Rodney Terry took over as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns in the ninth game of the season last year, and they never looked back. Texas ended up earning the second seed in the NCAA Tournament and made it to the Elite Eight. A significant amount of that team was lost, but many players returned. That’s because of how extremely talented and deep last year’s squad was. While the Big 12 does have four new members now, the Longhorns are still near the top.
Previous teams can be seen here.
Preseason College Basketball Rankings: #18 Texas Longhorns
Because of how extremely talented and deep this team was last year, the stat line from point guard Tyrese Hunter doesn’t really jump off the page. But he is still very skilled. Now that he is a top-two scoring option on this team, he should shine. Dillon Mitchell was a top 10 recruit coming out of high school last year. Despite being a full-time starter, he wasn’t relied upon to do too much because of the aforementioned talent and depth that last year’s team had. If he can take a step forward as a sophomore, he will be dangerous.
Dylan Disu returns down low. A full season of him being fully healthy would be really good for Texas. He and incoming Virginia transfer Kadin Shedrick will form arguably the best inside duo in the Big 12. Brock Cunningham, who has always been a reliable role player for the Longhorns, returns for his fifth season.
The most significant get for Texas this offseason was Oral Roberts transfer Max Abmas. He is college basketball’s active leading scorer with 2,561 career points and has won Summit League Player of the Year two out of the last three years. And he’s not just an amazing scorer. He can also pass the ball and rebound very well. Abmas and Hunter, if they mesh well, will form one of the best backcourts in the country. He is already one of the best players in all of college basketball and has already proven that he can compete with the big boys.
Shedrick was a big get for this team in the transfer portal with Timmy Allen now gone. The former Virginia Cavalier is a very good player, a great post presence, and a very underrated transfer. Ithiel Horton transferred in from UCF and is now in his fourth school after previous stops at Delaware and Pitt. The former Fightin’ Blue Hen, Panther, and Golden Knight set new career highs in every category last season. Chendall Weaver also transferred in after being the WAC ROTY last season while playing at UT Arlington.
Projected Lineup
PF/C – Kadin Shedrick (6.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.4 BPG at Virginia)
PF – Dylan Disu (8.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.3 BPG)
SF – Dillon Mitchell (4.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG)
G – Max Abmas (21.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG at Oral Roberts)
PG – Tyrese Hunter (10.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG)
