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Assessing remaining Texas basketball recruiting needs after Bo Ogden's commitment

by: Evan Vieth12 hours ago
Sean Miller
Sean Miller ( Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The first piece of the 2026 puzzle has been put into place for Texas Basketball, with the Longhorns securing the commitment of top-40 shooting guard Bo Ogden.

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The son of GM Chris Ogden is one of the best pure shooters in the Class of 2026, boasting a four-star rating as the No. 7 shooting guard in the Rivals Industry rankings. He’s also the fourth-highest-ranked player in the state of Texas, sitting behind uncommitted Texas targets Bryson Howard and Austin Goosby, as well as Baylor commit Elijah Williams.

Ogden marks Sean Miller’s first recruiting commitment as the head coach at the University of Texas, and the beginning of the building of Texas’ 2026 recruiting class.

College basketball recruiting is a lot different from football. While football programs are expected to bring in 30 recruits a cycle for their now 105-man scholarship rosters, basketball teams can only hold 15 scholarship players.

This means that classes are much, much smaller. Texas only brought in 12 total recruits in the last four cycles, averaging three per. Some teams, like Duke, which cycles through one-and-dones every season, swing toward five or more recruits a cycle, but teams like Texas, Ole Miss, and LSU in the SEC rarely break past four in the current era.

With Ogden filling a big need as a shooter for the future of Texas’ roster, let’s dive into where else the Longhorns will look.

Here’s Texas’ current roster, only accounting for players who will be eligible for the 2026 season:

PG:
SG: Simeon Wilcher, Bo Ogden, Anton McDermott
SF: Dailyn Swain, Cam Heide
PF: Declan Duru, Nic Codie
C: Matas Vokietatis, John Clark, Lewis Obiorah

Notice anything?

Texas needs a primary ball handler. The Longhorns will be hoping for positive contributions from Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope at the point this year, with help from Wilcher as well, but both of those players are in their final year of eligibility.

Texas will undoubtedly look to the portal for the starting point guard, but they need to find the backup and future at the position in the 2026 class. That could come in the form of many players. They recently hosted five-star Deron Rippey out of New York a weekend ago, as well as Lucas Morillo from Santo Domingo. This is an obvious need for the Longhorns.

Outside of the point guard position, one could argue Texas’ class could stop there. They’re sure to be active in the transfer portal after this season to gear up for 2026 and beyond, so it becomes a little hard to forecast after that.

With Texas’ heavy investment in big men over the last two classes, we doubt that is a focal point of this recruiting cycle, as guys like Obiorah and Duru are international players who need some time to adjust anyway. Where Texas may look is for another long-term forward creator.

Swain is the biggest question mark for next offseason on this team. He’s going to be good enough to play in the NBA as soon as next year—at least we think so—and it’s going to be hard to convince a player to stay for his senior year if his junior season can guarantee a draft pick.

In that case, Texas may look for a splash at the forward position in the form of a one-and-done who can slot into the starting lineup as a true freshman. If Swain does return, they still may want to take a lower-rated wing who can spend a year off the bench before assuming the role Swain played.

The Sean Miller offense emphasizes having multiple players with ball-handling skills and perimeter scoring threats. Even with Ogden’s commitment and the likely addition of a ball handler, Texas would still be a little light on playmakers on the roster. That’s where a wing with size and scoring ability could come in.

The basketball recruiting landscape is in one of its oddest times thanks to NIL and the addition of the international game heading to the States, but the needs for Texas still remain clear. There’s reason to have confidence in Miller’s talent acquisition going forward, but Ogden was more of a layup than a slam dunk. The next test is finding the PG who can be the future face of the program.

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