The SEC added two members in the offseason, and one of them starts the year inside the CBB Review Top 25: Texas basketball.
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Texas basketball.
Entering Rodney Terry’s third season in Austin, the Longhorns have been steady floating around the Top 25 in the polls. He’s 43-21 in that span, and talent that he’s developed has certainly been a part of the story. Entering last season, the backcourt-frontcourt duo of Abmas and Disu was hyped up, and they delivered, averaging a combined 32.3 PPG. Tyrese Hunter and Dillon Mitchell were productive as well, but the Longhorns weren’t able to rise above the crop in their last season in the Big 12.
After recording a 11-2 record in the non-conference portion of the schedule but not having a ranked win to show for it, Texas entered Big 12 play ranked No. 20 in the polls. However, their conference record never jumped above .500, despite wins over Baylor, Oklahoma (twice), and TCU. Their 21-13 record still was enough to earn a 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they beat Colorado State before falling to a very good Tennessee team in the Round of 32.
Turnover was abundant in the offseason, with Abmas, Disu, Hunter, and Mitchell all gone. Gone too are Brock Cunningham and Ithiel Horton, which rounds out the top six Longhorns in MPG last season. Four of the five projected starters for the 2024-25 Texas Longhorns are new to the program. Those include point guard Jordan Pope from Oregon State, shooting guard Tramon Mark from Arkansas, five-star freshman Tre Johnson, and power forward Arthur Kaluma from Kansas State. Center Kadin Shedrick is the only 2023-24 Longhorn in the projected first seven player rotation.
But this roster is sneakily deep, as Rodney Terry really loaded up in the portal. Indiana State transfers Julian Larry (sharpshooter, by the way) and Jayson Kent provide immediate production off the bench. Returnees Chendall Weaver and Ze’Rik Onyema should also help out in the backcourt and frontcourt, respectively. Rounding out the bench are freshmen Nic Codie and Jamie Vinson, along with Vanderbilt transfer Malik Presley and returnee Devon Pryor. Together this team is one of the deeper squads in the conference, and they have real potential to make a deep run.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Rodney Terry (3rd season at Texas, 13th season overall)
2023-24 record: 21-13 (9-9)
2024 postseason finish: Lost to Tennessee (62-58) in second round of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Max Abmas (16.8 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.1 RPG)
- Dylan Disu (15.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.5 APG)
- Tyrese Hunter (11.1 PPG, 4.1 APG, 2.9 RPG)
- Dillon Mitchell (9.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.4 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Ohio State (Nov. 4)
- vs. Syracuse (Nov. 21, Brooklyn)
- at NC State (Dec. 4)
- vs. UConn (Dec. 8)
Projected Rotation
PG: Jordan Pope (6-2, 175, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 17.6 PPG, 3.4 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 37.1 3P% (Oregon State)
SG: Tramon Mark (6-5, 200, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 16.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 36.4 3P% (Arkansas)
SF: Tre Johnson (6-6, 190, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #6 ranked recruit
PF: Arthur Kaluma (6-7, 225, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 14.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.0 APG (Kansas State)
C: Kadin Shedrick (6-11, 231, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 7.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.1 BPG
6: Julian Larry (6-3, 185, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.0 PPG, 4.8 APG, 2.8 RPG, 46.2 3P% (Indiana State)
7: Jayson Kent (6-8, 215, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 13.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 0.6 APG, 63.9 FG% (Indiana State)
8: Chendall Weaver (6-3, 180, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 6.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 0.6 APG
9: Nic Codie (6-8, 200, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #81 ranked recruit
10: Ze’Rik Onyema (6-9, 235, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 3.3 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.2 APG
11: Malik Presley (6-6, 200, So.)
2023-24 stats: 2.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 0.5 APG (Vanderbilt)
12: Devon Pryor (6-7, 185, So.)
2023-24 stats: 0.7 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 0.0 APG, 3.6 MPG
13: Jamie Vinson (6-11, 225, Fr.)
247Sports Composite three-star recruit
Texas Basketball Team MVP: Tramon Mark
Mark, who spent the first three years of his career at Houston and last season at Arkansas, is one of the most talented guards in the SEC for the second year in a row, this time at Texas. On a not-so-great Arkansas team, Mark excelled. When he scored 25+ points, the Razorbacks were 4-1, including wins over Texas A&M (twice) and Stanford. The team was 12-16 in all other games.
The three years in Houston under Kelvin Sampson were transformative. Mark is a gritty guard who is a product of a gritty system. What do the defensive analytics say about him? He was 3rd in the AAC in defensive rating in 2022-23, 7th in defensive box plus/minus, 4th in defensive win shares (and 15th in D-1), and 16th in rebounds as a guard. Mark is a personal favorite of mine, and he’s still evolving his game. He raised his FTr from .329 at Houston to .466 last year at Arkansas.
Texas Basketball make-or-break player: Julian Larry
Julian Larry, the former Sycamore and current Texas sixth-man (probably), is really good at shooting. 5th in the MVC in TS% in the 2023-24 season, Larry shot 46.2% from behind the arc. It’s not just small sample size, either. Larry shot 46.4% from deep the season before. Should we talk about his defense, too? Larry has placed 12th or better in the MVC in steal percentage every year he’s been in college, leading the conference as a freshman.
Also, he’s a bit of an iron man. Larry wasn’t just first in the MVC in minutes played, he was first in the whole country, logging 1,342 minutes on the court last year. If Rodney Terry was looking for a team player, he’s found one in Larry. If he’s looking for a shooter, he’s found one in Larry. If he’s looking for an elite defender, he’s found one in Larry. Shoutout Julian Larry.
Key analytic: Opponent 3PM per game
Texas was great at preventing teams from scoring from the perimeter, with opponents making just 6.3 shots from behind the arc. But four of the better defenders from last year’s team were bigs (Disu, Shedrick, Cunningham, Mitchell), which points to just a good all-around defense rather than just a few stingy perimeter defenders. Also of note, all four of those players are gone. The turnover rate on the roster is extremely high. That means if this defense shines out deep again, it’s a direct result of Rodney Terry, who’s been all that he’s asked to be during his tenure.
Texas Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 6th in the SEC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Exit