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College basketball transfer portal: Max Abmas explains commitment to Texas Longhorns – 247Sports
With Rodney Terry locked into the full-time head coaching role at Texas, the Longhorns’ basketball program continues to build toward what it hopes is another championship-contending season. It took a major step in that direction when it secured arguably the best player at the mid-major level, Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas, from the transfer portal.
Abmas, a four-year standout with the Golden Eagles, spearheaded one of the NCAA Tournament’s greatest Cinderella runs when he led the No. 15 seed to the 2021 Sweet 16. He has 123 games of starting experience and averages 20.8 points per game for his career while shooting 38.8% from beyond the arc.
The guard checked in at No. 8 overall in 247Sports’ college basketball transfer portal rankings. Abmas joins the Longhorns with two years of eligibility remaining, including the extra year awarded by the NCAA in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get the latest football and basketball transfer portal news from 247Sports.
Abmas made an appearance on The Field of 68 podcast and explained his decision to transfer to Texas. Here is everything he said.
“It’ll be different than playing in the Summit League, for sure. It’s a gauntlet night in, night out. But that’s what I want: to challenge myself at the highest level, understanding that’s what I have to play at in order to improve my draft stock, putting myself in the best position to play at the next level. Played against high-major opponents at ORU, just not in a night in, night out basis. I’m really looking forward to competing at that high level.”
“I think the last couple of years, I was so locked in on the draft, too, that I was staying in and I wasn’t coming back to school. Those decisions were kind of both made at the deadline date. I think another thing for me is just the relationship I built with the coaching staff here is just second to none. They’re one of the ones who believed in me when nobody else did. Just building that relationship over the years and believing that we can win here and get back to the tournament – which we were able to do this year – was something that I had in mind, too. Playing for Coach Mills, he just lets me be me. I go out there and be me. And that’s what every player wants, and it’s tough to get.”
“I think we’ll both be able to play on the ball and off the ball. Playing at the next level, you’re going to play with other good guards, too. I’ve been in an offense where I’ve played both on and off the ball. The last few years I’ve been really ball dominant, always having the ball in my hands, but to be able to switch it up, play on and off the ball, will be definitely big for my game.”
“That’s big. Just talking with Coach Terry through the whole process, just understanding that we’ll be able to get guys to come in and help us win. Just seeing them work and put together a team, trying to compete for a national championship, and then me being able to come in and do what I’m able to do to help them get there, was definitely something that I liked, too.”
“I enjoyed both of my visits, getting close with the coaching staff at Kansas State, at Texas. Just talking with my parents and kind of looking at the factors after basketball, too, that played a part in separating the two. I really enjoyed getting to know both coaching staffs and really appreciate them recruiting me as well as every other school that recruited me, too.”
ON HUNTER DICKINSON TRANSFERRING TO KANSAS:
“That’s crazy, man. But it’s the Big 12. The Big 12 gets a lot of good players, so we understand that it’s going to be a dogfight every night. You gotta bring your A-game every night.”
“He’s arguably – I don’t even think it’s a debate – the best active volume three-point shooter in the nation. And I think there’s enough of a body of work against high-major competition in NCAA Tournament games to suggest that this is going to translate pretty seamlessly to Texas, where oh by the way, he’s going to have better talent around him, and where he also won’t be asked to shoot the ball 17 or 18 times a game as he has done at times over the years for Oral Roberts.”
“I think the Abmas thing can’t be overstated, the significance of it for Rodney Terry, because there was this idea that ‘Wow he did a good job coaching then on the court, but we’ll see if he can really put a roster together.’ And now he’s gone out and landed who I believe is the number-two transfer in the entire offseason.”
“That’s a great nucleus, a great core there (with Abmas and Hunter). You’ve got to fill it out around them a little bit, but that’s a top 15 team.”
“I think the goal and the standards for us and expectations every year is to try to compete for a Big 12 championship. This year we’ll still be in the Big 12. We’ll be in the SEC moving forward. And then I think from there, in postseason play you always want to try to compete for a national championship. When you’re at the University of Texas, you want to compete for the whole thing.”
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