Next year and the portal is now open

Beard might have busted through the glass ceiling. But he couldn't manage his off court life well enough for us to find out.

 

piggy is paying for a big-time coach. Between Tyson and Walton they can "arrange" sufficient NIL money to pay 5 starters and the coach the same millions. $EC games in Fayettenam could be rough now.

 

I still can’t figure out how RT whiffed on Tristen Newton, twice. And I didn’t love any of the portal gets for this season. Hoping we can get things lined up better this off season.

 

To be fair, I think Smart was still the coach when Tristan Newton came out of high school and went to East Carolina. Terry simply is not going to win (any?) recruiting battles against Uconn.

 

Tristan Newton is from El Paso and RT was at UTEP when Newton was recruiting. Newton openly wanted to play for UTEP but they didn’t offer him.

Only two coaches offered Newton out of the portal - Gonzaga and UConn. Few and Hurley clearly know how to ID talent. Not sure RT does.

 

Looks like Arterio Morris is out of jail and back in the portal.

 

Wasn’t that Beard’s call at that time. I thought Newton has been at UConn two years. I’m not sold on Terry at all, but want him to succeed. I agree that the jury is out on Terry’s ability to build a roster. This year’s team had glaring deficiencies that continued the whole year.

 

Ironically the joke at work on Monday morning was that El Paso is such an athletic wasteland that not even UTEP or NMSt offered Newton. I’m in total shock if what you say is actually true.

 

Newton hit the portal in 2022, so you’re right, good point. Beard was still here.

I love Coach Terry and am really rooting for him. I think how he retools the roster with transfers and commits this off season is going to be pivotal for his future here.

 

In 2022 we had the #6 recruiting class as well as, I think, a top 5 portal class the year before. Seems like we had top tier momentum until the accusations started flying.

 

My post (the first post on this page) addresses this.

 

With the turnover and attrition in basketball (only 5 guys on the floor at a time), using recruiting rankings to determine on-court success doesn't jibe the way it does (or it's "supposed to") with football. On top of that, the immediacy of transfers means you could take all of the kids in a class, redistribute them somewhere else, and re-rank to show that our 2022 class was actually a big fat zero. Judging by those guys in the 2022 group, they'd be a big fat zero whether Beard was still our coach or not.

It's arguable that we haven't hit on a HS class since 2018, as Cunningham, Ramey, and Hayes were all there. I don't think the solo class of Greg Brown III was all that good in the long run. Watched him play for the Texas Legends a few weeks ago and he was terrible. Kai Jones was a sleeper but his contributions did little to get us anywhere in the tournament.

 

For coaches that can identify talent and also build talent, its much easier. As long as rt is here, we are not going to be a cant miss team. As Sangre noted, beard was headed to a pretty good run. The kids wanted to play for him and so far we have not seen that same desire for anyone that rt recruits. All the kids on the team when beard melted down obviously want rt to be the guy but he has never been a winner anywhere on his own. Texas will be no different. Not everyone is destined to be a chief, there still has to be indians!!!

 

Indiana State transfer F Jayson Kent commits to Texas

A 6’8, 205-pounder who was born in Austin before playing high school basketball in the Chicago area, Kent started his college career at Bradley before transferring to Indiana State, where he played the last two seasons. Kent has one year of eligibility remaining.

Like Larry, Kent was a role player for his first three seasons before taking on a larger role last season as the Sycamores finished as the NIT runners up. Kent averaged 13.5 points per game on 63.9-percent shooting from the field and 36.6-percent shooting from three, the latter a significant improvement from his combined average of 27.0-percent three-point shooting in previous seasons. At 2.2 three-point attempts per game, Kent’s shooting volume from distance exactly matched that of Texas forward Brock Cunningham in 2023-34. Kent was also a prolific rebounder at 8.1 boards per game with 2.1 of those rebounds coming off the offensive glass.

 

BREAKING: Texas Longhorns Land Surprise Commitment From Arkansas Transfer Tramon Mark


A native of Dickinson (Houston), Texas, Mark began his career with the Houston Cougars under coach Kelvin Sampson. He played three seasons for UH, which included a trip to the Final Four his freshman season during the 2020-21 campaign.

Last season with the Razorbacks, Mark averaged a career-best 16.2 points in 31 games to go along with 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He scored 34 points in a loss to North Carolina in non-conference play before topping that with 35 points in an upset win over Texas A&M in January.

 

Texas Longhorns' Kadin Shedrick Makes Decision for Next Season

Per reports from CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Texas forward Kadin Shedrick will return to the Longhorns next season to use his additional year of eligibility... He wrapped up his first season in Austin with a career-high 7.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.

 

Looks like Shedrick and these transfers haven't read Hornfans to see how much RT and the Texas Men's BBall team sucks...

