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Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes: Keep Austin Beard


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58 minutes ago, Hornlover said:

I assume that a basketball top 8 with Kentucky, Auburn, & Memphis is equivalent to a football top 8 with Tennessee, Georgia, and A&M ? 

I mean probably, but I’m not sure that matters much anymore in basketball. A top 10 national basketball recruit is going to get paid A LOT by somebody no matter where he goes. Basketball stars are generally way more marketable and recognizable than their football counterparts.

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16 hours ago, Lonestar88 said:

I mean probably, but I’m not sure that matters much anymore in basketball. A top 10 national basketball recruit is going to get paid A LOT by somebody no matter where he goes. Basketball stars are generally way more marketable and recognizable than their football counterparts.

On a similar note, Antoine Davis is staying at Detroit because he managed to land a big NIL deal without having to leave.

 

 

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2 hours ago, texifornia said:

 

I remember last year listening to a Louisville podcast because they were talking about a common target. Might have been Morris, or maybe it was Carr. Don’t remember. But both of them were pessimistic. “We don’t seem to ever be able to beat Beard in recruiting.” 

Beard doesn’t win every battle, but there’s no doubt recruiting and sales in general - whether it’s to the students/fans, the administration, potential assistants, or players - is a personal strength. 

Getting Hunter would be massive. I don’t have a clue how he’d distribute the minutes or responsibilities. Basically all five guards would have a lot of experience being the initiator. Carr we know about, but Rice initiated the offense at New Mexico State, even if mostly by necessity. More of a Royal Ivey type point guard. That’s probably the player he’s the most similar to. Can be a better college outside shooter, though. 

Hunter is almost certainly the best point guard in the transfer portal, and he’s entering his sophomore season. So plenty of eligibility left.

Then you have Morris, who has potential one and done type talent as a PG. 

And Brumbaugh, who’s a top 100 type guy that runs his offense in high school, too. 

One of the things that constantly strikes me about Beard in recruiting is he’s never trying to protect anyone. There’s a refreshing IDGAF attitude about putting the players in a room and playing the 5 best ones that come out of it. 

I remember last year when Askew transferred in it looked like he was going to inherit the point guard position almost by default. Noooooope. Transfers out the next year because he didn’t see the floor as much as he thought he would when he committed. I never had a problem with Askew that others did. He certainly didn’t whine or sulk, and outside of his obvious reluctance to shoot, he didn’t look out of place. 

But here we are with Carr coming back for a super senior season, and a McD point guard coming to campus, and Beard is out here making a strong push for the Big 12 FPOY as this coming season’s PG. It’s an ideal way to approach things, frankly. Like the anti-Mack Brown approach, if you will. Don’t care about hurting anyone’s feelings. The best player plays. If you’re not happy find somewhere you will be. 

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1 hour ago, HtownHorn said:

I think in today's college basketball you have to have multiple guys on the court capable of creating shots for themselves and others. Going to be different going from no real PGs, to having a team full of them.

Well, I think it’s nice to have a bunch of guys who can initiate the offense. But it’s nice to have a bunch of future all pro wide receivers or running backs, too. Heck, it’s nice to have a bunch of great quarterbacks.

But really, there’s only going to be one main guy. That’s how it is. Beard loves to talk about having a positionless team. I know that’s some kind of ideal he jacks off to in his basketball fantasies, where everyone can bring the ball up the floor, dish to their teammates, post up, shoot the three, rebound, block shots, and defend all five positions. 

He talks about it regularly when asked about the roles of different players. The players parrot it, too, when they’re asked. But the truth is Carr is the one who initiated the offense for the preponderance of the season. Every now and then Timmy Allen did as a switch, and then Askew ran the offense in his limited minutes. But in the preseason he gave the impression we’d see Ramey and Jones running the offense, too. Shoot, I’m sure he hinted Febres might, as well. He certainly talked about Febres as an all around basketball player, and not just a shooter (turns out he wasn’t much of a shooter last year, either). 

What happens is someone gets disappointed and feels like they were somewhat sold a bill of goods. That’s okay. That’s life. A great leader is able to communicate in a compelling way to keep those guys invested even when things aren’t working out quite how they envisioned, or maybe even what was implied. 

I’m just saying I’m foreseeing some effort being put in by Beard to get everyone to buy in when he has that many players very much accustomed to running the offense. Carr didn’t come back for a super senior season to come off the bench, or play Ramey’s role. Not saying he won’t. I’m saying it will be an adjustment. Hunter isn’t potentially transferring to Texas to play the two. On some level Arterrio Morris thinks he’s going to dominate from day one and become a lottery pick in next year’s draft. And Rice isn’t transferring in for his super senior year to play a limited role. I can’t imagine he sees himself as a point guard, but no way he sees himself at the end of the bench, either. 

None of this is a criticism. I love how fearless Beard is. I just find it fascinating. I can’t recall seeing a coach recruit this aggressively. One of the things Beard repeats as a mantra more than any other, especially when he’s asked why he does things, or what his basketball philosophy is. “I’m about winning. Everything I do, everything we do, should have as it’s purpose to win. If it’s not going to help us win, then it’s going in the wrong direction.” 

