Longhorn Basketball 2016-17

I’m still in shock with the half-courter going in to end our season. I’m proud of how our guys fought back from being down 16 to lead by five. If any of many shots that were very makable fall in, we win instead of loose.

I’m proud they didn’t fold when Cam was injured. I very much attribute that to Shaka Smart’s ability to reassess, regroup, revise strategy when events require and to enable players to step up.

When my team is eliminated I always pull out the roster and try to look forward to the next year’s team, but this time I’m stunned to see how few players with meaningful minutes this year will be back.

I assume Isaiah Taylor is gone.

That leaves us with

Juniors:
Kendal Yancy 4.74% of total minutes 3.86% of total points
Shaquille Cleare 5.97% of total minutes 5.10% of total points

Freshmen:
Kerwin Roach 8.84% of total minutes 10.53% of total points
Eric Davis, Jr. 10.24% of total minutes 10.40% of total points
Tevin Mack 6.62% of total minutes 7.13% of total points

Totals: 36.41 % of total minutes 37.03% of total points

I know that we have some good players already committed and Shaka will sign some more, but the bottom line is that very little of this team will be back. Whatever happens we will be a much different and VERY young team next year.

 

Wow. We will be a very young team next year. Nice move by Shaka to give this years freshmen lots of court time so that they'll be ready for their roles next year.

 

I think Davis and Roach are going to be fine, although Davis still has work to do on defense. Yancy is a bit of an x-factor to me; I think he has tools to be a really solid player for us, and I'm sure he probably was victim of numbers game to some degree. But he needs to step it up next year. I'm hoping that Mack gets some consistency - we desperately need his shooting touch, but he can't keep being a defensive liability and going into a shell when he misses a couple of shots.

I don't know what to think about Shaq other than that he needs a lot of work.

Andrew Jones is probably going to play a lot and maybe start right off the bat. James Banks will almost certainly start either at 4 or 5. We'll see how quickly he adjusts, but it really needs to be sooner rather than later!!

Getting Jarrett Allen would be absolutely huge, and it sounds like that's a very good possibility.

I could see a conference starting lineup of Allen, Banks, Jones, Roach and Davis, with Jacob Young and Mack getting a lot of time.

 

I thought at times Shaq did ok, better on the offensive side but he will need to pick it up both ways

 

#1 ranked player in LA
Small Forward

 

6'6", 215 lb small forward from Breaux Bridge, LA.
Has previous offers from LSU, Arizona, ou, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Nevada, UMass, and Marquette.

 

6'8 PF will have to sit out a year.
Some say he was Tulane's best player

 

Five-star future point guard Andrew Jones from Irving MacArthur
No. 29 on ESPN 100

 

Unless we can get some JUCO/D2 help, here's what it looks like for next season right now:

At guard, I think Smart will start out with Roach being the distributor and Davis being the guy who hangs out behind the three-point line. They're going to quickly realize that Jones and Young can basically fulfill the distributor role on offense as well, and that should free up Roach to work his magic with cuts and drives. I see a ton of 3-guard starting lineups with Jones, Roach, and Davis. Don't count Young out either. He reminds me of Ivan Wagner, but with a better shot. Young will probably be the "relief" PG when Roach is on the bench, with Jones switching to the slasher role. I think Davis could make a good living behind the arc and drive when we need him to, but it'll depend on how he takes his game to the next level.

Yancy will probably be the third option off the bench. He regressed in a lot of ways.

At post, Shaq Cleare will start the first game of the season, and then Banks will probably take over that role quickly. I think Smart will tinker with playing both of them at the same time, but only in situations where the opponent has two guys over 6'9" out there.

Tevin Mack is kind of a mystery. I think we were sold a bill of goods regarding where he would play on the floor. He was supposed to be a swingman who could rebound, and instead he was a poor-shooting Sydmill Harris (did you know he could speak six languages?). Regardless, he'll have to see time on the floor because we can't play a five-guard lineup. This is why we needed Osetkowski like... yesterday... but he won't be available. I still think Smart knows that he needs to grab someone who can fulfill a role that Mack can't: a rebounder over 6'5" who won't make poor decisions on either end of the floor. It'll have to be some kind of JUCO guy, and those guys typically have a tough time getting into UT.

