Tag: Dillon Mitchell

Auburn transfer target Dillon Mitchell commits to Cincinnati

Mitchell ultimately chose to take his talents further north, as he committed to the University of Cincinnati on Friday.

Former Texas forward and five-star recruit Dillon Mitchell had nothing but nice things to say following his visit to Auburn last week. Despite the optimistic words, Mitchell ultimately chose to take his talents further north, as he committed to the University of Cincinnati on Friday.

The former Longhorn reportedly had the Bearcats, Tigers, and his Miami Hurricanes in his top 3, but chose “Cincy” after his visit to the campus earlier this week. The failure to real in another transfer target continued a disappointing offseason trend for Bruce Pearl’s Tigers. Since landing Furman guard JP Pegues, Auburn has missed out on reported targets Achor Achor, Duke Miles, and some others.

The transfer portal dismay did end briefly on Friday with news that Pearl and company landed SMU forward Ja’Heim Hudson to sure up the front court. While Hudson doesn’t offer the clear upside of Mitchell, he is a very nice piece the Tigers can add to a front court rotation featuring star Johni Broome and up-and-comer Chaney Johnson.

As for Mitchell, the junior will join a Cincinnati roster that ended last season in free fall after early NCAA Tournament hopes. The Bearcats are extremely guard reliant, giving Mitchell a more direct path to playing time, and star power opportunity, than he would have had on the Plains.

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Former Texas forward Dillon Mitchell commits to Cincinnati

Former five star forward Dillon Mitchell committed to the Cincinnati Bearcats out of the NCAA transfer portal.

Former Texas Longhorns forward Dillon Mitchell is staying in the Big 12 after all, committing to join Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats out of the transfer portal.

Mitchell, a highly regarded prospect out of Montverde Academy in Florida, spent the past two seasons with the Longhorns.

The 6’8 forward averaged 9.6 points and 7.5 rebounds last year, cementing himself as a big time athlete, defender, and rebounder while working to develop a consistent offensive game.

He will now join a roster at Cincinnati that is mostly intact from last season, getting a chance to play alongside Aziz Bandaogo, Jizzle James, Daniel Skillings, and Simas Lukosius.

Mitchell, alongside fellow transfer portal additions Arrinten Page (USC) and Connor Hickman (Bradley) will help replace John Newman (out of eligibility) and Viktor Lakhin (Clemson) for the Bearcats.

The transfer trio and bevy of key returners gives coach Miller a roster capable of leading this program to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Mick Cronin was head coach back in 2019.

SMU transfer Ja’Heim Hudson recaps ‘lovely’ Auburn visit

Auburn continued its hunt for an experienced forward on Wednesday by hosting former SMU product Ja’Heim Hudson.

Auburn continued its pursuit of an experienced forward Wednesday by welcoming a former three-star recruit to campus for a visit.

[autotag]Ja’Heim Hudson[/autotag], a former forward for Georgia State and SMU, stopped by Auburn on Wednesday for an official visit. After spending three seasons at the mid-major level, Hudson is ready to compete on the giant stage that is the SEC. He tells Auburn Live that Auburn coaches were upfront with how they planned to use him, and what the expectations would be if he signed with the Tigers.

“You can’t turn that down. I love how they put it right in front of me. That was the best pitch,” Hudson said. “I’ve dreamed about being on this type of stage and now I’m getting the opportunity. It’s surreal. It’s too good to be true. It’s a great opportunity and I definitely want to take the best route. I want to make the most of it.”

Last season at SMU, Hudson appeared in 34 games with one start where he averaged 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. At Georgia State, he made 34 starts while appearing in 56 games. His breakout season occurred as a sophomore in 2022-23 when he scored 10.1 points and recorded 6.8 rebounds per game.

Hudson is the second transfer forward to visit Auburn this week, joining former Texas star [autotag]Dillon Mitchell[/autotag]. Following Tuesday’s visit, Mitchell has placed Auburn in his top three, joining Cincinnati and Miami.

Transfer forward Dillon Mitchell ranks Auburn in top-three following visit

Along with Auburn, Mitchell has Cincinnati and Miami listed among his top-three schools.

Former five-star recruit and Texas forward [autotag]Dillon Mitchell[/autotag] came away with nothing but positive reviews following his visit to Auburn on Tuesday. The Tampa, Florida native, who visited Auburn during his high school recruitment, said his second trip to the Plains was “pretty dope”.

