Relationships mattered for UT's newest commit, Gerald Liddell
Less than a week after securing a commitment from one of the state’s best players, Shaka Smart and the Longhorns are at it again. They’re heating up. Steele (Cibolo) wing Gerald Liddell, another one of the Lone Star State’s top players, joined Brock Cunningham on the 2018 commitment list when he announced his commitment to Texas.
During the spring and summer, Liddell, rated as the No. 41 prospect overall by Rivals.com, routinely mentioned West Coast schools when discussing official visits and his recruitment. However, the Longhorns recruited Liddell extensively for well over a year, and Liddell’s affection for the Longhorns and his relationship with the Texas staff always found a way to shine through his comments about the Pacific Time Zone.
“I have an awesome relationship with them,” Liddell told Orangebloods.com July 24th at the Great American Shootout. “They’ve been on me a long time, and we have a really good relationship and I always talk to them. And it’s right down the road. I can go up there and come back anytime I want, so I’ve probably been there the most of any school. I really know the players and coaches, so it feels like home there.”
His comments were almost the same following a Nike EYBL game in May in Cartersville, Georgia.
“Oh, I have a real tight relationship with that program,” Liddell said about Texas. “Probably a 10 out of 10. I always talk to coach (Jai) Lucas and coach (Shaka) Smart. Those are the guys I really deal with over there. It’s right down the road. It’s like 45 minutes away, so it’s easy to get to. I’ve been there a lot of times. I have a real tight relationship with that staff and players.”
Speaking of tight relationships, credit Lucas and Smart for building ones with Liddell, who always seemed to get a little wide-eyed and excited when talking about the Texas coaches.
“We have a tight relationship; more brother to brother. We’re cool like that. We always talk, text here and there,” he said about his relationship with Lucas.
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Liddell will bring size, length, and versatility to the Longhorns as a wing, or “three.” At last year’s Team USA camp, the newest Longhorn measured 6-8 (with shoes) with a 7-0 wingspan and 8-9 standing reach. As his body begins to fill out over time (a skinny 175 pounds right now), Liddell should be able to defend multiple positions and contribute meaningfully on the glass with the ability to bring the ball up the floor after a rebound.
When he’s at his best, the San Antonio-area product is slashing from the wing, flashing the potential as a scorer, and making things happen in the mid-range during half-court sets. Because of his size and skill, Liddell is a threat to knock down a mid-range bucket, take his man to the hole with ability to finish with both hands, and also see over the defense and make quality passes to open teammates. The four-star prospect’s length and athleticism allow him to play above the rim, and an uptempo style would suit him just fine.
With RM5 Elite, Liddell averaged 11.9 points per game (41.0 percent from the floor) during Nike EYBL play with 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He chose Texas over Arizona, Baylor, UCLA, California, Oregon, and others.
As college basketball moves more towards smaller lineups and positionless basketball, Liddell fits the mold of a player that can be used at multiple positions and in multiple ways both on offense and defense. He also profiles as a player that will be in college multiple years, adding to UT’s growing list of skilled, talented, versatile players with size and length that will be in the program for a few years.
Now with Cunningham and Liddell in the mix, the Longhorns will remain heavily focused on top target Keldon Johnson. Johnson, a five-star prospect, is scheduled to take an official visit to Texas over Labor Day weekend along with four-star, Rivals150 forward Kamaka Hepa, another key priority for Texas. Texas remains heavily involved with five-star combo guard Quentin Grimes, who has already stated he’s planning to take official visits to Kansas, Arizona and Texas. Also, Texas is recruiting four-star guard Kaden Archie, three-star combo guard Jared Butler, and others.