Home US SportsNCAAB Notes and thoughts on Texas men’s basketball official roster drop

Notes and thoughts on Texas men’s basketball official roster drop

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Yesterday, the official roster for the 2025-26 season dropped for Texas men’s basketball, outlining the players fans will see take the floor on November 4 against Duke in Charlotte to start off the non-conference slate.

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There are eight players likely to be in the rotation for the season’s start. They are as follows.

The other players that could be featured are three underclassmen bigs.

Outside of these players, the rest of the roster looks like this.

Texas brought in the highest-rated transfer class in the nation according to the On3 Index, which measures input versus output as far as portal players go. Here are some of the Longhorn transfers’ rankings according to On3.

Keep in mind there were over 1,200 transfers alone last season on the ranking list.

  • Dailyn Swain, Xavier | no. 38 national, no. 6 SF | ★★★★
  • Matas Vokietaitis, Florida Atlantic | no. 88 national, no. 10 C | ★★★★
  • Simeon Wilcher, St. John’s | no. 125 national, no. 29 SG | ★★★★
  • Lassina Traore, Xavier | no. 163 national, no. 37 PF | ★★★★
  • Camden Heide, Purdue | no. 206 national, no. 37 SF | ★★★★

Amongst the freshman ranks, the players rank as follows.

  • Declan Duru, PF, Real Madrid | no. 90 national, no. 19 PF | ★★★★
  • John Clark, PF, Link Academy | no. 63 national, no. 11 PF | ★★★★

All things considered, including players Texas lost to the portal, this is an incredibly impressive haul for Sean Miller and company in his first year with the program. To bring back Tramon Mark, Chendall Weaver, Jordan Pope, and Nic Codie, as well as bring add this crop of players lends credence to the theory that Miller is a true program builder that can raise the floor. Hopefully, he is able to raise the ceiling as well as time passes.

A few things to note about the roster

Dailyn Swain has legitimate NBA size as a combo forward/wing at 6-foot-8, 225 pounds. His swing skill is obviously going to be his shooting from beyond the arc, but if he can occasionally do what he did against Illinois in the NCAA Tournament – that is, connect on three-of-five from deep – he will find himself in the first round of next summer’s NBA Draft.

Matas Vokietaitis is every bit of seven feet tall. His skill around the rim will make him an absolute nightmare if he can continue to develop his post moves, and if he takes a leap as a short-roll passer, he could supplant Lassina Traore as the starting center fairly quickly next season.

Freshman John Clark is physically imposing for a teenager at 6-foot-9, 240 pounds. For reference, Auburn’s Johni Broome has the same measurements. Before anyone gets ahead of himself, that is not to say they are the same player at all, but it does give an indication of where he is physically as a true freshman.

London native Lewis Obiorah is likely to be a redshirt, referred to by Sean Miller at an availability in early August as a “developmental piece.” He played relatively low-level basketball at Barking Abbey in England, and will likely take a year or so to get accustomed to high-major ball in the NCAA.

Another note: designations between positions are not defined on the Texas website; for example, there is no differentiation between “point guard” and “shooting guard.” If they handle the ball, there is a “G” next to their name; if they don’t, it’s an “F” for forward or a “C” for center (Tramon Mark is not delineated as a point guard on the team website; that is an assumption I’ve made based upon last season and comments from the coaching staff).

Baseline takeaways

This team is heavy on the front court, without a doubt, and will have to get distribution from its guards in order to reach its full potential. They are essentially the opposite of last year’s team, where the guard play (namely, Tre Johnson) drove the team’s success while the big men were an afterthought.

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Texas truly has one of the best big groups in the entire SEC, and will have to ride that to success this year due to lack of established shooting and playmaking.

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