Head coach Rodney Terry announced on Friday that Kansas State transfer forward Arthur Kaluma, who chose Texas over SMU on Thursday, has signed an athletic scholarship agreement with the Longhorns.
Kaluma (6-7, 225), who averaged 14 points and seven rebounds last season at Kansas State, is arguably the best player still available on the transfer portal. He has one more year of eligibility left.
“Texas has a very good history of making it to the tournament,” Kaluma said to Horns247 during his formal visitation with the Longhorns earlier this week. “And they have an excellent team thus far. They have a very strong probability of performing exceptionally well and making a deep run in the competition. That would be a great thing to do during my final year.”
During his first two years of college, Kaluma played for Creighton, where he led the Bluejays to the 2023 Elite Eight.
For the 2024–25 season, Kaluma will play for a redesigned Texas basketball team that includes five-star guard Tre Johnson, Oregon State guard Jordan Pope, Arkansas wing Tramon Mark, Indiana State guard Julian Larry, and forward Jayson Kent.
With the departure of 6-foot-9 forward Dylan Disu (15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds per game in 2023–24), 6-foot-8 Dillon Mitchell (who transferred to Cincinnati), and 6-foot-7 Brock Cunningham (who graduated), Texas will have a frontcourt in 2023–24 that includes Kaluma, Kent, Freshmen, 6-foot-8 Ze’Rik Onyema, 6-foot-7 Devon Pryor, 6-foot-6 Vanderbilt transfer Malik Presley, and 6-foot-11 senior Kadin Shedrick Nicolas Codie, 6’9″, and Jamie Vinson, 6’11”.
“I knew Jordan Pope from the time that we played against each other with Prolific against Dream City Christian,” he stated. “Jalen Green and them were with him. This week, we gave it a little chop.
During the last three seasons at Kansas State (2023–24) and Creighton (2021–23), Kaluma (6-7, 225), a native of Glendale, Arizona, has participated in 101 career games with 99 starts, scoring 1,233 points (12.2 ppg) and 619 rebounds (6.1 rpg) in 3,055 minutes (30.2 mpg). During his first three collegiate seasons, he has converted 43.1 percent (423-982) from the floor and 72.8 percent (268-368) from the free throw line.
Over his career, Kaluma has scored in double figures 68 times, including ten 20-point games, and has racked up double digits in rebounds nine times, recording eight double-doubles.
Last season, Kaluma was one of just four Big 12 players—along with Hunter Dickinson of Kansas, Kevin McCullar Jr. of TCU, and Emanuel Miller of TCU—to finish in the top 15 in both scoring (13th) and rebounding (fifth). For K-State past season, he scored in double figures a team-high 28 times, including six 20-point games, and recorded five double-doubles.
Regarding Texas, Kaluma remarked, “They’ve always had player archetypes like me.” “They chose Timmy Allen as a good example, actually. I’m the type of person who plugs everything in. I’m capable of succeeding no matter where you put me.”
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