Player movement has become the norm throughout college sports during the portal era, and softball is no different.

But based on the quality of young talent on the Texas softball team as well as the quantity of blue-chip freshmen that will arrive next season, expect more goings than comings for the Longhorns.

Texas loses just one player — reserve outfielder Lou Gilbert — to graduation and will welcome back nine underclassmen who formed the core of a team that went 45-15-1 and reached the NCAA super regionals before falling to No. 4 Tennessee last weekend. Coupled with a 2023 signing class of six players that ranked fourth in the nation according to Extra Inning Softball, Texas coach Mike White will have an enviable issue entering next season:

Just where will the Horns play all their young stars?

“It's a bit early, but I'm always looking forward,” White said after suffering elimination last Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. “I'll begin planning for next year (tonight) and thinking not so much about what just happened, but how we can get better.”

'This is just a start for us:' Youth makes for bright future

Texas looked plenty good all season despite replacing key players such as Janae Jefferson, Hailey Dolcini and Mary Iakopo from last year's Women’s College World Series finalist roster. Versatile sophomore Mia Scott built on a strong freshman season and earned the Longhorns’ lone first-team all-Big 12 selection while catcher Reese Atwood, shortstop Vivi Martinez and second baseman Leighann Goode all picked up freshman all-conference honors.

Sophomore Mac Morgan, the program’s lone portal arrival in 2023, joined freshman Citlaly Gutierrez as second-team all-conference pitchers.

“We've got a lot to build on,” White said. “And this is just a start for us. We've got to make sure that this loss stings a little bit, which it does, and make it motivation for our team and for our coaching staff and everybody involved in the program to get better. We had a big turnover, especially in leadership in the program. To come out and do what we did this year, many said we should have been in the top eight (NCAA seeds).”

Gutierrez agreed with her coach. The 5-foot-11 pitcher from tiny Stamford in Texas’ Big Country outside of Abilene emerged as arguably the most reliable member of the Horns’ staff, and she’s already looking forward to next season.

“We have a lot of young talent and I think in the coming years that we're going to have something special,” Gutierrez said.

More: Bohls: All that glitters was golden for Texas softball during its NCAA rout of Texas A&M

Incoming recruiting class bolsters program

So where does that leave White when it comes to roster management for the 2024 season? The mathematics could make for some interesting decisions.

This year’s team had 21 players, compared to 24 on the 2022 team. Six freshmen will arrive in the fall, including four ranked among the top 12 prospects in the nation by Extra Elite’s recruiting rankings. That loaded class may not produce four regular starters like the 2022 bunch, but it should still push for immediate playing time at several positions.

“I certainly feel that this is one of the best incoming classes in the nation,” White said on last November’s signing day. “It will truly cover all major areas of need with pitching, power, speed and defense."

Softball teams are allowed 12 full scholarships by the NCAA, and most programs divvy that number up into myriad partial scholarships. The combination of limited scholarships plus the possibility of limited playing time usually leads to some natural roster attrition, which will clear some room for the incoming freshmen.

The portal opened May 22 for softball, and players have until early July to enter their names. As of Tuesday, no Texas players had joined the almost 300 names in the college softball portal.

What freshmen could make an immediate impact?

Two freshmen should make a push for immediate playing time, based on their skill set and position. Kayden Henry is a consensus top 10 national player who can play in the outfield or infield. She batted .616 and had 32 stolen bases this past season for Dickinson, a Class 6A school south of Houston. She also stars in track and field for her high school, and White says her athleticism reminds him of Jefferson or Scott.

"Kayden is an electric player,” he said. “She is truly dynamic on the field and will thrill Texas fans with her plays both offensively and defensively."

Pitcher Teagan Kavan also could find an immediate niche on the pitching staff. All four Texas pitchers this season — Morgan, Gutierrez, Sophia Simpson and Estelle Czech — recorded an ERA of under 3.00, but the staff averaged only .79 strikeouts per inning. White would like a true strikeout pitcher to add some options to his staff, and Kavan fits that description.

A 6-foot right-hander from Iowa, Kavan did not play high school ball but thrived at the elite club level, where she averaged almost two strikeouts an inning in her career.

"Teagan is a future ace for this program with her excellent movement, speed and change of pace from the circle,” White said. “She has that rare combination of possessing all the necessary pitches in her arsenal to combat hitters at this level."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas softball coach Mike White: Future looks bright for Longhorns