More specifically, Mitchell cited the history of the winning culture the Tigers have enjoyed under head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]. That culture, along with the fact Pearl has developed players with the same skillset as Mitchell into NBA Draft picks, is the main reason the 6-foot-8 impending junior has Auburn listed in his top 3 destinations.

The talented forward specifically mentioned the career arc of former Tiger and current Cleveland Cavalier [autotag]Issac Okoro[/autotag]. “Isaac Okoro, you look down the line of those big wings he’s gotten to the next level. That would be the ultimate decision as far as my decision to come here, if I were to come here. The history of Auburn, the history of Pearl, who he’s gotten to the next level, the winning culture, those are all things I’m looking at.”

Along with Auburn, Mitchell has Cincinnati and Miami listed among his top 3 schools. Out of those three, Mitchell’s most direct path to stardom is likely with the Bearcats, as both Auburn ([autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag]) and Miami (Norchad Omier) already roster uber-talented front-court options.

Even with Broome blocking Mitchell’s chance to be “the guy” in Auburn, the forward sees himself as a fit on the Tigers roster, “They have a team full of position-less guys. Switching one through five, that’s one thing, I’m big on the defensive end. I can get out and guard and can run, a lot of things that fit my playing style.”

The coveted transfer is still days, and possibly weeks, away from making his decision, but he could be closer to becoming a Tiger after a successful visit. If Bruce Pearl was able to land his talents, Auburn’s rotation would look to be almost set heading into next season.

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Former Texas forward Dillon Mitchell to visit Auburn

After a mostly non-productive freshman season in which he played under 18 minutes per game, the Tampa, Florida native took a major step forward last year.

Former highly-touted recruit and Texas Longhorns star [autotag]Dillon Mitchell[/autotag] is due to stop by the Plains for a visit on Tuesday as he narrows down his possible transfer destinations.

The 6-8, 205-pound impending junior never quite put his complete set of tools together during his time in the Lone Star State, but still boasts an abundance of raw talent that head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] is known to love out of players in the portal.

After a mostly non-productive freshman season in which he played under 18 minutes per game, the Tampa, Florida native took a major step forward last year. Mitchell managed nearly 10 points per contest to go along with 7.5 rebounds, a block, and a steal over 27 minutes per game. The highlight of his scoring season came against eventual National Champion UConn, where he poured in 21 points while matching up with likely NBA Draft Lottery selection Donovan Clingan.

If Bruce Pearl were to land the talents of Mitchell, it would give his Tigers another front-court option beside returning star [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and most likely allow [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] to stay in a bench role more suited to his skill set. In an offseason centered around the revolving door in the backcourt, Pearl would be relieved to add a big man.

While Mitchell is unlikely to make any decision directly after his visit on Tuesday, we could get a better indication of where the former five-star recruit will go after he leaves the Loveliest Village.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

Opinion: Texas tourney hopes rely on good shot taking, more Dylan Disu

For Texas to play winning offense, things have to change in the tournament.

The Texas Longhorns (20-12) await their NCAA tournament seed after an inconsistent season in Austin. The inconsistency could have something to do with how it is allotting its offensive opportunities.

The issue for Texas could lie in its offensive approach. One area that stands to improve is shot allotment. Lost in Wednesday’s loss to Kansas State was how many shot attempts each player received.

Guard Max Abmas scored 26 points but took 20 shot attempts for the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much help from fellow guard Tyrese Hunter, who followed a 30 point performance in the regular season finale against Oklahoma with an 0-for-7 shooting day from the field.

Texas forwards Dillon Mitchell and Dylan Disu combined for 14 shot attempts despite proving more reliable on the year. They went for a combined 8-for-14 on the day despite an off night for Disu. Perhaps the team might consider getting the ball to its higher percentage scorers.

The Longhorns lost to the Kansas State Wildcats (19-14) in their first and only Big 12 tournament matchup of the season. The Wildcats will likely be playing in the NIT after losing by 19 points in their next Big 12 tournament matchup.

If Texas doesn’t improve its approach it might be one-and-done again in March Madness.

Texas has more than one bad loss on its schedule. Its first few games in Big 12 play featured losses to West Virginia (9-23) and UCF (17-15). The aforementioned squads went 4-14 and 7-11 in Big 12 play. For the Longhorns, losses like those and Kansas State might have been the difference between a No. 6 or 7 seed and having to face a No. 1 seed in the round of 32.

In Texas’ win over Oklahoma in its regular season finale, the Longhorns took 12 three point attempts. They prioritized scoring around the basket and shot 63.5% from the field on the way to 94 points. Against Kansas State, the Longhorns went 26% from three-point range and saw a 10-point halftime lead vanish not long into the second half.

