No. 18 Texas takes the first step toward proving that it belongs in the upper echelon of the college basketball world when it hosts Incarnate Word on Monday, Nov. 6, in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns finished 29-9 in 2022-23, the third-most wins in program history. Texas was ranked fifth in the final AP poll after advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2008. The Longhorns also captured their second Big 12 tournament title in program history.
The Longhorns said goodbye to Marcus Carr, Sir’Jabari Rice and Timmy Allen after the trio’s last year on the 40 Acres ended one 10-minute stretch away from the Final Four.
This year’s squad was picked to finish third in the conference’s preseason poll and had a quartet of players selected to the preseason All-Big 12 Awards team.
Transfer guard Max Abmas, who enters the 2023-24 season as the NCAA Division I active career scoring and career scoring average leader (20.8 ppg) after four years at Oral Roberts, was named to the preseason All-Big 12 Team. Returning guard Tyrese Hunter and forwards Dylan Disu and Dillon Mitchell were each named preseason honorable mention All-Big 12.
Both Hunter and Mitchell returned to Texas after requesting NBA draft position evaluation.
That core is joined by forward “glue guy” Brock Cunningham, transfer guards Ithiel Horton (UCF), and Chendall Weaver (UT Arlington) and transfer forwards Kadin Shedrick (Virginia) and Ze’Rik Onyema (UTEP).
Disu and Shedrick likely won’t see action in the season opener as they rehabilitate foot and shoulder injuries, respectively.
Rodney Terry begins his first full season as the Longhorns’ head coach after taking over last December on an interim basis when Chris Beard was suspended and then fired. Texas won 22 of its 30 games with Terry at the helm.
“From the outset of this journey with the group, we just said we had to have a growth mindset every day with what we’re trying to improve, getting familiar with one another on the court every single day,” Terry said. “Just like any team as they start a season, there’s going to be a number of different things you have to continue to get better with each and every day.”
Incarnate Word, which plays in the Southland Conference, went 12-19 last season and lost six of its final seven games. Senior forward Davante Dennis is the top returning scorer after averaging 8.3 points last season.
The Cardinals were picked to finish 10th (last) in the SLC preseason poll and are in their first year under Shane Heirman, who was hired in May after two seasons as associate head coach at Central Michigan.
“I need nastiness out there, I need competitors, I need grit,” the 35-year-old Heirman said of his team. “Because if you’re going to get through this, it takes a great deal of toughness. We can create a game plan, we can X and O this thing to death, but there’s no substitute for will.”
Even if Heirman’s requirements are filled, the Cardinals will likely have a hard time staying with deep and talented Texas. The Longhorns have won the only two meetings between the programs, most recently a 78-33 victory in Austin in 2021.
–Field Level Media