The Texas Longhorns’ athletic director Chris Del Conte recently announced that head coach Shaka Smart will be returning for the 2020-21 college basketball season. This was big news on the Greg Brown recruitment front as it had been reported multiple times that if Smart was out so was he. So with his retainment, Brown still has Texas in his top five schools. 247 Sports crystal ball predictions have the Longhorns at 90 percent to land his recruitment. The Longhorns could use his athletic ability inside.
So what does success look like for the Texas men’s basketball team in 2020?
It starts with the Longhorns putting together another solid non-conference together. During the 2019-2020 basketball season, the Longhorns were able to put together some wins but losses against Providence, Georgetown and Louisiana State. Those hurt their tournament chances especially after beating a top 25 Purdue team early on. Teams can’t make the tournament during non-conference play but they can certainly make it a lot tougher down the stretch.
The Longhorns need to find a way to capture their late season magic from the 2019 campaign where they won five of their final seven games to capture the third best conference record. Texas needs to be more consistent in the next year and not sit back a hope for another late season push. Smart needs to coach with a sense of urgency and the players need to play that way. The seat will still be hot in 2020 so no need to get complacent. However, success for the Texas Longhorns is more than just doing well in conference play.
The Texas men’s basketball must make it to the big dance in March for the season to be considered a success. Not just making the tournament and exiting on the opening weekend. Under Shaka Smart, the Longhorns have failed to see the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The team hasn’t moved onto the third round since 2013-14 or seen a regional final since 2007-08. Both of those came under Rick Barnes.
So quite simply, for the Texas Longhorns and Shaka Smart to have success in 2020-21 they must advance to the round of 16 to really feel like they are building the program back to where it once was during the Barnes era. It is likely the only way that Smart coaches in Austin beyond next season.