The strength of the Texas offense is its posts Dillon Mitchell and Dylan Disu. The Longhorns’ tournament approach could give an idea of whether or not they view their posts as their offensive strength.

Texas Tech runs away from Texas basketball in Austin, 78-67

Texas Tech stuns Texas on the court defeating the Longhorns by double digits.

It’s basketball season in Austin. The Texas Longhorns opened Big 12 conference play with a 78-67 loss to Texas Tech.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders ran away with the game behind a high scoring performance from Pop Isaacs. The Texas Tech guard put up 21 points behind a 3-for-5 three-point shooting night and 7-for-15 performance from the field.

Texas is facing the harsh reality of a poor transfer portal haul following the exit of several key players in the offseason. We were critical of the lack of movement by the team in the way of portal additions, and the lack of contributing Longhorns proved evident on Saturday. 54 of the team’s 67 points came from Texas guards Tyrese Hunter and Max Abmas and forward Dillon Mitchell.

The loss drops Texas to 11-3. The team certainly could have gotten off to a worse start, but has lost to perhaps every quality opponent it has faced this season. It isn’t the start we would have hoped to see from the team through 14 games.

Texas Tech, who went an abysmal 16-16 last season, proved to be the better team by a wide margin on Texas’ home floor. Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry has plenty to work on if this team is to make another NCAA Tournament run.

Texas resumes play on the road against Cincinnati on Tuesday night.

Troy Franklin officially breaks multiple Oregon Ducks receiving record vs. ASU

Step aside, Dillon Mitchell. There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Troy Franklin.

As Oregon Ducks’ wide receiver Troy Franklin continues to put up numbers, records are starting to fall in Eugene.

Earlier this week, we covered all of the school records that could be broken this season for the Ducks, and Franklin was among the leading candidates to get his name in the history books under several categories. That started on Saturday in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

In the second quarter, Franklin officially passed the mark of 91 receiving yards, making it so he now has the most single-season receiving yards in Oregon history. The previous record was held by Dillon Mitchell, who had 1,184 yards in 2018 with Justin Herbert as his quarterback.

With a pair of touchdowns in the first half, Franklin also broke the single-season receiving touchdown record for Oregon, passing both Josh Huff and Jeff Maehl, who had 12.

Franklin also tied the career-receiving TD record at 24 with his second TD of the day.

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Texas forward Dillon Mitchell projects as key to team success

Texas hopes Mitchell flourishes in his second season in Austin.

Texas basketball is around the corner. The team starts its season with Incarnate Word on Nov. 6. One particular player figures to play a key role in the season.

Forward Dillon Mitchell is perhaps the biggest variable for the upcoming season. The sophomore came to Texas as the No. 2 small forward and No. 8 player in the 2022 recruiting class. The class produced several productive players in Alabama’s Brandon Miller, Baylor’s Keyonte George and Duke’s Kyle Filipowski among others.

Mitchell has yet to produce at those players’ level in his time at Texas. The sophomore forward averaged 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. The lower averages might be indicative of less opportunities because of the veteran roster around him. Now, much of that roster has left Austin and it’s Mitchell’s time to perform.

Texas is going to need him. There’s a significant void left by some of last season’s top scorers in Timmy Allen, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice. With the opportunity ahead, we could see significant breakout from Mitchell. He will look to put it all together as the season starts.

Is Troy Franklin on pace to go down as Oregon’s greatest WR of all time?

Is Troy Franklin on pace to go down as Oregon’s greatest WR of all time?

One thing that we love to do here at Ducks Wire is go through the history books and compare current players to some of the greats that have come through Eugene in the past. Over the past couple of years, we’ve looked to see where Bo Nix might be able to rank among Oregon’s all-time best quarterbacks once his career in Eugene is over, as well as looking at the best rushing tandems in school history over the years.

What I want to do as we close out this bye week in Oregon’s 2023 season is take a closer look at wide receiver Troy Franklin. So far, through 5 games, he is on a historic pace, hauling in 32 catches for 535 yards and 7 touchdowns. He stands as one of the top pass-catchers in the nation in total yards, with the most receiving touchdowns in the Pac-12.

If Franklin can put up those numbers through five games, what might he be able to do for an entire season? That’s a question that really intrigues me.

Let’s try and project ahead, looking at the final 7 regular-season games (and potentially 9 games if the Ducks make it to the Pac-12 Championship, and a subsequent bowl game). If Franklin stays on this current pace, what would his season numbers and career numbers look like?

Let’s do the math.