Texas Should Resist Tempting Opportunity Created by NCAA Ruling

Two members of last season’s Texas basketball team unexpectedly regained eligibility Friday.

What the Longhorns didn't receive was room to bring either one back.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney issued a class-wide preliminary injunction requiring the NCAA to grant a fifth season to Division I athletes who began playing in 2022-23 and exhausted their fourth year in 2025-26.

Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver satisfy that definition after completing four seasons between Texas and their previous programs. A special transfer-portal window for affected players will open Aug. 3 and remain available for one week, giving them an opportunity to find teams months after most rosters were completed.

Neither former Longhorn has publicly confirmed entering the portal as of Saturday, and their plans remain unclear.

But if they decide to use the additional season ... returning to Austin shouldn't be the expectation.

READ MORE: Texas Basketball's Portal Haul Gives Sean Miller a New Monster

Texas already has 15 players, the maximum permitted under the NCAA’s current men’s basketball roster limit. Unless the NCAA creates an exemption for players affected by the injunction, Sean Miller would have to remove someone he recruited or retained to accommodate either guard.

That would represent an unnecessary disruption for a team widely expected to begin the season inside the top 10.

Miller combined the nation’s No. 4 transfer class with the No. 5 high school class while rebuilding his backcourt around Colorado transfer Isaiah Johnson, Saint Mary’s transfer Mikey Lewis, Tennessee transfer Amari Evans and freshmen Joe Sterling, Bo Ogden and Austin Goosby.

Pope would provide proven scoring, while Weaver would strengthen the perimeter defense. Neither fills a need significant enough to justify dismantling a completed roster in August.

Plenty of other programs should be interested if they enter, though.

Pope averaged 13.1 points last season and converted 37.2% of his 3-point attempts. He can create his own shot, operate on or off the ball and immediately strengthen a team still searching for another perimeter scorer.

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Kentucky represents an obvious hypothetical destination because the Wildcats possess an open 15th roster spot. Mark Pope recently acknowledged that the eligibility lawsuits could add “game-changers” to the available talent pool.

Adding another Pope would also provide college basketball with the headline confusion it deserves.

Gonzaga could make basketball sense after losing guard Mario Saint-Supéry to Valencia Basket. Pope’s shooting and late-clock creation would help a national contender with limited backcourt depth.

Weaver offers a considerably different profile.

He averaged 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds while regularly accepting difficult defensive assignments. A contender with enough offensive creation already in place could use his athleticism without asking him to control possessions.

Vanderbilt, which currently lists 14 players, would be an intriguing stylistic fit alongside Tyler Tanner. Weaver could absorb difficult perimeter assignments, attack the glass and provide another experienced SEC guard.

A return to UT Arlington would offer another possibility. Weaver won WAC Freshman of the Year there before transferring to Texas and would have an opportunity to pursue a larger role than he held in Austin.

Those are fits ... not reported destinations. Pope and Weaver must first decide whether they intend to play another season.

Their restored eligibility could improve a contender or provide either guard with a larger final opportunity elsewhere.

Texas already used the offseason to replace them, and shouldn't undo that work now.