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Tag: Chris Del Conte

NEW ERA FOR UT Mens Hoops

Written by Amaria Fields on . Posted in NCAA BASKETBALL.

In March 2025, the University of Texas took a step ahead in a way never seen in the
arena of college basketball. Sean Miller has been appointed as the new head coach of the
men’s basketball program. The ruling has changed the tone and the sense of urgency felt by
the athletic department as it moved to change the face of Texas basketball to the same
national calling of its football team.

A player in his own right with 480 career victories and
several Elite Eight bids at Arizona and Xavier, Miller has the instant credibility that a
basketball program starving to find postseason success and a sense of identity needs.
Miller moved to Austin as the coach with a reputation of discipline, player
development and recruiting at the elite level. With a reputation of being intense on the
sidelines and thoroughly prepared, he did not waste any time revamping the team culture.
The first key thing he did was to create a team based on trust and experience. He also

recruited some of his old helpers at Xavier, Kenya Hunter and Ryan Anderson, and held
onto some Texas talent, including Chris Ogden to run operations and NIL planning. The
message was simple: Texas was going to be structured, active in the recruiting and
businesslike about competing deep into March.

The university committed itself firmly in terms of money. Miller was recruited on a 6-

year contract with a package worth 32 million dollars, thus making him one of the highest-
paid coaches in the nation. However, besides the salary, he was to have an opportunity to

use the resources that really count in contemporary world NIL funding, top-level training
facilities, and national opportunities. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte made an
analog of Miller to football coach Steve Sarkisian saying the former is a mirror image in the
manner of relating to players and taking up the task of managing a program that gets the
brightest lights across the nation.

The university committed itself firmly to Miller in terms of money. Miller was
recruited on a 6-year contract with a package worth 32 million dollars, making him one of
the highest-paid coaches in the nation. However, besides the salary, he was to have an

opportunity to use the resources that really count in contemporary world NIL funding, top-
level training facilities, and national opportunities. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte

made an analog of Miller to football coach Steve Sarkisian saying the former is a mirror
image in the manner of relating to players and taking up the task of managing a program
that gets the brightest lights across the nation.

Expectations have raised under Miller. He is taking the best recruits and being active
in the transfer portal trying to assemble a team that can compete in the SEC. He has openly
talked about creating a blue blood mentality at Texas which is where it is not the objective
to win but it is the norm. Sean Miller has the combination of coaching prowess, recruiting
ability and miracle backing that should mark the beginning of a new era of Texas basketball.

 

Amaria Fields – Covers sports for Texas Sports Monthly and Hook Em News. She played at Boston College and the University of Detroit Mercy, and Is a McKinney North alum where she hold several offensive records and scored over 1,900 career points. Ms. Fields also worked in NBA Player Development and with both the Mavericks and Celtics organizations.

Texas Basketball 2019

Written by Tucker Stephenson on . Posted in NCAA BASKETBALL.

Every school has expectations, but the ones in Austin remain as high as the Texas sky.

Just ask Rick Barnes.

Longhorns men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart will find out exactly how tough it is to coach on the hot seat this season after Texas won the NIT a year ago to salvage a topsy-turvy 2018-19 campaign. There’s only one acceptable tournament to be invited to this time around — the Big Dance in March.

Smart himself acknowledged that fact last March, and UT athletic director Chris Del Conte echoed the sentiment even after the Longhorns won the NIT, saying “we’re not where we want to be, but we’re making progress.”

Texas pulled in another solid crop of recruits this year after snagging three of the top 75 prospects in the nation — shooting guard Donovan Williams, center Kai Jones and homegrown product Will Baker, who played center for Westlake while rising up the ranks to become the No. 35 overall recruit in the country.

Baker is expected to start at center this season, while Williams and Jones have opportunities to work their way into valuable roles.

The Longhorns’ starting lineup for 2019-20 is also projected to include guards Matt Coleman and Courtney Rainey, who averaged 9.8 and 8.1 points per game last year, respectively. Coleman, who was the only Texas player to start all 37 games a season ago, added 3.4 assists per outing and was the lone Longhorn to earn preseason acclaim from the Big 12 after taking home honorable mention.

Rainey returns after shooting a team-best 38.6% from beyond the 3-point arc and proving to be another capable scorer. The same can be said for wing player Jase Febres, who knocked down 37.2% of his 3s while putting in 8.9 points per contest.

Jericho Sims is expected to lock down the starting power forward spot and has shown plenty of athleticism during his time on the 40 Acres. Sims has even drawn comparisons to current NBA players Mo Bamba and Jaxson Hayes, but he still has to show that he can turn potential into reality.

The biggest fan favorite on the team will undoubtedly be guard Andrew Jones, who touched the hearts of many Longhorn fans as he took time off to battle Leukemia last season. Jones was cleared to return to basketball activities in early August, and his comeback story will be one of the best in all of college hoops.

Meanwhile, wing player Gerald Liddell and big man Kamaka Hepa will likely fight for minutes as reserves.

Texas was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 during the preseason coaches’ poll behind Kansas — no surprise there — Baylor and Texas Tech. Bringing up the rear were West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State and TCU.

But before the Longhorns begin conference play on Jan. 4. 2020, Texas will look to navigate an early portion of the schedule that includes games against Purdue, Georgetown and Providence. The Longhorns and Aggies will even reprise their old rivalry on the hardwood during a Dec. 8 meeting in Fort Worth for the Lone Star Showdown.

Smart should be able to get away with a loss to a rival here or there, though. After all, this isn’t football. But it’s still Texas, and another season without March Madness will be viewed as a colossal failure.