Recruiting Rumors: Is Myles Turner Leaning Toward The Texas Longhorns
The Kansas Jayhawks have been pursuing one of the top high school recruits in the nation, Myles Turner, but Turner may have already made up his mind on where to attend school next year. This is despite his announcement date set for April 30th on ESPN.
Turner will be the last player in ESPN’s top 50 recruits to inform the nation of his decision.
An article by Bleacher Report’s C.J. Moore has speculated that Turner may have already decided to attend the University of Texas in the fall.
C.J. Moore of Bleacher/Report, quoted Turner:
"“Hopefully I can come down there and make an impact like Kevin Durant did” in a question asked about the Longhorns."
All the speculation stems from these words.
Obviously, these words are just his response to how he feels about the University of Texas, but when looking deeper into his words, he seems to have already made up his mind where to attend and maybe slipped a little bit when answering this particular question.
Turner’s decision to attend Texas would not only be because he is from the Lone Star State, but also because he is very fond of ex-Longhorn Kevin Durant, and has even said that he thinks that they have similar games. Texas Head Coach Rick Barnes has used Durant’s success as a selling point to Turner throughout the recruiting process.
Also from Moore’s article:
"“He’s been my favorite player since he was a freshman at Texas, and I actually got to play with him one time on an unofficial visit. We both have similar games.”"
It looks like this strategy is going to pay off.
Despite the speculation, Turner has yet to officially make his decision as Duke, Kansas, Ohio State, SMU, Oklahoma State, and new front-runner Texas are all still in the mix.
Obviously, all of these teams could use the 7-foot tall, #2 overall recruit in their programs, and all would be ecstatic to add him to their rosters.
The odd part about the Turner-to-Texas speculation is the fact that the Longhorns already have two established big men returning for next season. Jonathan Holmes is returning for his senior season and star Cameron Ridley will be a junior in this upcoming season. Both are starting caliber interior players.
Myles would definitely be looking at less playing time at Texas than he would at all the other schools still in consideration for his services.
If the Jayhawks could end up with Turner, he would most likely be a starter at the 5-spot right off the bat at the beginning of the season.
Also, while the Longhorns can boast about the success of alums Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge in the NBA, Kansas has more big men having NBA success that were once under Bill Self.
Former Jayhawks such as Marcus and Markieff Morris, Cole Aldrich, Thomas Robinson, Jeff Withey, Darrell Arthur, and Darnell Jackson are all currently playing in the NBA.
Myles Turner could follow suit if he so chooses.
Turner may currently be leaning towards Big 12 rival Texas, but hopefully, he will change his mind over the next few weeks and join the Kansas Jayahwks.