You don’t have to spend much time around Myles Tuner to tell the Texas native is a special talent. At 6’11 and a lean 235 pounds, Turner is the type of frontcourt prospect that doesn’t come around very often. With an already potent face-up jumper and a wingspan that measured nearly 7’4 at the 2014 Nike Hoops Summit, Turner projects as the prototypical big man of the future in the NBA. He will have to wait at least one more year for that step of his career, though. On Wednesday, Turner made the first significant decision on his journey by choosing to play his college ball at Texas.
Myles Turner gives Texas a super-sized frontline
Myles Turner chose the Longhorns on Wednesday. His presence will give Rick Barnes one of the biggest teams in the country.
McDonald’s All-American Game
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Turner’s commitment was dragged out longer than any of the top prospects in the Class of 2014, making the drama surrounding his announcement even more meaningful for the handful of schools still vying for his services. Turner considered Kansas and SMU before ultimately opting for the home school with Rick Barnes and Texas. It’s not an ideal fit in an already crowded frontcourt for the Longhorns, but Turner is good enough to make it work anywhere. He’s type of player you make concessions to secure, and he should be a starter from the moment the season begins.
Turner will join junior-to-be Cam Ridley and senior-to-be Jonathan Holmes in what should be the biggest and most talented frontcourt in the country this side of Lexington, Ky. Big 12 coaches won't be getting much sleep before they play the Longhorns. Turner projects to slide into the power forward slot next to Ridley, who put the finishing touches on a promising sophomore campaign by hitting a game-winning buzzer-beater against Arizona State in the round of the 64 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Ridley was a five-star prospect himself just two years ago (No. 8 in ESPN's class of 2012). At 6'9, 285 pounds, it's not going to be easy to move the Longhorns off the block or beat them for rebounds.
Must Reads
Where Holmes slots in is the more interesting dilemma for Barnes. Barnes’ Texas teams are constantly short on shooting, and moving the 6’8, 240-pounder to the wing won’t open up the space Ridley and Turner are going to need to work inside. Holmes will be too good to keep off the floor regardless, and he should start working on his range ASAP to maximize his impact on Texas’ offense.
Holmes showed signs of becoming a viable shooter last season, even if they mostly amounted to baby steps. He took a career-high 2.6 attempts per game from three, and made a career-high 33.3 percent of them. If he can improve his volume and efficiency once more, the Longhorns could be a top-10 team. At least if he misses, Ridley and Turner should be able to corral plenty of rebounds
The Longhorns have the frontcourt of a Final Four contender in place with the commitment of Turner. It’ll be on the guards to make sure the team can live up to its potential.
That starts with Javan Felix, who will be a junior and the starting point guard for the Longhorns next season. Felix shot only 35.8 percent from the field as a sophomore, but did improve his three-point shooting immensely from his freshman year. Felix pulled up 5.2 times per game from three, and knocked down 34 percent of his attempts. He lacks the explosiveness of an elite guard, but he's a heady player who should improve every year he's in school.
Texas has enough pieces to challenge Kansas for the Big 12 crown next year, at least if everything comes together. That’s exciting for Longhorn fans and good for the game of college basketball, but plenty of the interest around the program next season will center on how Turner projects in the NBA. He’s very likely a one-and-done player if he wants to be.
Turner was arguably the most impressive player at the 2014 McDonald's All-American Game and practices. He'll likely compete with three other incoming freshman to be the first pick in the 2015 NBA Draft: Kentucky center Karl Towns, Duke center Jahlil Okafor and SMU point guard Emmanuel Mudiay.
It will be natural to compare Turner to Okafor and Towns throughout next season. Turner is more athletic and a better shooter than Okafor, which should give him a leg up in the draft even if Okafor destroys the competition at Duke as the most polished offensive center to enter the college ranks in recent memory. Towns is every bit as talented as Turner, if not more so, but he'll be competing for playing time with an ultra crowded Kentucky with includes Dakari Johnson, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and Marcus Lee.
While Towns will be hoping just to get minutes at Kentucky, Turner should have every opportunity to prove he’s the man at Texas. He’s been drawing comparisons to LaMarcus Aldridge for years, and his selection of Longhorns will only increase the noise around that comp.
The sky is the limit for a player as big and skilled as Turner. There’s no reason he can’t be a future NBA All-Star if he works to develop his game and lands in a good spot in the pros. That’s all off the future for the moment, though. Right now, Myles Turner is looking to start his legacy at Texas the same way Aldridge and Kevin Durant did. He has a couple pretty good role models to follow to right there.
See More:
