MBB: Iowa State transfer PG Tyrese Hunter commits to Texas

Today, Big 12 Freshman of the Year, transfer PG Tyrese Hunter of Iowa State, committed to Texas. Last season, he averaged 11 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists as the starting point guard for the Cyclones.

Hunter is a pure point guard who is a distributor first, a skillset needed for a Texas Longhorns roster that contains so many combo and shooting guards. Despite a high usage percentage of 24.2%, Hunter still managed to have a very positive 5:3 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is no small feat in the best defensive conference in college basketball. Stats in the Big 12 are earned, and Hunter was able to display exceptional point guard skills despite his young age.

Against Baylor this year, he had a monster 13-assist game, and against Kansas State, he had a double-double of 13 points, 10 assists. He had two very solid outings in the NCAA Tournament, including a 23-point outburst against LSU in the Cyclones' first-round victory, and a 13-point, seven-assist, three-steal game in their loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the Sweet 16.

How does he fit in to the Longhorns' roster?

As I mentioned earlier, Hunter is a table-setter and not a scorer, for the most part. He's not a great shooter, as he shot just 27% from three and 69% from the line, but again, scoring will not need to be purely his role this year. He will slide right into the starting one-guard role, playing alongside Marcus Carr and five-star freshman Arterio Morris when Beard uses a three-guard lineup.

Hunter will be used to the role of handing off scoring duties, as he played in the same back court as all-Big-12 star Izaiah Brockington last year. Being able to defer to teammates shows a mature attitude, especially as a young player, which could lend itself to being a good "culture fit" at Texas under Chris Beard.

Big-time pickup for the Longhorns here.