May 6, 2021
The Texas Longhorns men s basketball team has seen a major makeover this offseason, and the pundits are beginning to take notice.
On Thursday, Stadium college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman updated his way-too-early preseason top-25 rankings, with the Texas Longhorns and new head coach Chris Beard now sitting with the No. 10 overall ranking I’m betting on Chris Beard and his staff, Goodman said of the Longhorns. He still has to add more pieces to the roster, but he’s already brought on four impact transfers and will bring back Jones and Ramey. They’ll be more.
The Longhorns began their makeover following their early exit from the NCAA tournament when they moved on from former head coach Shaka Smart and hired beard to replace him.
Chris Beard assembled an elite Texas coaching staff behind Rodney Terry based on relationships and belief
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“We got it right.”
On April 1, Texas Longhorns athletics director Chris Del Conte was on a plane with new head basketball coach Chris Beard, watching Beard’s emotions as he processed ending his enormously successful time leading the Texas Tech Red Raiders and prepared himself for a homecoming on the Forty Acres. Those moments solidified Del Conte’s belief that the administration’s top choice was the best choice for the future of Longhorns basketball.
A little farther west and a little while later, UTEP head coach Rodney Terry, the longtime assistant under Rick Barnes, heard the news of Beard’s decision and felt similarly to Del Conte, calling it a “home-run hire” and quickly coming to the belief that Beard’s “gonna blow it out of the water” in Austin, he said during a Zoom meeting with reporters on Wednesday.
(Edit number 1: With Walker and Grady committing and some new big names added to the portal, we are going to do a quick update and call this version 1.1)
(Update 2: Some new big names in the portal.
The Chris Beard Player Hunt
Chris Beard has hit the ground running right from the start of his time in Austin. Beard continues to state how important it is for him to continue to work with the current players on their own futures. As of right now the guys he has coming back and those are Andrew Jones, Brock Cunningham, and lastly Jase Febres who has opted into an additional year of eligibility. So, here we will look at the makings of his new roster and some names in the transfer portal as well that have some intrigue from the new coaching staff.
Texas is a finalist for Coastal Carolina G DeVante’ Jones ahead of Saturday decision
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Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Beard and the Texas Longhorns could be days away from landing another monumental transfer with Coastal Carolina Chanticleers transfer guard DeVante’ Jones set to announce his decision on Saturday, according to 247Sports.
The 6’1, 200-pounder from New Orleans who won Sun Belt Player of the Year honors for his performance during the 2020-21 season will decide between Texas, Memphis, Michigan, and Texas Tech, setting up a showdown between Beard and his former assistant Mark Adams, now the head coach in Lubbock.