Veterans shined in victory
Smart-era players meshing their talents into new coach Beard’s system
AUSTIN – The four veterans remaining from Shaka Smart’s six-year run at Texas got a little lost in the shuffle this offseason.
Certainly, new coach Chris Beard was ecstatic to hear Brock Cunningham, Jase Febres, Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey would return. But the action unfolding in the NCAA transfer portal made for more thrilling theater as Beard and his crew plundered all-conference talent from across the nation.
Those seven transfers and four-star freshman Jaylon Tyson were like Christmas presents waiting to be unwrapped by a fanbase still stewing over the thirdseeded Longhorns’ stunning first-round loss to Abilene Christian in last season’s NCAA tournament. They were the future.
But the vets weren’t going to be relegated to sideline spectators or engage in some misguided power struggle. Beard envisioned all those parts snapping together and forming a gleaming mosaic – at some point.
That’s still an ongoing process. But Wednesday night, in a 68-44 win over Cal Baptist (5-1) at the Erwin Center, it seemed to be going pretty well for No. 8 Texas (4-1).
“You know, we had to recruit those guys back and I would have recruited them anywhere they would have been,” Beard said after the win. “Jones could have been playing in the third division in Brazil I’d have been there. And you know, Jase could have been playing at a community college in Alaska and I’d have been there. Those guys, and Brock and Ramey, just proud to be those guys’ coach.”
Jones shifted between facilitator and scorer, putting up 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting with a team-high five assists. His passes were even more impressive than the clean shooting numbers, especially a trio of seeing-eye feeds to slashing wings Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop in the second half.
Ramey did more lifting in the first half, carving through the Lancers’ defense with dribble drives and jump stops and one shifty step-through score that resulted in a 3-point play. He also eclipsed the 1,000-point mark with a contested fadeaway jumper in the lane early in the second half, a fitting bucket for a player long praised for his toughness.
The senior from St. Louis finished with 12 points on 5for-8 shooting, five rebounds, two steals and one assist in 33 minutes.
When asked about Ramey’s milestone moment, Jones had to rib to his longtime teammate.
“Welcome to the club, lil’ bro. It's about time you got here,” said Jones, who entered the 1,000-point club last January. “I think he's adjusting well from a system that we were used to. It takes a lot for old guys to buy-in into a new system. And I think his maturity has really grown and it's starting to show and he's buying in to something different that he's not used. I think he's gonna thrive as the season goes on.”
Fourth-year wing Cunningham did what he does best. Barbed elbows. Feisty boxouts. A defensive style that’d translate well inside a bloody UFC octagon – he fouled out in just 11 minutes – plus a couple drawn charges.
Cunningham does productive ugliness as good as anyone in the nation. His box score – three points on one shot attempt, five rebounds (three offensive) – wasn’t much, but Texas outscored the Lancers by nine in his limited time on the floor.
Febres, the fifth-year senior sharpshooter, had a down night statistically, missing all three shot attempts. But he played fiery defense and helped space the floor, helping the Longhorns outscored Cal Baptist by 14 in 17 minutes on the floor.
Overall, Texas limited Cal Baptist to 40.5 percent shooting, including a 2for-16 showing from 3-point range, and forced 23 turnovers (11 steals). CBU entered the game averaging 80.0 points per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the floor and 39.6 percent from beyond the arc.
“It was our best defensive game of the year, and there's no doubt about it,” Beard said. “And I want to recognize Marcus Carr’s defense. Marcus did a great job, but I haven't seen a defensive effort like that in a long time. And I’d put Ramey and Jones and others in that category.”
Carr is one of the new guys, an All-Big Ten point guard from Minnesota. So are forwards Timmy Allen (15 points, eight rebounds, three steals) and Christian Bishop (12 points, five rebounds).
All the pieces, old and new, jelled together pretty well in the fifth game of Beard’s grand experiment. But this process is still in its infancy. It’s going to “take some more time,” as Jones said.
And as Beard works to mold this group into a Final Four contender, he’s thankful for the base Smart left behind.
“We don't view these guys in any way as guys that we inherited,” Beard said of Texas’ four veterans. “We're so appreciative of them, and they're gonna be the foundation of this first Texas team in a lot of ways.”