By ADAM ZAGORIA
Chris Beard is continuing his offseason makeover at Texas in a big way.
The Longhorns on Saturday officially got commitments from Minnesota transfer Marcus Carr, arguably the top transfer on the market, as well as Class of 2022 4-star guard Arterio Morris.
The 6-foot-2 Carr joins a slew of high-profile transfers under Beard, including Tre Mitchell (UMass), Devin Askew (Kentucky), Christian Bishop (Creighton), Timmy Allen (Utah) and Dylan Disu (Vanderbilt). Texas has added three of the top five transfers on the ESPN Top 100 list.
Carr averaged 19.4 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds for a Minnesota team that finished 14-15. He also considered Louisville, Kentucky and Kansas but was seen on the Texas campus this week, with multiple reports coming out that he had signed financial aid papers enabling the visit.
He is the latest high-profile addition to the Big 12 in recent days, following Oral Roberts transfer Kevin Obanor going to Texas Tech and and Memphis transfer Moussa Cisse landing at Oklahoma State.
“The Big 12 will be the best conference in the country from top to bottom,” one league head coach said.
The 6-3 Morris is a former Memphis commit who is the No. 4 point guard in 2022 at Lewisville (TX) iSchool. He chose Texas over Florida, Georgia and Kansas, per 247. He originally committed to Memphis in June of 2020 but reopened his recruitment back in January.
“I fell in the love with the program when I went down there for my official visit,” Morris told 247. “When I went into the gym, I just loved the work ethic of the players and how hard the coaches push them. That is something that I was looking for when picking a school. I also loved the population of the city and how everybody supports everybody.”
Asked what skillset he will bring to Texas next season, he added: “Texas is getting an all-around threat. I can score from everywhere, play defense, and rebound. They are getting a wonderful player who will do anything it takes to win.”
Texas remains alive for several high-profile Class of 2022 prospects including Emoni Bates, Kel’el Ware, Kijani Wright and Keyonte George, Morris’ high school teammate.
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