 

I'm not sure what to think about guys from ISU not named Bird, but Mark was a productive player in the SEC. That seems like a good get.

 

Getting the Indiana St. guys without Avila is kind of like getting the ice cream cone without the ice cream, but I'll take anything at this point.

Thoughts on each of the pickups:

Kent - kind of a light swing forward whose career efficiency rating tripled in 2023-24. Look at how his rebound numbers went from his freshman to his senior year: 1.1, 2.9, 2.1, 8.1. He's scrappy and knows how to get to the rim, but also can hang out behind the arc if we needed him to (we shouldn't if Tre stays). The coach who's leaving ISU with Avila basically credited their NIT success to Kent. I see him as a Brock Cunningham type in terms of his minutes and usage, although I doubt he'll be any sort of enforcer.

Larry - a very reliable guard. The kind of guy that Barnes would have recruited to be the 3rd guard in a three-guard lineup. At LSHS in Frisco, he was a man among boys, but everyone knew he would have strength limitations at the next level. He shoots well enough to stay on the floor and gets his assists when he needs to, which is something Hunter struggled with after he left Iowa State. Larry was the best ISU player in the NIT championship against Seton Hall (18-6-3 and respectable from the field).

With the addition of two guys who have been playing together for a while, it makes me wonder what RT has in store for lineups.

Mark - the only thing that really gives me the heebie-jeebies about this pickup is how he left UH. There was all sorts of "talk" around Sampson and cracking down on individuals who were making iffy decisions at the time. Beyond that, I'm thrilled with his ability to get to the rim. He was trusted to make a lot of plays for the Pigs, and not always from 3-point land like some guys want to do. He's a solid rebounder and outhustles nearly everyone on D. His multi-steal games are outside the norm for a swing-combo guy like this.

 

Based on what I posted earlier about needs, I figured we'd go for:
PG
Swing
Swing
Big
Big

And it appears as though we've picked up our PG and two swings. So really, all that's left in terms of the portal (unless we lose other current guys) are the bigs.

I think they're letting the coaching changes settle down until going after some of the remaining best available. Calipari really threw a wrench in movement.

Revised lineup for 2024-25 (to this point):

C Weaver - Larry
T Johnson - no backup yet
T Mark - D Pryor
Kent - N Codie
Shedrick - Onyema

 

Personally, I thought both Hunter and Mitchell entering the portal was always going to happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mitchell winds up at Arkie with Calipari or with Beard

 

When I saw that Mitchell averaged 9.6pts/game this season I couldn’t believe it was that high. Although he really showed up against UConn of all teams, there were way too many games - especially down the stretch - where he was a complete non-factor. In about a third of the games this past season he scored six points or less. That’s unacceptable considering he’s neither an elite rebounder nor a shut down defender. Also, there was no significant offensive improvement between year 1 and 2. He is not yet an NBA level player and really not that close. I wish him good luck.

 

I love Weaver’s energy and athleticism, but he is not a point guard. If he is running point for us we will lose over half of our games.

 

Just thoughts and impressions so far.

Encouraging that the incoming players give Texas more length on the perimeter. Hosting another guard from Oregon St. that would probably be a fair replacement for Hunter if RT can land him. As mentioned above, ideally RT would get one physical big that can protect the rim and rebound. Hopefully, Shedrick will be fully healthy next year and Oneyma progresses.
Hunter and Mitchell were standup Longhorns and I wish them well and hope they do well at their next stops. My hope is they sign out of conference. Mitchell needs a shooting coach that can fix his shot mechanics. Hunter just may need a change to progress.
Absolute must to keep Tre Johnson and Codie.
I think Weaver will be the sixth man. His energy coming off the bench is a necessary component to success. He can get himself into spots to be available for passes and can score reasonably well when he does. Hopefully, his 3-pt shot will improve, but may not be necessary with the guards/swings that are coming in.
On paper, there are some pieces but as always, it's how it comes together on the floor and if the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Basketball recruiting (H.S. and portal) is maddening.

 

He has crazy athletic ability but it doesnt translate to noticeable impact on the game. he doesnt appear to have any offensive skills but can jump through the roof.

 

I mean... we didn't have one in 2023-24 either (*rimshot*). Hunter didn't want to play the point, and when he did, he turned it over a lot. Abmas was never supposed to be a distributor, hence the lack of success he encountered from beyond the arc compared to his ORU success.

There's no guarantee that running Larry at PG won't also make us lose half our games. I think we need a 3-guard lineup based on what's available in the portal, and god knows we'll let Tre Johnson play whatever position he wants. So it doesn't matter if there's a "true" PG as long as whoever out there is competing.

 

Out of which conference?

 

The $ec. Don't want to root against them.