Texas basketball did not quite reach its lofty preseason expectations in Chris Beard’s first season in Austin.
Despite not playing to its preseason top-five ranking, Texas still had a solid year. The Horns wrapped up the 2021-2022 regular season with a 21-10 record, good for a No. 4 finish in the Big 12 conference.
Texas saw multiple individuals have nice seasons. Five Longhorns received All-Big 12 honors on Sunday:
F Timmy Allen (second team, all-newcomer)
G Marcus Carr (third team)
G Courtney Ramey (honorable mention)
G Andrew Jones (honorable mention)
F Christian Bishop (honorable mention)
Texas is a safe bet for an NCAA tournament bid, most experts have the Horns in the 4-6 seed range.
This week Texas will look to defend its Big 12 tournament title and improve its NCAA resume in Kansas City. They are set to take on TCU on Thursday to start the tournament.
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Texas has the pieces to have another great season in 2022.
The 2022 Texas Longhorns are ranked preseason No. 1 by most publications and for good reason. This team has a loaded roster stacked with elite pitching depth and experience.
The preseason All-Big 12 team shows how talented Texas’ roster is.
The Longhorns have seven of the 18 players named to the list. The most in the conference by a wide margin.
C Silas Ardoin
2B Mitchell Daly
SS Trey Faltine
1B/DH Ivan Melendez
P Pete Hansen
P Tristian Stevens
P Aaron Nixon
Junior pitcher Pete Hansen was named Big 12 preseason pitcher of the year. An honor awarded to former Longhorn Ty Madden a season ago. Hansen appeared in 19 games in 2021 finishing 9-1 with a 1.88 ERA.
Hansen will be joined in the weekend rotation with 2021 first-team All-Big 12 pitcher Tristian Stevens and freshman All-American Tanner Witt.
Texas will open the season at home against Rice on Feb. 18.
The Longhorns are itching to get back on the diamond after last season’s abrupt end. Four players were named in All-Big 12 preseason honors.
The Longhorns 2021 baseball season is almost upon us as the team prepares to open the season at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
In a press release from the University, a total of four Longhorns have been named to the Big 12’s preseason all-conference teams. It’s headlined by pitcher Ty Madden, who served as Saturday’s pitcher last season.
Big 12 Conference preseason honors
Austin Todd and Ty Madden were the two Texas players named to the Big 12 preseason All-Conference team. Two other Longhorns were named to the Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors for the preseason.
Ty Madden, Pitcher
Madden, who shares the recognition with K-State LHP Jordan Wicks, served as the Saturday starter for the Longhorns in 2020, pitching 25 innings and posting a 1.80 ERA with a 3-0 record. He struck out 26 batters and walked just four in 25 innings, while holding opponents to a .196 average.
Austin Todd, Outfielder
Todd got off to a scintillating start to the 2020 season, leading the team with a .375 batting average and 14 runs scored. He finished with four doubles, one triple and one home run, driving in 15 runs. He started all 17 games, reached base safely in every game and had nine multiple-hit games.
Mike Antico, Outfielder
Antico comes to Austin after an accomplished career at St. John’s from 2017 to 2020. He was a career .332 hitter with 22 doubles, seven triples and 13 homers along with 108 runs scored, 67 RBI and 44 career stolen bases. He was a 2019 unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection and earned ABCA/Rawlings second team All-Region honors.
Tanner Witt, Pitcher
A right-handed pitcher and infielder from Houston, Witt was a four-year starter at Episcopal High School. He was a two-time All-State player and 2019 VYPE Private School Player of the Year. He was ranked the No. 1 shortstop in Texas, No. 4 overall player in the state and No. 18 nationally by Prep Baseball Report. In 2019, he participated in the Under Armour All-American Game and was a member of the 2017 USA Baseball 15U National Team.
In returning to the countdown to kickoff series, Longhorns Wire remembers the best wear number 55 Connor Williams.
We are 55 days away from the scheduled kickoff of the 2020 college football season. Despite the Big Ten and PAC 12 announcing conference only schedules, the Big 12 remains with a full slate of games for most of their teams. The Longhorns still have South Florida, Louisiana State and Texas-El Paso on the schedule. In continuing the kickoff series, Longhorns Wire looks at the best to wear number 55. Currently Willie Tyler wears the number. He redshirted his sophomore year in 2019 after transferring from Iowa Western Community College.
Connor Williams, Offensive Tackle (2015-17)
JKevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Connor Williams played three season for the Texas Longhorns before entering into the 2018 NFL Draft and forfeiting his remaining eligibility. He played and started 28 games during that time. He would start every game at left tackle as a freshman. He would earn Freshman All-American honors from three publications for his play.
In his sophomore season, Williams would be even better. He would start 11 games at left tackle for Texas. He earned consensus first team All-American honors. He became only the fourth sophomore in Longhorns history to earn that honor. The others were Earl Thomas, Hub Bechtol and Russell Erxleben.
As a junior in 2017, Williams found himself on the Maxwell Trophy, Outland Trophy and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watchlists in the preseason. He would be listed on the pre-season All-American team as well as All-Big 12. He would only start five games that year due to injuries. He would declare for the 2018 NFL Draft.
The Dallas area native would get to stay home when the Dallas Cowboys selected him in the second round. In two years for the Cowboys, Williams played in 24 games, starting 21. He would be named starter at left guard his rookie year. In his second season, Connor would start 11 games and missed time due to arthroscopic knee surgery. Upon his return he would tear his ACL and be placed on the injured reserve.
Heading into 2020, Williams will once again have to battle for a starting spot with another Connor coming off injury. Williams and McGovern are both vying for starting roles at either center or left guard.
The Longhorns Wire’s All-Big 12 preseason team. Which Texas players should be on the list for some awards by season’s end?
The college football season is closer by the day with the anticipated kickoff just 63 days away. As is customary for all media outlets, lists of preseason award watchlists and all-conference teams will be flying off the shelves. For Longhorns Wire it is no different as we put together our All-Big 12 team. This will consist of a first and second team for all positions on the football field. We start at the skill positions.
The Skill Positions
Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
Senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger leads the charge for the skill positions. He is the only Longhorn among the first team selections. A big year could be in store for the Austin native as he attempts to chase the school’s all-time record for passing yards in a career. He will need a monster season to catch Colt McCoy. Ehlinger currently sits second in school history with 8,870 yards passing and second in total offense with 10,400 yards.
For the second team, the Longhorns have running back Keaontay Ingram and wide receiver Brennan Eagles. Ingram is coming off his best season in 2019 but that running back room is getting even more crowded with Roschon Johnson and newcomer Bijan Robinson. He will need a strong season to fight up the number one running back in 2020 recruiting class.
Brennan Eagles returns as the leading receiver from the 2019 team. He finished second with six receiving touchdowns. He was also third on the team in yards with 522, just behind Collin Johnson. Eagles will likely play the X receiver role in the new look Mike Yurcich offense and should expect plenty of looks from Ehlinger as they get the passing offense rolling.