A lot of people say that, but then they make decisions that avoid confrontation, or helps people not feel uncomfortable. It’s refreshing to see Beard truly make his decisions that way.

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49 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

Well, I think it’s nice to have a bunch of guys who can initiate the offense. But it’s nice to have a bunch of future all pro wide receivers or running backs, too. Heck, it’s nice to have a bunch of great quarterbacks.

But really, there’s only going to be one main guy. That’s how it is. Beard loves to talk about having a positionless team. I know that’s some kind of ideal he jacks off to in his basketball fantasies, where everyone can bring the ball up the floor, dish to their teammates, post up, shoot the three, rebound, block shots, and defend all five positions. 

He talks about it regularly when asked about the roles of different players. The players parrot it, too, when they’re asked. But the truth is Carr is the one who initiated the offense for the preponderance of the season. Every now and then Timmy Allen did as a switch, and then Askew ran the offense in his limited minutes. But in the preseason he gave the impression we’d see Ramey and Jones running the offense, too. Shoot, I’m sure he hinted Febres might, as well. He certainly talked about Febres as an all around basketball player, and not just a shooter (turns out he wasn’t much of a shooter last year, either). 

What happens is someone gets disappointed and feels like they were somewhat sold a bill of goods. That’s okay. That’s life. A great leader is able to communicate in a compelling way to keep those guys invested even when things aren’t working out quite how they envisioned, or maybe even what was implied. 

I’m just saying I’m foreseeing some effort being put in by Beard to get everyone to buy in when he has that many players very much accustomed to running the offense. Carr didn’t come back for a super senior season to come off the bench, or play Ramey’s role. Not saying he won’t. I’m saying it will be an adjustment. Hunter isn’t potentially transferring to Texas to play the two. On some level Arterrio Morris thinks he’s going to dominate from day one and become a lottery pick in next year’s draft. And Rice isn’t transferring in for his super senior year to play a limited role. I can’t imagine he sees himself as a point guard, but no way he sees himself at the end of the bench, either. 

None of this is a criticism. I love how fearless Beard is. I just find it fascinating. I can’t recall seeing a coach recruit this aggressively. One of the things Beard repeats as a mantra more than any other, especially when he’s asked why he does things, or what his basketball philosophy is. “I’m about winning. Everything I do, everything we do, should have as it’s purpose to win. If it’s not going to help us win, then it’s going in the wrong direction.” 

A lot of people say that, but then they make decisions that avoid confrontation, or helps people not feel uncomfortable. It’s refreshing to see Beard truly make his decisions that way.

Beard can say whatever he wants, but there is a very big difference in Ramey, Askew, Jones, and Febres initiating the offense and the guards likely to be on the team next year.

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5 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Beard can say whatever he wants, but there is a very big difference in Ramey, Askew, Jones, and Febres initiating the offense and the guards likely to be on the team next year.


Sure. But there’s still only going to be one player who initiates the offense predominantly. 

The good news is that we’ll all pick sides as to who we think is the best and anyone who disagrees is a complete idiot. So that will help generate a lot of traffic!

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2 hours ago, SL Xpress said:


Sure. But there’s still only going to be one player who initiates the offense predominantly. 

The good news is that we’ll all pick sides as to who we think is the best and anyone who disagrees is a complete idiot. So that will help generate a lot of traffic!

I will be happy if the guard initiating the offense is someone other than Carr.

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22 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Hopefully it goes as well as Addison's visit to USC.

They certainly didn't want him to take the KU visit. They knew he was doing it before he came in for last weekend's visit, so hopefully they worked on that concern while he was on campus. At the same time, KU seems like it would be tough to recruit against at the moment. 

Whatever happens on the Hunter end, I can say with certainty that NIL will not be a deciding factor working against Texas.

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Tennessee is also suddenly a factor.

KU is going to have a tough time in some ways because there’s less of a clear path to major minutes there than there is at Texas, and Texas it’s not clear cut. But at least at Texas Tyrese Hunter is the likely starter at PG from day one. At KU it’s going to be Dajuan Harris, it’s always going to be Dajuan Harris, and they’re just as unlikely to be on the floor together as Remy Martin and Harris were for KU last year. So maybe 20mpg and being part of a theoretical repeat.

I have confidence in this Texas staff. All things being equal, they’re going to win more than their fair share of recruiting battles. Getting Hunter in the fold is a huge game changer. 

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KU mods are all a flutter about the rumored NIL deal put together by Texas for Tyrese Hunter, just as CTJ referenced. They just got the commitment from Tech’s McCullar today, but when people ask about Hunter they’re not as sanguine. 

Man, he’d be a huge boost for this team. 

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I’m not too interested in the NBA, but I do think he has his work cut out for him. 6’7 inside scorer who doesn’t play great defense. I’m sure he’ll get some kind of professional opportunity. 
 

Thanks for the post, @Js1

Sure would like at least one interior type to go along with Bishop and Disu (I feel safe in assuming he comes back).

