A good case can be made that no head coach has capitalized more on the NCAA Transfer Portal than new Texas head coach Chris Beard. Already, the Longhorns landed three outstanding transfer commitments. Today, Texas landed perhaps its biggest get yet when Vanderbilt transfer Dylan Disu announced his commitment to Texas.
A local product from Hendrickson (Pflugerville), Disu grew up a huge Longhorn fan. Now, he’ll get an opportunity to put on the burnt orange and white.
“Texas was my dream school growing up, but didn’t get an offer from the last staff. I thought things would work out differently at Vanderbilt... I wanted to contribute to winning at a high level and make a tournament run,” said Disu. “I think Chris Beard is a great coach that can do that and help me get to the next level.”
When Disu entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, Texas fans uncovered a video interview from his home with a framed Texas jersey in the background. Disu, who joked most of his family members are actually Texas A&M fans, fell in love with the Longhorns at a young age.
“I just grew up in Austin and always loved Texas football. I went to a football camp when Mack Brown was here. And that jersey is signed by Colt McCoy,” he said. “I always loved Texas growing up.”
Speaking of family, playing back home was part of the attraction to the newest Longhorn jumping at a chance to play for his original dream school. Fans might overlook how little these players saw family last season, a tough change from previous years.
“I didn’t see my family a lot and that was tough. My mom was usually at all my games and she wasn’t able to make as many because of COVID. I think that’s the cherry on top,” he said about coming back home.
Beard’s pitch to Disu wasn’t to come to Texas and be a missing piece. Rather, the new Texas head coach views Disu as a foundational piece capable of immediately rebuilding Texas Basketball.
“He just said that other people are coming to come around and say you’re the missing piece… he thinks I should be a foundational piece helping rebuild the Texas Basketball team, showcasing my versatility offensively and defensively,” Disu said about Beard’s pitch to him. “That’s something I really wanted to do at my next school is contribute to winning at the highest level and also show more of my versatility.”
At Vanderbilt as a sophomore last season, Disu, listed at 6-9, 220 pounds, averaged 15.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. His rebounding, Disu finished No. 1 in defensive rebounding percentage during SEC games and No. 10 in offensive rebounding percentage, immediately grabs the attention of anyone watching.
However, Disu is capable of an expanded role as a versatile player who could play all over, including the wing. He shot 36.9% from three-point range across 65 attempts last season and finished with a solid 61.5 true shooting percentage. Disu has NBA and All-Big 12 potential
“We talked about that,” said Disu about his role and fit at Texas. “He sees me as a basketball player. He doesn’t like the labels for positions. Players should be able to do multiple things and he said he’ll let me do multiple things whether it’s playing on the wing, mid-post or paint. I’ll be able to show my versatility.”
When Disu signed with Vanderbilt, he never thought a return to Texas was possible. Heck, even a couple weeks ago he didn’t think it could happen.
“I didn’t even think this would be a thing a couple weeks ago… but things lined up for it to happen,” he said.
Disu joins Utah transfer Timmy Allen, Creighton transfer Christian Bishop, and Kentucky transfer Devin Askew as transfer commitments. Additionally, high school signee Jaylon Tyson will join the incoming class, which is expected to continue growing. So far, Jase Febres, Brock Cunningham and Andrew Jones have made their intentions to remain Longhorns public while Courtney Ramey is expected to stay at Texas as well. Texas is awaiting a decision from Jericho Sims and both Matt Coleman and Greg Brown are expected to turn professional.
