 On3 Industry Ranking is officially a free agent, as five-star forward Ron Holland has decommitted from the University of Texas.

The 6-foot-8 prospect out of Duncanville, TX committed to the Longhorns back on November 5, then signed on Nov. 11. He chose UT over Arkansas, Kentucky, UCLA and the G League the first time around.

“I want to take this time to thank head coach (Rodney Terry) and the entire Texas coaching staff for their consideration,” Holland announced Friday. “I would also like to thank the Longhorn Nation for all their love and support. While this has been a difficult process, I have decided to decommit from University of Texas and reopen my recruitment. Texas will still be one of my top schools of choice.”

Holland took an official visit to Lexington back on June 13, 2022, with a scholarship offer from the Wildcats coming at the conclusion of the trip. John Calipari then visited the five-star forward in person on September 12.

Conversations between the two parties died down from there, with Holland later cutting his list down to three, choosing between the Razorbacks, Longhorns and Bruins.

Holland is the second departure for Texas this month, with fellow five-star guard AJ Johnson decommitting from the program and signing with the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian NBL. UT now has zero signees in 2023.

Both decisions come following the Longhorns’ decision to hire interim coach Rodney Terry as the program’s permanent head coach. He replaced former coach Chris Beard, who was fired on Jan. 5 and has since taken the head coaching job at Ole Miss.

Will the Wildcats jump back into the mix for the top-10 recruit? It’d be in the program’s best interest to give it a shot — kid can play.