Has Smart finally built Horns into a contender?
Team’s talent not an issue, but questions remain
AUSTIN — Texas begins its sixth season under coach Shaka Smart today against UTRio Grande Valley at the Erwin Center. Here are five storylines to watch as the season unfolds for the 19th-ranked Longhorns, who on paper appear poised for their best season in more than a decade.
Rotation in flux
Smart identified six players who have separated themselves: senior guard Matt Coleman, redshirt junior guard Andrew Jones, junior guard Courtney Ramey, senior forward Jericho Sims, sophomore forward Kai Jones and freshman forward Greg Brown III.
Now Texas just needs to figure out where everyone else fits.
Senior guard Jase Febres (knee), the team’s best pure shooter, seems certain to have a place once he is cleared for full-contact participation and can get back to form. Beyond that it will be a battle between players with divergent skill sets.
Senior forward Royce Hamm Jr. and redshirt sophomore wing Brock Cunningham are the endearing “Bash Brothers,” a couple of bruisers who lack finesse but compensate with boundless energy and tenacious defense.
Sophomore center Will Baker is a 6foot-11 floor-spacer who can throw an opposing team’s game plan into flux — if he’s knocking down jumpers and playing decent enough pick-and-roll defense. Junior forward Kamaka Hepa is a willing passer, occasional 3-point shooter and a sturdy enough defender, something of a modern “glue guy.”
Junior forward Gerald Liddell and sophomore guard Donovan Williams are the two wild cards.
Liddell missed most of last season while dealing with a back injury, but Smart has al
lowed him to run the point in practice with Ramey, Andrew Jones and Coleman all running together. His length and athleticism always have been intriguing, and he may have a chance to showcase those skills early in the year.
Williams is a candidate to take some of Febres’ backcourt minutes while he remains sidelined. But the former Fort Bend Elkins standout needs to improve his decision-making (3.1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season) and 3-point shooting (24.4 percent) to earn a long-term role.
The missing link
The No. 1 recruit in the state and a consensus fivestar prospect, Vandegrift product Brown has a chance to create the best one-and-done legacy of any player in program history.
Brown isn’t Kevin Durant — no one is — but if this team flames out in the second round like KD’s 200607 squad, this campaign will have been a colossal failure. Even with all the talent in the Big 12, the Longhorns harbor aspirations of a conference title and the program’s first deep tournament run since appearing in the 2008 South Regional final.
Despite his youth, Texas believes Brown is the missing link. Injecting a player of his caliber to the same exact team that went 19-12 and finished tied for third in the Big 12 should give Shaka Smart enough firepower to trade blows with No. 2 Baylor, No. 6 Kansas and the rest of the conference heavies.
The biggest question is how the 6-foot-9 McDonald’s All-American will jell with this team of veterans. If Texas can harness Brown’s versatile skills as a long and hyper-athletic scoring threat who also creates havoc on defense, the Longhorns will grow into a force.
Upping the tempo
Texas under Smart always has played with one of the nation’s slowest tempos. This year’s team could buck that trend.
Brown and Kai Jones can become lethal rim-runners. Coleman, Ramey and Andrew Jones are capable of pushing the ball off misses or turnovers.
There should be ample opportunities for Texas in transition. And those easier buckets would be a considerable boon for an offense prone to unsightly periods of stagnation.
Expect the Longhorns to average bit more than the 65.9 possessions per 40 minutes (No. 292 in the nation) they posted last season.
Proving grounds
Texas has a chance to put the nation on notice early at the Maui Invitational, being played this year in Asheville, N.C., because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Longhorns open against Dayton (29-2 in 2019-20), then play Providence (19-12) or Indiana (20-12) in the second round, with a final game against No. 16 North Carolina, UNLV, Stanford or Alabama. Texas then welcomes No. 3 Villanova to the Erwin Center on Dec. 6 and faces No. 2 Baylor in Waco on Dec. 13.
How Texas weathers that stretch will set the tone for the rest of the season.
Can anyone shoot?
17:59.22; 6, Kaylie Cox, Southlake Carroll, 18:00.50; 7, Natalie Cook, Lewisville Flower Mound, 18:05.94; 8, Ally Little, El Paso Franklin, 18:07.54; 9, Sara Scott, Smithson Valley, 18:07.90; 10, Natasja Beijen, Conroe The Woodlands, 18:13.50. liams, Waxahachie Life, 11:57.91; 7, Jentry Lamirand, Decatur, 11:58.41; 8, Jetzibe Trevino, Huffman Hargrave, 12:09.03; 9, Breanna Suart, Canyon, 12:13.33; 10, Jaci McGregor, Salado, 12:16.25.
1, Port Aransas, 53; 2, Poolville, 93; 3, Tenaha, 110; 4, Hamilton, 118; 5, Sundown, 128; 6, New Summerfield, 156; 7, Christoval, 191; 8, Douglass, 205; 9, Harper, 205; 10, Brackett, 208.
1, Henry Fierro, Poolville, 15:57.68; 2, Abraham Morales, Brackett, 16:11.06; 3, Mathew Moralez, Premont, 16:21.89; 4, Antonio Martinez, Louise, 16:29.20; 5, Bailey Campbell, Holland, 16:32.81; 6, Paul Snow, Port Aransas, 16:37.46; 7, Caleb Lengfeld, Hamilton, 16:44.34; 8, Jonathan Hatley, North Hopkins, 16:45.54; 9, Tyler Seeley, New Deal, 16:49.03; 10, Kyler Spaeth, Port Aransas, 16:51.56.