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On 5/23/2022 at 10:22 PM, SL Xpress said:

I’m not too interested in the NBA, but I do think he has his work cut out for him. 6’7 inside scorer who doesn’t play great defense. I’m sure he’ll get some kind of professional opportunity. 
 

Thanks for the post, @Js1

Sure would like at least one interior type to go along with Bishop and Disu (I feel safe in assuming he comes back).

Read a scouting combine report that his best physical comp (body type only) is Zion, which, yeah. Unless he's got the second-jump that Zion has, not too many thicc boys like that in the league.

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2 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

Don’t know how true it is, but there’s a rumor Morris would seek to get out of his NLI if Hunter commits to Texas. Which makes sense if it turns out to be the case. 

G league then?

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17 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

Don’t know how true it is, but there’s a rumor Morris would seek to get out of his NLI if Hunter commits to Texas. Which makes sense if it turns out to be the case. 

 

Perhaps he saw this post from Howe. 😂 😂 

 

image.thumb.png.1d5e305e785738e1bc40754f566a6917.png

 

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9 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

Perhaps he saw this post from Howe. 😂 😂 

 

image.thumb.png.1d5e305e785738e1bc40754f566a6917.png

 

Perhaps he and the people around him are using common sense. I’ve been saying for a while that:

a) Beard is fearless about recruiting over people

b) adding Hunter would mean there’s way too many people with expectations to initiate the offense to keep them happy. Which is not a knock on anyone. I’m thrilled we may be getting Hunter. He’s a humongous upgrade at the PG position over any other option. He’ll be the best PG on campus since TJ Ford, and that includes DJ Augustin, who I loved. Augustin was a way better outside shooter, but in pretty much every other category Hunter is either his equal or better. And he’s coming in with a year under his belt of being the man at a high level of competition, on a Sweet Sixteen team. 

I’d prefer to keep Morris if given that as an option. He’s a true point guard at 6’5, an explosive athlete, with one and done type potential. Beard will find ways to get him on the court. Maybe even as a Tyty Washington at Kentucky type, and that didn’t slow down Washington’s NBA ambitions even a little. 

But any of that are secondary concerns. The number one thing is getting Hunter on campus. He’ll make the team demonstrably better. I wish there was an equivalent big guy to add alongside him, but alas it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. At this point I’d still like a potential interior body to throw in there, if possible. 

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Hunter is legit and you can’t worry about scaring Morris off.

Its sad this is what college sports have become but everyone has to deal with it. Players essentially transferring because of playing time before they even make it to campus. Hilarious and dumb. 

I don’t think anyone expected Carr to return and a transfer like Hunter to become available. But there would still be minutes for Morris. 

 

 

Edited by Rickylovesweed
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5 hours ago, SL Xpress said:

Perhaps he and the people around him are using common sense. I’ve been saying for a while that:

a) Beard is fearless about recruiting over people

b) adding Hunter would mean there’s way too many people with expectations to initiate the offense to keep them happy. Which is not a knock on anyone. I’m thrilled we may be getting Hunter. He’s a humongous upgrade at the PG position over any other option. He’ll be the best PG on campus since TJ Ford, and that includes DJ Augustin, who I loved. Augustin was a way better outside shooter, but in pretty much every other category Hunter is either his equal or better. And he’s coming in with a year under his belt of being the man at a high level of competition, on a Sweet Sixteen team. 

I’d prefer to keep Morris if given that as an option. He’s a true point guard at 6’5, an explosive athlete, with one and done type potential. Beard will find ways to get him on the court. Maybe even as a Tyty Washington at Kentucky type, and that didn’t slow down Washington’s NBA ambitions even a little. 

But any of that are secondary concerns. The number one thing is getting Hunter on campus. He’ll make the team demonstrably better. I wish there was an equivalent big guy to add alongside him, but alas it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. At this point I’d still like a potential interior body to throw in there, if possible. 

If Texas is throwing huge NIL money at  Hunter I have no doubt they will do the same at a big on another roster. 

This is all speculation but I don’t get the vibe Beard is unwilling to step outside the lines when it comes to stuff like tampering. Good, because you know other teams are tampering with Morris when it comes to playing time. 

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13 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

If Texas is throwing huge NIL money at  Hunter I have no doubt they will do the same at a big on another roster. 

This is all speculation but I don’t get the vibe Beard is unwilling to step outside the lines when it comes to stuff like tampering. Good, because you know other teams are tampering with Morris when it comes to playing time. 


I feel like the program is in very good hands in terms of what Beard is willing to do to win. 

However, tampering at this stage of the off-season will have challenges, because the deadline for the free transfer without sitting out a year has passed. Grad transfers can still enter the portal and transfer without sitting a year, and there’s always the distinct possibility of getting a waiver, but it’s not likely someone is going into the portal *hoping* to get a waiver. 

I honestly haven’t seen anything to indicate tampering from the Texas staff. I will say they seem to watch the portal like hawks, and if they think there’s even a chance a player might be a possible candidate they’re on them like bees to honey. 

I have no idea who is even available as far as big men. I just know having only two players available bigger than 6’7 (assuming Disu returns, which I feel is a safe assumption) is less than ideal. 

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