20. Texas
A new era begins in Austin with Sean Miller arriving as head coach after his recent experience at Xavier. Rodney Terry leaves the program after a couple of disappointing seasons in a tough SEC. The Longhorns weren’t bad by any means recently but didn’t live up to heightened expectations and that’s exactly what’s on Miller’s shoulders now and in the coming years.
Miller arrived after three solid seasons at Xavier and he’s bringing a pair of talented players with him from the Musketeers. Notably he’s recruited sophomore forward Dailyn Sweain who averaged 11 points a game last season. 6-10 forward Lassina Traore missed all of last season with injury but had been an elite rebounder prior to transferring to Xavier.
That’s certainly far from all that’s coming to Texas with Miller, as his staff added three other pieces already. 7-foot freshman Matas Vokietaitis comes to town after a brilliant start to his career at Florida Atlantic while sophomore forward Camden Heide leaves Purdue in search of new opportunities. Another big add came in the form of Simeon Wilcher who was a notable part of St. John’s backcourt in a brilliant Big East championship campaign.
Putting all of these pieces together combined with what remains from the roster and recruits, Texas has a chance to do something special next season, though they’re going to need these new pieces to mesh. The Longhorns snuck into the Big Dance in the First Four and frankly that cannot happen if Miller wants to hold onto this job for longer than Terry.