Texas Basketball Lands Isaiah Johnson and David Punch in the Portal: The Longhorns Are Building Fast
Texas basketball is not messing around this offseason. The Longhorns landed two of the most impactful transfers in the portal this month with Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson and TCU forward David Punch, and they are now the most improved team in the SEC by a mile.
Head coach Sean Miller has been on the job for less than a year. He has already flipped the roster, kept his top recruits, and added two proven starters through the portal. Texas fans should be paying attention.
What Isaiah Johnson Brings
Johnson averaged 15.4 points and 4.9 assists per game at Colorado last season. He shot 39 percent from three on nearly six attempts per game. He is a legitimate combo guard who can start next to Texas’ returning point guard Tramon Mark or slide into the starting one spot if needed.
He is a plug-and-play scorer for a team that needed one. Texas ranked 12th in the SEC in scoring last year, and adding Johnson immediately fixes that.
He is also 23 years old and in his final college season. He came to Texas to win, not to develop. That is exactly the kind of transfer Miller wanted.
What David Punch Brings
Punch is a 6-foot-9 forward who averaged 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds at TCU. He shot 55 percent from the field and 34 percent from three. He is a versatile power forward who can play the four in a big lineup or slide to the five in small ball.
He is the exact frontcourt piece Texas was missing. Kyle Filipowski left for the NBA. Devin Askew transferred. The Longhorns were desperately short on frontcourt scoring and rebounding.
Punch fixes both problems. He gives Miller the flexibility to run out multiple different lineup combinations and match up with the elite frontcourts in the SEC.
The SEC Landscape
The SEC is going to be a bloodbath this year. Kentucky is loaded. Auburn is bringing back most of its Final Four team. Tennessee added five transfers. Arkansas has a top-five recruiting class. Alabama is Alabama.
Texas has to compete in that gauntlet, and they need every roster spot to matter. Johnson and Punch give them a real shot at a top-five SEC finish and an NCAA Tournament bid.
Last year, Texas finished 8-10 in league play and just missed the tournament. This year, with the additions and returning contributors, they should finish 12-6 or 13-5 and be a two or three seed.
The Miller Effect
Sean Miller has always been a great recruiter. His success at Xavier and Arizona was built on landing five-star kids year after year. His weakness historically was tournament coaching, but that is a problem for March.
Right now, in July, he is doing everything a Texas fan wants him to do. He is landing recruits. He is winning the portal. He is holding onto the core.
Texas has not been a legitimate national title contender in decades. That could change with Miller in a few years if he keeps adding talent at this pace.
What Is Left to Do
Texas still has one more scholarship to give. Miller is chasing a shooting specialist to give the team a genuine floor-spreader off the bench. There are still a couple of options in the portal at that spot.
They also need to keep Tramon Mark and their five-star freshman big man Julian Reese happy through preseason. That is not a given with the amount of transfers coming in and taking minutes.
The Verdict
Texas basketball just went from a middle-tier SEC team to a legitimate top-25 program in a single offseason. Miller has fixed the roster. The Longhorns have real talent, real depth, and a real coach for the first time in years.
Preseason polls are going to have Texas somewhere in the 15-to-25 range. Do not be surprised if they finish the year in the top 10 and make a Sweet 16 run.
Isaiah Johnson and David Punch just changed the trajectory of the program. Give Sean Miller another offseason like this one and Texas is going to be scary.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
