Chris Beard has seemingly found the Texas bump when it comes to recruiting as he now has locked in his second five-star commit of his first full class. In the class of 2021, he was obviously behind the ball a bit after joining the program in the spring. Dillon Mitchell, a top 35 player in the class of 2022 has pledged for Texas making it the first time that Texas has had two five-star commits since 2016. That stat is hard to believe for a school like Texas who has brought in a ridiculous amount of talent over the last two decades but saw that slow down near the end of the Shaka Smart era.
Since the hiring of Beard, it’s been expected he should be able to turn the school into a juggernaut based on his success at Texas Tech with lower-ranked guys. At a school like Texas where he should have a better selection of talent combined with the defenses he’s built and players he’s developed, it could become something scary. In the short time, he had to build his 2021 team he put together a squad most believe is top 10 if not top 5 worthy.
COMMITTED!! ???#HookEm @TexasMBB pic.twitter.com/4MFpMMsqbd
— Dillon Mitchell (@Dillonmit_23) October 25, 2021
Mitchell fits Beard’s prototype to a T. He’s a great defender, long and athletic, and is a willing rebounder. He’s a bit skinny and needs to put on weight but so did Jarret Culver for Beard at Texas Tech and all he did was help lead the school to a National Championship Game appearance as a sophomore. Mitchell needs to continue to develop as a shooter as he currently struggles to make jump shots with consistency but his ability to get to the rim is unquestioned. It will surely be what he relies on as the shooting aspect of his game continues to develop, something Beard and his staff in the past have been able to help with.
