Rodney Terry just built a Final Four roster in one summer.
The Texas Longhorns had the best transfer portal haul in college basketball this cycle, and it is not particularly close. According to 247Sports and On3, Terry and his staff pulled in five top-100 transfers from major programs, addressing every position of need on last year’s disappointing 19-14 roster.
The headline addition is Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson. Johnson averaged 18.9 points per game as a sophomore last year and was one of the top offensive players available in the portal. He is a legitimate 6-foot-3 combo guard who can shoot, create, and finish at the rim. He alone changes the trajectory of Texas’ offense.
The second big one is TCU forward David Punch. Punch was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up and one of the best interior defenders in the country. He fills the void left by departed big man Kadin Shedrick and gives Texas a real anchor on the defensive end.
Then it gets crazy.
Auburn wing Elyjah Freeman is a bouncy 6-foot-6 athlete who averaged 14 points per game for the Tigers. Saint Mary’s guard Mikey Lewis is one of the best mid-major shot-makers in the country. Tennessee forward Amari Evans is a defensive stalwart who won two national titles with Rick Barnes and can guard four positions.
Five top-100 transfers. All from top-40 teams. All slotting into a roster that already has one of the best returning post players in the Big 12 in Ze’Rik Onyema.
Terry desperately needed this. After leading Texas to the Sweet 16 in 2024, the Longhorns took a huge step back last year. They finished eighth in the Big 12 and got bounced by Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Texas boosters were reportedly restless. If this season had gone the same way, Terry might have been coaching for his job by January.
Now the pressure has flipped. Texas is going to enter the season ranked in the top 15 nationally, probably higher. Anything less than a Sweet 16 run will be seen as a disappointment. The expectations are legitimately Final Four or bust.
The bigger question is whether these five transfers can actually play together. Chemistry is the great mystery of the transfer portal era. Teams that stack up big names on paper sometimes underperform because nobody wants to give up shots, roles are unclear, and the leadership vacuum leaves the coaching staff scrambling.
Terry has been through it. He knows how to manage a locker room. And the addition of two veteran defensive-minded players (Punch and Evans) gives Texas an identity beyond just scoring.
The rest of the Big 12 should be worried. Kansas is going to be Kansas. Houston lost a lot from last year’s Final Four team. Baylor is in transition. Iowa State is solid but not elite. Texas has a real chance to run the conference this year.
Rodney Terry has one shot to prove this roster is what it looks like on paper. He is not going to get another.
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.