People need to start getting used to the idea that we're only going to play 8 men next year, and the mismatches created by our lineup aren't going to play in our favor for many games. I guess the good news is that the Big 12 is losing most of its best players anyhow, so it's more of an open crapshoot.

 

I said a year ago this was expected to be a rebuilding a year. My guess is we go to the NIT. Just making the NCAA tournament would be a success with nearly all freshman and sophomores. Looking forward to 2017-2018 to see what direction we are headed.

 

Hopefully the freshmen and sophomores will stick around.

 

^^^ fun times ahead...​

 

another possible PF transfer

 

I once thought that would be the starting line-up, but I think Young is the best option at pg. They'll get the most out of the team, with the ball in his hands. I think the offense would be stagnant with Roach at pg, so I don't see that happening. I don't have a lot of confidence in his handles, or his inconsistent jumper. Neither is an issue with Young, and they better not give him any space. I think a line-up of Young, Jones, Davis, Allen (if he even comes to Texas), and Banks, would put more firepower on the court. Slide Jones to pg, when Young is not in the game.

 

LG Gill would be a nice get for us.

 

Nike EYBL Session II Recap - Inside Texas

COOK/WELLS: Texas hands out new hoops offers over the weekend

By: Campbell Hoops

With the college basketball season over for several weeks now, the focus of college coaches shifts entirely to recruiting as the live evaluation period gets underway. Texas coach Shaka Smart and his staff have wasted no time making their presence felt on the trail. For the second weekend in a row, Shaka and his staff were courtside to watch the best players in the country compete in Session II of the Nike EYBL circuit in Indianapolis, IN.

Where else can we start than perhaps the most important recruit for this cycle in Oak Hill PG Matt Coleman (team name: Boo Williams) who was offered by UT days after Smart took the Texas job. Coleman was his team’s leading scorer in every game this weekend while averaging around three assists per contest. His offensive game consists more of a mid-range/driving to the bucket game than a true shooter a la Trae Young. The fact he was his team’s leading scorer with so few assists per game as a pass-first PG could be cause for concern, but if his team could hit the open shots Coleman provided them, his stats would be that much better and Boo Williams could be looking at a winning record after Session II, instead of sitting at 3-4. Moreover, Coleman’s best attribute is his quickness and length. He’s easily the fastest PG in the country and he knows how and when to go from a standstill to full sprint, and back to a standstill on a dime. Add in the fact that he’s a willing defender with his 6-foot-7 wingspan and you have a guy that would be hellish in Smart’s system. He’s certainly in the argument for the best PG in the country.

Jordan Goodwin. (prephoops.com)
One recent Texas offer I’d like to touch on quickly is SG Jordan Goodwin (St. Louis Eagles) who continues to blow up on the EYBL circuit. He capped off another strong session with two of the best games of any player in Indianapolis. Last night, in an OT loss to the New York Rens, the 6-foot-4 Goodwin had a monster 25 points (10-18) and 18 boards. Then to finish off his strong showing in Indy, Goodwin capped off his weekend with 20 points, 14 boards, and 4 assists in a 76-51 win over BABC (Boston, MA). This guy is quickly becoming one of the best players in the country. Plays with a motor and toughness that rivals that of Marcus Smart who is actually an apt comparison for Goodwin.

The 6-foot-6 wing, Charles O’Bannon (Las Vegas Prospects), is a name that Texas fans should be familiar with by now as he has held a Texas offer for some time now and is widely considered to be one of the best wings in the country. O’Bannon isn’t necessarily a guy that will do a ton of ball handling in college, but he is an elite off-the-ball wing. On a loaded Las Vegas Prospects team, O’Bannon is their go-to guy and for good reason. Yesterday against the undefeated PSA Cardinals (NY), the Prospects came up short, but O’Bannon was arguably the best player on the court. He finished with 26 points (8-8 FT). He also finished the session with 25 points (6-10 from three) against the Alabama Challenge.

