Tag: tre mitchell

Texas Basketball: Five takeaways from the first win of the Chris Beard era

Five takeaways from the first win of the Chris Beard era.

Texas cruised past Houston Baptist 92-48 on Tuesday night, a strong start for Chris Beard’s first year in Austin.

Texas fans and students showed out in support of this team. The energy in the Frank Erwin Center was as electric as it has been in years.

“Our guys were dialed in and played well tonight,” Beard said. “It was a great crowd. There was a buzz in our locker room. Special thank you to the students, they turned out.”

Senior guards Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones paced the team with 13 and 11 points respectively, shooting a combined 7-11 from three-point range.

Minnesota transfer Marcus Carr controlled the offense well, finding his teammates for open shots and taking advantage of his own scoring opportunities. Carr finished with 10 points and led the team with five assists.

Both Texas big men had good debuts in the burnt orange. Christan Bishop and Tre Mitchell combined for 20 points and four blocks. Mitchell started slow but showed his offensive skill set scoring 10 points in the second half.

Here are five takeaways from Texas’ opening night victory over Houston Baptist.

Texas Basketball: Chris Beard has landed six of the top 31 transfers

This includes THREE OF THE TOP FIVE!

The Texas basketball program went from being down in the dumps with expectations of a rebuild, to now being projected by college basketball experts to contend for a championship in just the first year of the Chris Bead tenure.

After losing a total of seven players, four to the NBA draft and three to the transfer portal, Beard had to work fast to construct a roster that would allow Texas to compete in the Big 12 for the upcoming season. While there were expectations that he would attract some transfers, it is safe to say that no one expected the slew of elite transfers that Beard brought in would form a juggernaut.

According to ESPN’S rankings of college basketball transfers, the Longhorns brought in three of the top five and six of the top 31 transfers. It’s a class filled with elite players and depth that should have Texas contending for the title with the likes of Gonzaga and UCLA.

Let’s take a look to see where the six transfers ranked according to ESPN.

Texas Basketball: Projecting the starting five

The Longhorns are going to look much different in 2021.

Texas’ basketball program was in utter turmoil after their third consecutive opening round loss in the NCAA Tournament. The shocking loss to Abilene Christian last March saw the end of the Shaka Smart era in which literally nothing besides a meaningless Big 12 Championship was accomplished.

Smart was unable to replicate the success he once had while at VCU. However, there is a new coach in charge for Texas now in Chris Beard. The first-year head coach wasted no time attracting legit talent to Austin via the transfer portal. While at Texas Tech, Beard led the Red Raiders to a National Championship game appearance (2019) and Elite Eight appearance (2018), both of which were the first time in school history.

Beard and the Longhorns are now done constructing the roster, and it is safe to say the starting five can be predicted. The only difference that has shaken up the roster is transfer Marcus Carr joining the squad, as a player of his caliber will find himself starting right away.

While there are a few players from last season that will see more significant playing time with the likes of Brock Cunningham and Jase Febres, it is unlikely that they find their way into the starting rotation. However, Beard was using up to nine players during the tournament, so the more depth pieces the better.

Let’s take a look who I believe could be the sixth man and starting five for Chris Beard in 2021. Obviously this is opinion based and arguments are welcomed.

Texas Basketball: Horns land UMass transfer Tre Mitchell

Breaking down Texas basketball’s newest transfer.

Texas head coach Chris Beard has been attacking the NCAA transfer portal and finding gold left and right.

He and the basketball team struck gold again today after landing 6-foot-9, 240-pound big man Tre Mitchell out of UMass.

Mitchell announced via his twitter Tuesday that he was transferring to Texas.

Mitchell had a great season in 2020, as he was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team after averaging 18.8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assist per game. He shot an efficient 52% from the field while also showing the ability to shoot the three as he he shot 37.5% from deep.

Texas is getting a very elite scorer as on Dec. 16 at La Salle Mitchell, he had a career-high 37 points. He also is quite the scholar as Mitchell was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team with a 3.5 GPA.

Mitchell marks the fifth transfer that the Longhorns have landed this offseason. After spending a couple months in the portal, his choice came down to Texas and Florida. The Longhorns were able to earn his commitment Tuesday after Mitchell took an official visit to Texas.

The Longhorns lost big men Kai Jones, Greg Brown III, and potentially Jericho Sims to the NBA Draft. Sims can still choose to withdraw his name from the draft, but whether there is room for him on the roster anymore is to be determined.

The Longhorns basketball team is looking to avenge last season’s disappointments and contend for a title.