Potential Texas target David Punch enters portal with DNC tag

Mar 18, 2026; Greenville, SC, USA; Texas Christian University Horned Frogs forward David Punch (15) runs a drill during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The advent of the NCAA transfer portal afforded the opportunity for programs to fix recruiting misses or missed evaluations and TCU Horned Frogs transfer forward David Punch could represent both for the Texas Longhorns.

The 6’7, 246-pounder from Harker Heights entered the portal on Thursday with a “do not contact” tag that typically indicates a player’s next destination is already determined and that destination could be Austin.

Under former head coach Rodney Terry, Texas wasn’t one of the 19 programs to offer Punch when he was a consensus four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, but current head coach Sean Miller did offer Punch at Xavier, securing an official visit from the nation’s No. 21 power forward in the 247Sports Composite rankings before losing out to TCU.

Now Miller could have a chance to add Punch to his program on the Forty Acres with a pressing need at the position thanks to the miss on Nic Codie, who entered the portal on Thursday, and the often poor defensive results that resulted from playing Cam Heide at the four.

In making 27 starts for the Horned Frogs in 33 games as a freshman, Punch was a role player who averaged 6.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game before emerging as an impact player as TCU made the second round of the NCAA Tournament this season. Punch increased his scoring to 14.1 points per game and his rebounding to 6.8 per game.

Punch also became a better free-throw shooter, though he still wasn’t good at 65.3 percent, and his promising three-point shooting from high school hasn’t yet translated either, but he did shoot 44.8 percent from mid range, is a strong defensive rebounder and shot blocker, and had 34 dunks as a sophomore.

Stay tuned, because things could move quickly with Punch and Texas.