The new Texas coaching staff wasted zero time, and is immediately making its mark on the recruiting trail. And it's making its mark with some big-time prospects. One of those prospects is Prime Prep Academy (Dallas) 2016 shooting guard Terrance Ferguson.
Before Shaka Smart's arrival at Texas, Ferguson, rated as the No. 5 prospect overall in the 2016 Rivals150, wasn't considering Texas. That's changed.
"We both were really impressed with him," Ferguson said about him and his mother after Monday's chat with Smart. "And we've decided to take another look at Texas now that he's there."
Ferguson, who is 6-6 and is known for his ability to catch fire from deep and ability above-the-rim, said that Smart's message was simple.
"He just wanted to introduce himself and let me and my Mom know that I have an offer from Texas and they will be recruiting me and following me this summer."
What stood out to Ferguson was the fact that Smart immediately wasted no time reaching out to him. Plus, the super-talented guard is a fan of the new Texas head coach's energy and style.
"Just the fact that he's fresh on the job and took no time reaching out to me. We like his energy and his coaching style, and believe he can get some top talent here and build a strong program at Texas in no time."
At times, the previous Texas staff shied away from the Dallas area, which is known as one of the most difficult areas to recruit because of all the talent and interest from every top program. I would expect this new staff to go after any top Dallas-area player it's interested in.
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Often when schools go through a coaching change, players that have signed with that school contemplate trying to get out of their signed LOI, especially when the coach they originally signed with ends up at another school like Rick Barnes. However, it sounds like that won't be the case for the Longhorns.
During the early signing period, Texas received signatures from two Rivals 150 four-star guards: North Shore's (Houston) Kerwin Roach and Arthur Hill's (Saginaw, Michigan) Eric Davis. Roach, who is rated as the No. 38 prospect overall, has been adamant that he had no second-thoughts about Texas during the coaching change. There was some question surrounding the status of Davis. However, it sounds like Smart did a good job of reaching out to the scoring guard early and making sure he knew he was wanted.
"Eric is very happy with Shaka," said Paul Carmona, who was one of Davis' coaches at The Family AAU program. "Shaka has stressed to Eric that he will be a key part of their team and he will need Eric to score from both the one and two spots."
The moment Smart was hired, the new Texas head coach reached out to the talented guard.
"Shaka called Eric the night he was hired," stated Carmona. "Eric loves everything about Texas. He can't wait to get down there."
Carmona also said he was impressed that Eric never felt out of the loop with what was going on at Texas despite all the turnover. He was complimentary of the situation being handled as best as it could, which I interpreted as playing a positive role in Davis' current feelings toward Texas.
A source indicated that Texas feels good about its ability to keep Davis in the mix, and getting him on campus. Sometimes, these things can turn sideways, but everything sounds positive for Texas right now.
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On the flip side of that, there is VCU signee Tevin Mack. But there could be more good news for Texas when it comes to signed players.
A Rivals.com source in that region told me that he's heard from multiple people tied to hoops programs that Mack, who is rated as the No. 78 prospect in the country, is expected to try to follow Smart to Texas.
If you missed it earlier this week, Rivals.com hoops analyst Eric Bossi posted this:
"FWIW, I've been hearing a lot the last few days that VCU signee Tevin Mack finds his way to Texas before it is all said and done. Still a chance that he sticks with VCU but my understanding is the new VCU staff (at least head coach) is expecting Mack to ask for a release and I don't think they will try to block it."
Like Bossi, my educated guess, after asking around, is that VCU won't try to block Mack if he asks for a release. New VCU head coach Will Wade was the first person Smart hired at VCU, and the two go as far back as 2006 at Clemson, where Smart was an assistant and Wade Director of Basketball Operations.
What kind of player is Mack? He's a 6-6 scorer. And we all know Texas needs more of those types.
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Texas officially announced its basketball staff today, and the timing probably had to do with this:
At noon this afternoon, a 12-hour recruiting period, which ends at midnight, began and tomorrow through April 12th is an evaluation period. Here are a few players that Texas has reached out to recently, and will see at some point this weekend:
Ferguson
Jarrett Allen
Victor Bailey
Surely, there are more names as Texas will watch a ton of games during this evaluation period, but those are three of the big guns I've heard they will see for sure. Texas has been in contact with Allen and his AAU coach already.
