Return of Carr crucial for Beard
AUSTIN — No NCAA transfer portal dweller provoked more of a frenzy last offseason than Minnesota’s Marcus Carr.
ESPN ranked the Canadian guard first on its list of available transfers after he almost averaged a 20-5-5 line as a fourth-year junior at Minnesota. Carr spent the bulk of his time there propping up an otherwise uninspiring Big Ten roster, entering the open market as a tantalizing prospect who could transform the right program into a national title contender.
Carr wound up picking Texas, becoming the crowning piece of first-year coach Chris Beard’s transfer-heavy puzzle. But Carr and the Associated Press’ preseason No. 5 Longhorns stumbled through a confounding campaign that climaxed with a cathartic first-round win leading into a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament.
Surrounded by more talent and playing in a motion-centric offense, Carr’s season averages slumped to 11.4 points, 3.4 assists and 1.9 rebounds. He did finish fourth among Big 12 players in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) and was an improved defender for the Longhorns’ top-10 unit (60.6 points per game), but that wasn’t the note Carr wanted to go out on, not with his NBA outlook drearier than it was a summer ago.
That’s why the almost-23year-old guard decided to apply the NCAA’S one-time COVID-19 waiver and return to Texas for the 2022-23 season.
“Standard set. Expectations remain high,” Carr wrote in an Instagram return announcement. “Bar Risen and never been one to walk underneath. Longhorn Nation, I have a promise to keep. See you in the Moody!”
About six months from now, Carr will be among the first Longhorns to christen the Moody Center, the glamorous new $388 million on-campus arena. He’ll do so alongside some old colleagues — forwards Timmy Allen, Christian Bishop and
Brock Cunningham are returning — and a few new ones, including incoming freshmen guards Arterio Morris and Rowan Brumbaugh and New Mexico State transfer guard Sir’jabari Rice.
Dallas Kimball’s Morris is the No. 1 point guard in the nation per the 247Sports composite rankings. Brumbaugh haeen a steady riser throughout his career at Northfield Mount Herman (Mass.), leaving high school ranked 12th at point guard and 78th in the nation. Rice is a two-time ALL-WAC selection who has averaged 12.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 3-pointers during the past three seasons.
Morris is likely to start alongside Carr, and how those two pair together will be crucial in shaping the season.
The 6-foot-4 freshman devastates defenders off the dribble and is an inventive playmaker, both for himself and teammates. That skillset should free Carr to operate more offball as a scoring threat and secondary playmaker. And if Carr can nudge up his outside shooting — 33.8 percent on 4.1 attempts per game last year — Texas could have one of the Big 12’s best all-around backcourts.
“I have a lot of confidence in Marcus,” Beard said Feb. 5 after Carr had 14 points and eight assists in a 22-point win over No. 20 Iowa State. “This is the best league in the country, and he’s the focal point of a lot of game plans and we ask him to do a lot. I’ve got his back, and I know he’s got all of our backs. I’m glad I’m coaching Marcus Carr.”
Even so, Carr had a tough time balancing on Beard’s tightrope last season. He wasn’t alone in that regard as one of seven transfers, most of whom played central roles for their former teams before coming to Texas.
That started to change late in the season as Beard’s rotation solidified and specific player roles crystalized. The light bulb clicked for Carr in the NCAA Tournament — he totaled 38 points with 16 assists to just three turnovers in Texas’ win over 11thseeded Virginia Tech and loss to third-seeded Purdue.
“When Marcus is aggressive, confident and loose, he’s probably one of the best players in the country,” Texas guard Andrew Jones said. “And we all feed off his energy. So when he’s right and he’s attacking, we are gonna follow suit and also be in that same type of energy.”
Carr is well aware of what he needs to do to improve as an NBA prospect.
Improving his offensive decision-making, 3-point shooting and breakdown ability should all be focal points this offseason, much as defense was during Carr’s first offseason in Austin.
“A big part of the reason why I came here is because of coaching staff and the accountability I think they’re gonna hold me to, and a lot of that came on the defensive end,” Carr said. “So, it definitely has been a huge emphasis for me, just making sure I’m the best player I can be on that side of the ball.”
Like Carr’s return announcement said, he has a promise to keep. And if Carr can make some real strides this offseasson, he might just make it happen.
“The objective wasn’t for Marcus to come here and lead the league in scoring,” Beard said. “The objective was for Marcus to come here and help lead Texas to a Final Four.”