Are pieces finally in place?
Smart looks to PG Coleman, seniors Osetkowski, Roach to point the way for Horns
AUSTIN — Matt Coleman slouched in front of his temporary locker inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, eyes bloodshot and face pained.
He was straining, searching for answers in the aftermath of Texas’ overtime loss to Nevada in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. More than anything, the freshman point guard just wanted to purge the pain.
“I'm hurt, but at the same time I'm proud,” Coleman said last March 17. “Now, just moving forward, I know how this feels. I don’t want this feeling again.”
Coleman, who started all 34 games last season, will shoulder an even larger responsibility for the Longhorns as a sophomore.
Mo Bamba took his handy 7-10 wingspan to the NBA after one season in Austin, and though coach Shaka Smart brought in another top-10 recruiting class, those five newcomers will not be thrust into prominent roles early on.
Texas instead will look to Coleman and its two senior starters — guard Kerwin Roach and forward Dylan Osetkowski — for guidance and stability. Forward Jericho Simms and shooting guard Jase Febres, two more 2017 enrollees, and Mount St. Mary’s transfer Elijah Mitrou-Long should round out the core of Smart’s rotation.
It will take a few weeks, at least, for the other pieces to fall into place.
“Coleman and Roach have been really good,” Smart said. “Snoop (Roach) has taken another step with his shooting, which has been impressive. And Matt’s done a really good job as a leader.
“It’s been awhile since the Longhorns have had a backcourt that people would consider one of the elite backcourts in the Big 12. I told those guys, ‘This is a year where if we do our jobs, that can be a reality.’ So that’s what we’re working toward.”
There will be opportunities for the eager neophytes. Those who prove capable of spacing the floor, playing stout defense and crashing the glass will carve out a role.
Jaxson Hayes, a 6-11 freshman with dunkcontest highlights, and guard Courtney Ramey, who led St. Louis Webster Groves to consecutive Missouri state titles, should help in that regard.
Of the returnees, Sims offers the most tantalizing upside. Over a four-game stretch from Feb. 24 to March 7, he averaged 12 points on 69-percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds and one block.
After a victory over Iowa State in which Sims, starting for an injured Bamba, collected 15 rebounds to go along with eight points, two steals and one block, Smart asked the young forward a question.
“I said, ‘Jericho, why is it that you’re playing so much more aggressively and playing so much better?’ ” Smart recalled. “He said, ‘Well, the team needs me.’ And I said, ‘Well, we kind of need you all the time, man.’ ”
Osetkowski trimmed down — both his mane of blond hair and bulky physique — and appears more amenable to the type of up-tempo attacking style Smart wants to implement. The 6-9 forward is a nifty passer and nimble post operator with a streaky outside shot that, depending on the day, can sink or buoy Texas’ offense.
Along with Coleman and Roach, Osetkowski will be relied upon as a primary facilitator.
“He’s worked his butt off since really April when we got back going after the season,” Smart said. “He’s dropped about 20 pounds, and he looks really good. He’s moving well.”
Best of all for Texas: Junior guard Andrew Jones is back from his battle with leukemia.
He completed chemotherapy in August and has been on the comeback trail since late February, trying to pack on lost bulk and recondition his body. No one, not even Jones, knows what to expect.
Smart said the 6-4 guard will be available in Tuesday night’s season opener against Eastern Illinois at the Erwin Center. Jones right now is not the player who averaged 15.3 points and two 3-pointers over UT’s first eight games last season, but the hope is that he can still, at some point, find a way to contribute.
“I’m just going day-by-day,” Jones said. “Only time can tell what I’m going to be able to do this season. With the opportunity I’m given, I’m going to show as much as I can. People may doubt what I can do, but ultimately, I plan on becoming better, being better than I was when I left.”
Entering his fourth year at Texas, Smart still is searching for his first NCAA Tournament victory since arriving from Virginia Commonwealth. The talent is there. Now it’s just a matter of making it all work.
Coleman believes he is the one who can push all the right buttons and save Smart from the proverbial hot seat.
“I feel a lot more confident, a lot more mature,” Coleman said. “After having a year like I had under my belt, with all the ups and downs, the roller-coaster-type season, I feel like I’m stepping in and letting my emotions, letting my personality affect everyone around me, being that true leader that we need and that I know I can be.”