Texas Longhorns Look to Make More Recruiting Waves

Joe Sterling as a High School Prospect

The four-star recruit is ranked as the No. 100 player in the country for the Class of 2026 by 247Sports composite rankings. The California native is also seen as one of the top prospects out of the Golden State, listed as the No. 9 prospect, and is also ranked in the top 15 players at his position, ranked as the No. 12 combo guard in the class.

Other top programs in the race have the Longhorns battling teams from Sterling's native, west coast, with the guard holding offers from USC and Washington being the only other two Power 4 offers the four-star prospect has.

While Sterling is now entering his senior year at Harvard Westlake High School, the guard has been an impact player as an underclassman, as he averaged 20 points, 2.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and a little over a steal per game through his freshman and sophomore campaigns per MaxPreps. From the field, Sterling was a consistent shooter, with a 48 percent field goal percentage through two seasons, while also having a 44 percent three-point percentage and 90 percent from the free throw line.

247Sports' director of scouting, Adam Finkelstein, provided a positive scouting report on the Longhorn target, acknowledging Sterling's potential weakness in terms of athleticism but highlighting how the guard more than makes up for it with his basketball IQ.

"He’s a limited athlete who can get swallowed up in the lane at times, but a good ball-handler who is very adept at holding his dribble and probing until he gets just enough separation for his pull-up," Finkelstein wrote. "He’s much more limited at the rim and actually shot a lower percentage inside the arc than he did beyond it. For whatever physical gifts he may lack, he compensates not just with skill, but with intangibles and feel for the game. He passes and cuts well, all while understanding what his niche is, has solid positional size, innate toughness and competitiveness."

Texas will look to leave a good impression with the four-star prospect when he visits Austin over the weekend, and with a positive visit, Sterling's recruitment could be one to watch, with the Longhorns potentially being a landing spot for the guard.