Sean Miller's Texas beefs up 2025-26 roster with addition of FIBA U19 star from Real Madrid 

Like many other college basketball programs, Coach Sean Miller and Texas have been actively strengthening their roster ahead of the 2025/26 college basketball season. Their latest addition is German power forward Declan Duru, who is joining the Longhorns from Spanish club Real Madrid.

Last season, Declan Duru played for both the Real Madrid U19 team and the club's B team, which competes in the third tier of Spanish basketball. With the U19 squad, he averaged 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Most recently, Duru suited up for the German U19 national team at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland. He played a key role in Germany's impressive run to the final, which ended in a 109-76 loss to Team USA on Sunday. Duru finished the tournament averaging 11.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg.

The 6-foot-9 forward is expected to join the Longhorns' incoming freshman class, which also includes fellow international prospect Lewis Obiorah and American recruit John Clark. Coach Sean Miller has also brought in five players through the transfer portal; including Dailyn Swain from Xavier, Matas Vokietaitis from Florida, Simeon Wilcher from St. John's, Lassina Traore from Long Beach State and Camden Heide from Purdue.

The Longhorns saw nine players from last season's roster leave the program. With six players returning, coach Miller now has a total of 13 players on his roster ahead of the 2025/26 college basketball season.

The 2025/26 college basketball season will be Miller's first season with the Texas Longhorns. He spent the last three seasons at Xavier, where he led the Musketeers to two NCAA tournament appearances. He was previously an assistant for five seasons before coming back in as head coach in 2022.

"The most important players in your program are those you already have": Texas coach Sean Miller on value of returning players

Speaking on the "3rd & Longhorn" podcast, Sean Miller emphasized the importance of returning players to the team's success.

"The most important players in your program are those that you already have," Miller said. "Everyone talks about who you're going to get and I think there's this almost like cult following of you know who are we recruiting what five stars are we going to bring in what what is our class ranked. Most of the time when you think about the success on the court it stems from those that played last year."

Sean Miller will also have six returning players from last season's Longhorns roster heading into the new season.

How do you think Declan Duru and the Texas Longhorns will fare next season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.