Texas Men’s Basketball Revamps Roster

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“Texas Longhorns vs Navy Midshipmen” by jrandallc is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Luke Smith, Sports Writer

After losing in the first round of the March Madness tournament, Texas was quick to make changes to their basketball program. Shortly after the tournament, Texas fired Shaka Smart and hired Chris Beard as the new head coach from Texas Tech. In Beard’s short time at Texas, the Longhorns have landed 2 notable transfers; Utah Transfer Timmy Allen and Kentucky transfer Devin Askew. As a 6 ft 6 inch forward that earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors, Allen was considered one of the best players in the transfer portal, averaging 17.2 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game and 3.9 assists per game. Askew was a 5 star recruit in the 2020 class. With limited minutes as a freshman, Askew averaged 6.5 points per game and 3.9 assists per game with a spotty 34.5% shooting from the field. Another big boost to the Texas roster is the return of guard Andrew Jones. Jones will be entering his sixth season after not being able to play for nearly two seasons after being diagnosed with leukemia in January 2018. Jones announced his return via Twitter. “After thoughtful consideration with my family, God and the new coaching staff, I’m back for another year,” Jones said. Jones didn’t miss a beat in his return, averaging 14.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game while starting in all 26 games. Senior guard Jace Fabres also announced he would return via the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility. Off the bench, Fabres averaged 5.2 points per game and shot 39% from the 3-pt line. When Beard took over as head coach, there were many uncertainties about the roster for next season. While some of the holes have been filled, there is still some uncertainty that needs to be addressed. Four players had entered the transfer portal since the beginning of the season and junior guard Kamaka Hepa announced that he would enter after Beard was hired. The Longhorns roster is already looking solid early in the offseason with guards Jones and Askew, as well as forwards Fabres and Allen, as potential starters for next season. Freshman forward Greg Brown and sophomore forward Kai Jones are both potential first round picks that may leave, as well as senior guard Matt Coleman III and senior forward Jericho Sims. Luckily, the Longhorns still have plenty of time to address their needs and build a strong roster before the season starts.