NCAA Basketball: Most overhyped power conference teams for 2020-21
Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns, similarly, to Wisconsin return basically their whole team. The big difference is they bring in one of the best freshmen in the country and a true one and done in Greg Brown. That’s big considering they were probably getting into the Big Dance last year, and with Brown entering the fold, it’s got to be a guarantee they get into the tournament in 2020-21, doesn’t it?
Texas flirted with the top-25 last year but never really could crack that code. A big reason for that is, again, like Wisconsin, they were offensively challenged. They ranked second to last in the Big 12 in scoring offense and were dead last in assists. If you don’t pass the ball well, you aren’t going to be very efficient on the offensive end and Brown at 6’9 is not going to help them in that department. They’ve been last in assists in the conference two straight seasons.
Shaka Smart has proven to be a great recruiter. Almost the entire roster was a top 100 recruit in the last few years and Brown is his second-best get to date behind Mo Bamba, which excites that fan base. The bottom line is that since Smart arrived in 2015, they have been to the tournament twice and are 0-2. They’ve been stacked with talent in each of those seasons and it has not mattered, so why now? The offense has ranked 200 or worse in the country in each of his five seasons, so again, it’s hard to see how anything is going to change on that end of the floor.
That said, Matt Coleman (12.7 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 3.4 Ast) is legit and could become one of the best guards in the country in 2020-21. Smart also brings back Andrew Jones (11.5 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 1.9 Ast), Courtney Ramey, and Jericho Sims, among many more and tossing Brown into that mix could be the special sauce that makes the Longhorns the basketball power that they should be. That must be what all the experts putting Texas in their top-25 are thinking because they haven’t been top-25 caliber much since Smart got to Austin and I’m not close to crowning them until I see how much Brown helps them on the offensive side of the ball.
The sad part is that last season’s 9-9 Big 12 record was progress for Longhorn nation. When you have 10 former top 100 recruits on your roster that should be unacceptable. Texas is without a doubt being overvalued heading into 2020-21.