Texas Basketball: Can young Longhorns challenge Kansas?
By Doug Winkey
Head coach Shaka Smart has Texas basketball threatening the Big 12’s powers.
This is the year where we could see how Shaka Smart’s strategy truly looks. After last season’s heartbreaking loss in the NCAA Tournament, he lost six contributors to graduation and the NBA. Those six guys took almost 62 percent of the scoring and 57 percent of the rebounds with them.
The 2016-17 roster will revolve around three big time sophomores and a recruiting class that includes three players in ESPN’s top 100 and two McDonald’s All Americans.
A few seniors remain that will help provide stability and experience, which is key to balancing out so much youth. Those that remain aren’t overwhelming talents, but they have proven to be consistent and tough. That will surely be needed at some point through the year.
Even if the young guns star most nights, there are a couple upperclassmen that should get decent playing time.
Injuries forced the Longhorns into a rotation that saw 11 guys play in at least 13 of the team’s games last season. This includes starting center Cameron Ridley, who had been dominant early but only played 13 games in his senior year because of a foot problem.
The Texas rotation will still be deep, but more like 9-10 guys this season.