Texas Basketball Lands Five-Player Portal Haul That Reshapes the Big 12
Sean Miller is not messing around in Year 2 at Texas. The Longhorns landed five significant transfer commitments this offseason, and the group is deep enough to change the balance of power in the Big 12 heading into 2026-27.
The headliners are wing Isaiah Johnson from Colorado and defensive stopper David Punch from TCU. Both are seniors with three years of high-major experience. Both are expected to start on Day 1. Both filled clear holes on a roster that had real questions coming out of last year’s second-round NCAA Tournament exit.
Miller also added forward Amari Evans from Tennessee, guard Mikey Lewis from Saint Mary’s, and wing Elyjah Freeman from Auburn. Every one of those players will be in the rotation. Some of them will be starters.
That is a completely different level of portal activity than most Big 12 programs. Kansas, Houston, and Iowa State all worked the portal, but nobody in the conference put together a group with this many proven high-major starters at once. This is the kind of haul that gets attention from oddsmakers as much as it does from writers.
The reason it works for Texas is that Miller was not trying to replace the whole roster. He kept his top returning talent, including sophomore guard Tre Johnson and rising junior Kadin Shedrick. He added around them, not on top of them. That is the difference between a haul that fits and a haul that becomes a tangled mess.
The Big 12 was already going to be brutal. Houston is Houston. Kansas is Kansas. Iowa State is a top-15 team. Add a Texas team that just added five plus-level rotation guys, and the conference could have six top-25 teams by December.
The bigger picture is what Miller is building in Austin. Texas has always had the resources, the recruiting territory, and the facilities to be a national basketball power. What it has never really had is stability in the head coaching seat. Miller is trying to change that. He is 62 and this is likely his last major program. He wants to leave Texas the way Bill Self left Kansas.
The portal, meanwhile, keeps getting more chaotic. Retention is now more important than acquisition for most rosters, and the looming NCAA rule that could give seniors an extra year of eligibility makes 2026-27 an unusual planning year for everyone.
Texas navigated it by targeting specific players who fit specific roles, offering NIL money that was competitive but not insane, and closing on players who wanted a real chance to play deep into March. That is how portal recruiting is supposed to work when it works.
Preseason top 25 rankings come out later this month. Do not be surprised if Texas is top 10. This roster is that good. The Big 12 just got a lot more dangerous.
March is going to be fun.
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.
