Minnesota transfer Marcus Carr, the No. 1 transfer this offseason, announced his commitment to Texas on Saturday, giving Chris Beard’s Longhorns a legitimate case to be preseason No. 1 entering next season.
Carr opted for Texas instead of pursuing a professional option in Australia. Louisville, Kentucky and Kansas were also on his final list of transfer options.
Carr originally entered the transfer portal in March before turning pro. After it appeared it was unlikely he would be picked in the NBA draft, Carr withdrew his name from the draft and decided to return to college in late June.
A 6-foot-2 guard from Toronto, Carr earned third-team All-Big Ten honors last season after averaging 19.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists. He was one of the most explosive guards in college basketball, scoring 30 or more points on four occasions, including a 41-point performance in a February loss to Nebraska.
Carr started his career at Pittsburgh before transferring to Minnesota for the past two seasons.
Beard has now landed three of the top five transfers in ESPN’s top 100 transfer rankings, as well as six of the top 31.
Carr joins a transfer class that includes Timmy Allen (17.2 PPG at Utah), Tre Mitchell (18.8 PPG at UMass), Christian Bishop (11.0 PPG at Creighton), Dylan Disu (15.0 PPG at Vanderbilt) and former five-star recruit Devin Askew (6.5 PPG at Kentucky). Avery Benson, who played under Beard at Texas Tech, followed him to Austin.
Texas also returns two starters — Andrew Jones (14.6 PPG) and Courtney Ramey (12.2 PPG) — from a team that earned a 3-seed to the NCAA tournament before falling in the first round to Abilene Christian.
Beard also signed Jaylon Tyson (No. 29 in the ESPN 100), who originally signed with Texas Tech last fall.
If that wasn’t enough, Beard has already started making progress with his 2022 recruiting class. Shortly after Carr announced his commitment to Texas, ESPN 100 guard Arterio Morris pledged to the Longhorns.
Beard made Morris a priority so far this summer and was the only head coach at his final game of the weekend last Sunday at an Under Armour event.
Texas is also considered the favorite for elite guard Keyonte George, and hosted top-30 prospects Kijani Wright and Anthony Black — among a dozen others — for official visits in June.