AUSTIN, Texas — Mutual birthday gifts are a rare thing, but that was the exchange between first-year Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller and consensus five-star combo guard Austin Goosby on Monday.

The coach and recruit were both celebrating their birthday as Miller’s investment in Goosby as his top target in the 2026 class paid off with the commitment of the highest-rated prospect in the four-man Texas recruiting class that now ranks No. 7 nationally behind the signing of the nation’s No. 18 prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

“Austin and I have the same birthday, so as I told him, one of the great gifts I’ve ever received on my birthday is his commitment to the University of Texas,” Miller said in a statement released by the school.

With Miller’s proclivity for international signings, it’s possible that the 2026 recruiting class isn’t complete for the Longhorns, but as it stands, the group provides a core of short-term and long-term potential for Texas that will require time to evaluate the staff’s evaluation and developmental ability.

A 6’5, 185-pounder generally classified as a combo guard, Goosby projects to provide an instant impact on the Forty Acres with the departure of three guards after the 2025-26 season.

“In terms of Austin as a player, he’s very unique in that he has great size and athleticism, but he also has an incredible basketball IQ. His ability to make decisions passing and playmaking are second to none,” Miller said.

“Defensively, his ability to change the game with steals and blocks and being able to guard a variety of players really makes him the ultimate two-way guard. He has a limitless future and we’re excited to help him reach all of his goals and dreams, and I know he will help us become a better program.”

How limitless Goosby’s future looks on the Forty Acres will be dependent on his ability as a shot creator and shot maker, two areas where the Melissa product needs to improve, but the belief in his high floor stems from the way that Goosby can facilitate the transition and halfcourt pace that Miller wants with some physical attributes that project to becoming an impact defender, the traditional backbone of Miller’s play style.

Given the belief that Miller has in Goosby, there’s an expectation to become the program’s backbone — at the highest levels of college basketball, that could mean a one-year hit who could help sell Miller’s burgeoning culture to future prospects or a multi-year playmaker serving as the team’s centrifugal force.

In particular, Miller emphasized Goosby’s recruitment in an effort to establish ties in the state of Texas, more difficult in basketball than in football.

“When you become the head coach at The University of Texas, everything starts with the state we’re in,” Miller said. “It’s incredibly important that you are able to recruit the right people and players that fit who we are and this amazing place that we all are a part of. Austin Goosby as a person, as a student, the family that he comes from, the winning pedigree that he brings to the table and obviously the talented basketball player that he is, he was a priority for us almost on the day that I got here as the new head coach. To see this come through and have him sign with us today is a big, big moment.”

As Goosby carves his path on the hardwood in the wake of his older brother Trevor’s path on the gridiron as the football team’s starting left tackle, the 6’6, 195-pound Odgen follows in the footsteps of his father Chris, the state’s Mr. Basketball at Seminole in 1999 who became a team captain and three-point marksman under Rick Barnes at Texas.

After serving as an assistant under Barnes with the Longhorns and the Volunteers, Odgen was an assistant for Chris Beard at Texas Tech before returning to Austin following a stint as the head coach at UTA. He’s now in the critical general manager role for Texas as programs attempt to build a more professional model.

As a legacy prospect with myriad options ranked as the No. 3o player nationally, Bo Odgen made the decision to stay home.

“We’re fortunate to have Bo,” Miller said. “I know his last name is Ogden, but he stands on his own two feet. He had his pick of the litter of great programs he could have gone to and he could have blazed his trail away from Austin, but he decided to stay in his home state and his home city and thank goodness be a part of our program moving forward.”

The younger Odgen possesses his father’s elite shooting ability, a skill that on its own could make him a valuable contributor, but Miller and other coaches around the country believe that he has more to provide than making open threes.

“What I love about Bo as a player is he has a great skill level with his ability to make threes. But that’s not the only thing he can do — he’s 6’6 and he’s clever and the thing that drew me to him the most when I watched him closely this spring and summer is he has great competitive spirit. He does not back down. He has a toughness about him, a chip on his shoulder in a good way, that I believe will serve him well as a college player,” Miller said.

For Miller in particular, that belief comes from an extensive evaluation process watching Odgen play on the spring and summer Adidas 3SSB circuit, where Odgen ranked ninth at 20.9 points per game, hitting 52.8-percent from distance and 86-percent from the line.

The Longhorns head coach described Sterling’s competitiveness in a similar way, though Texas may have to find a lead guard in the transfer portal for next season because Miller considers the California product as more of a developmental prospect.

“Joe is signing up into a highly-competitive environment and will develop,” Miller said. “If you know anything about him, he has a chip on his shoulder. He can really shoot the ball, play both guard positions and he comes from an incredible winning pedigree, especially his high school program.”

At 6’4, the shooting ability of Sterling sets his floor with his ranking as the No. 106 prospect nationally in a early test case of how well Miller and his staff can develop a young shooter with some additional intangibles.

If Sterling may take two years to contribute, the 6’10, 240-pound Elkins could take longer, although the unranked prospect who hauls from Austin has a higher upside because of his combination of height, athleticism, and burgeoning shooting ability.

“Coleman really came onto our radar this summer watching him and continuing to watch him at Blair Academy this fall,” Miller said. “One of the things we presented to him was development. We want him to take the early time here at The University of Texas to get bigger and stronger, to work every day playing at a very high level in practice so that you pave the way for the day when your time will come. With his skill level at 6’10, it wouldn’t surprise me if in a couple of short years he is a key contributor to a lot of things here.”

So look for Elkins to redshirt next season as he works with assistant coach Kenya Hunter, who is known for his ability to develop frontcourt players.

The top-10 ranking for the class speaks to the talent of Goosby and Odgen, but how much Miller and his staff can get out of Sterling and Elkins will be intriguing test cases for the new regime, even as the transfer portal mitigates the risk of missing on those type of prospects.