Texas lands 5-star SF Dillon Mitchell over Florida State and Tennessee

Chris Beard secures his second recruiting coup in the 2022 recruiting class.

The Texas Longhorns landed an elite prospect in the 2022 recruiting class with Monday’s commitment from Montverde (Fla.) Montverde Academy forward Dillon Mitchell to head coach Chris Beard’s program over Mitchell’s other two finalists, the Florida State Seminoles and the Tennessee Volunteers, in an Instagram live video with Paul Biancardi.

The decision from the 6’7, 180-pounder ended a whirlwind recruitment by the Longhorns — Texas offered Mitchell in late September and then hosted him on an official visit on Oct. 15 as the football program hosted Oklahoma State.

“I kinda knew, my heart told me this was the place for me,” Mitchell said following his commitment. “The whole visit was awesome. I just had a really good time with the coaches, I had a really good relationship with the coaches. My whole thing is really just developing, we’ll be in the gym working a lot, Coach Beard’s intensity is a big thing I was looking at and I definitely see myself going there every day, waking up being there just loving it.”

It helped Texas that Beard reminded Mitchell of his coach at Montverde, Kevin Boyle, who has helped developed players like Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and D’Angelo Rusell.

“Just his intensity and his fight to win are definitely some of the main things that I see,” Mitchell said.

Florida State and Tennessee both offered Mitchell back in May. During the summer recruiting period, Mitchell took official visits to his two other finalists, as well as Ohio State.

For Mitchell, the difference at Texas was that while Beard took care of the business side of the visit, like the other schools did, the consensus five-star prospect also had fun on the Forty Acres.

“At the end of the day we made sure we had fun,” Mitchell said. “So you know also just off the court, he’s awesome>

Mitchell also reportedly received a two-year, $2 million offer from the Overtime Elite League, a semi-professional league based in the United States.

Texas gained enough momentum with Mitchell ahead of his decision that all six 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions and seven Rivals FutureCast predictions as of early Monday afternoon.

A lanky left-hander who moves well in the open court and possesses exceptional athleticism, Mitchell is a finisher in transition or in the halfcourt and shows some ability to block shots thanks to his length and bounciness. Mitchell can pull up off the bounce inside the arc and flashes a commitment to developing a floater in the lane when he can’t get all the way to the rim. Whether Mitchell reaches his ultimate upside depends on extending his range beyond the three-point line, but playing with a high motor, especially crashing the offensive glass and running the court, should help him compete for early playing time and quickly find a role at Texas.

The No. 28 prospect nationally, Mitchell is a consensus five-star prospect ranked as the No. 8 small forward in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Mitchell joins Dallas Kimball standout guard Arterio Morris in the 2022 recruiting class for the Longhorns.

As Mitchell finishes up his high school career, he said he’ll start recruiting his 2023 teammate, power forward Kwame Evans Jr., the No. 2 prospect in his class.