Greg Brown, Kai Jones, Texas Basketball Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
An offseason full of roster attrition for new head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program has led to the forming of a team that will look much different next season. Texas men’s hoops had a turbulent 2020-21 campaign under the direction of former head coach Shaka Smart.
Smart and the Longhorns weren’t able to do much in the postseason to round out the 2020-21 campaign, despite winning the Big 12 Tournament crown and snagging a three-seed in the “Big Dance”. Texas was definitely one of the most disappointing teams in the NCAA Tournament last season, which was largely the reason why Smart didn’t look to return as head coach for the 2021-22 campaign.
It took less than three weeks after the time when Texas lost in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament until Smart left Austin to become the next head coach with the Marquette Golden Eagles. Then the former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Beard was brought in on April 1 to replace Smart as the next Texas head coach.
Former Texas basketball standouts getting set for 2021 NBA Draft
Since then, Texas saw most of their players from the starting unit last season try to take their talents to the next level. Texas will lose more than half of their rotation from last season either to the NBA Draft or to the NCAA Transfer Portal. It is worth watching to see what happens with those former Longhorns that are part of the 2021 draft class this summer.
With less than two months remaining until the start of the 2021 NBA Draft, here’s a look into three of the best prospects in this class among former Longhorns.