There are few players helping their case more than Team Penny Combo Forward PJ Washington. Listed at 6-foot-7, 200 pounds, he’s actually stated that he’s now 6-foot-8, 225 pounds, and he looks every bit of it. He’s as physically ready to play in college as anyone in the country. His last two games in Indy go as follows: 21 points (9-11 FG) and 10 boards, and 30 points and 15 boards in a game where he was tasked with guarding 5-star PF Marvin Bagley III, and boy was he up for the challenge. Washington, who I liken to a more polished Damion James, can score from anywhere and he’s averaging a double-double so far on the EYBL circuit. He’s making a strong push for the Top 10 as he’s currently 6th in scoring in the EYBL.

5-star Wing Jarred Vanderbilt of Houston Hoops has been great at times this summer, but he’s also struggled this weekend. Style-wise, this Lamar Odom-like player is perfect for Shaka’s system. He has all the talent in the world, but a motor that is either running at full throttle or not at all. I watched him score 22 points and pull down 15 boards in one game, only to follow that up with an abysmal 9-point, 6-board effort where he shot around 25% from the field. Not sure what to make of him yet, but he does indeed have a ton of talent.

Jarred Vanderbilt. (courtesy of VYPE)
​

Lastly, while I watched Vanderbilt and waited for the light to come on, I was consistently more impressed with his Houston Hoops teammate Royce Hamm. Hamm is a 6-foot-8, 210-pound bouncy PF with a developing outside game. While I doubt he will ever be the true scoring threat Vanderbilt can be, he affects the game in so many more ways than Vanderbilt because of his impressive motor. While his offensive game is still developing, he does have a decent offensive skillset with nice touch and good rotation on his jumper so the shot will eventually come around. With a few years under Smart, this is a guy who could be an all-conference player by the time he’s done at Texas.

 

I’m a little confused that so far we have only signed 3 players (Jones, Banks, Young) for next year considering we have 6 scholarships available. I know the Letter of Intent signing period doesn’t close until 05/18/16. Should I be concerned or is it normal for a significant number of these decisions in college basketball to happen late in the signing period?

Does Dylan Osetkowski get a scholarship for next year even though he’s ineligible to play due to transfer rules?

 

Osetkowski gets a ship. He can practice and workout but cannot compete in games or travel. He'll have 2 season of eligibility remaining after next season.

To the other question: Texas is a "Football School". It's relegated to the outside looking in on top 20 talent year in year out, and is forced to scrape and scratch just like everyone else for the remainder of the at large talent base. Rick Barnes was adept at getting top 10 NBA draft picks (which still baffles me to this day), but really couldn't ever get those individuals to make his teams any better.

I think Shaka will be great at recruiting role players and lower tier guys that he coaches up to play beyond their Scout/Rivals Star Ratings, mixed in with an occasional 5 star guy that more than likely wouldn't stay more than one semester anyway. The "one and done" culture is diluting college basketball and frankly I'd prefer to recruit 25-100 ranked players all day because I know they'll more than likely stick around beyond 1 semester and help us progress towards a MNC.

Shaka's current 2016 recruiting class is ranked #16, one spot better than last years #17 ranked recruiting class. Allen isn't coming to Texas, but if he did I think we'd move up to something like #10 for the 2016 class. Our 3 recruits signed LOI's in 2015 if I'm not mistaken. I'd say it's not normal, nor mature, nor particularly necessary for a player to wait until May 18th to pick a school; that is unless he's just doing it for the attention. Which begs a whole host of other questions about that players character.

 

Source?

 

Jarrett Allen just tweeted this was bogus and that KU has not been cut from his list. You see what's happening right?

 

Mark Berman is generally reliable.
He definitely works harder than most of the other local sports guys.