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MBB: Which transfer is catching eyes at practice? Plus: quotes and notes

The Moody Center was the site of the first media availability of the upcoming 2022-23 season for Texas MBB. The new venue has star power, which was not lost on the players, as most of them had something to say about it.

Brock Cunningham​​​​

KW: "All right man. New players, new building. How are we feeling about the upcoming season?"

BC: "I'm excited man. It's one of the best venues in college basketball; in basketball in general. It's gonna be a lot of fun to fill it up with students all along the court right here.

KW: "As far as the new guys, who's been showing out in practice?"

BC: "Sirjabari [Rice] has been doing great. It's been a lot of fun to get to know him. Other than that, our five freshmen have really surprised me throughout the summer. They've done a great job of learning from the older guys."

Dylan Disu

KW: "We've talked a bit about the practice facilities. When will they be ready?"

DD: "Before the season."

KW: "Of the new guys, who has stood out to you?"

DD: "[Jabari Rice] for sure has been surprising. If you look at Jabari, he's a pretty skinny guy, but he's cold. He stood out for sure."

KW: "How does the new building create momentum for the program? Do you think it could earn you some extra wins at home?"

DD: "Yeah, I think that everyone is going to be excited about the new building." (He then pointed to and showed the student section and how big it is). “I had heard complaints from students about the Erwin Center, that they didn't like being behind the backboards. But this makes them more a part of the game. When I was at Vanderbilt, we played at Auburn, and they filled it up an hour and a half before the game started. I think this new setup is going to be great for fans."

HC Chris Beard

“There are highlight games and neutral site games this coming season for Texas basketball. Just wanted to get your thoughts on some of those matchups.”

CB: “Yeah, so we open it up against UTEP, a team that’s very well coached…They had an incredible turnaround last year…Then you got some big-name teams coming in with Gonzaga and Creighton, just excited for our fans. For an early season game, we’re thinking of doing one in Gregory Gym, which last year was a student-only game. Last year, it was students only, but this year, students will still be the priority, but I think this will be coming off of Thanksgiving break, so we’ll be able to admit non-students to the game as well…The idea of going south to Edinburg [Texas] was something we kind of copied from Texas baseball…We want to take this show on the road. We want to play in Houston. This year, we will get to Dallas…Madison Square Garden will always make sense. We want to play in the Garden every year we possibly can. We’re excited to play a top-five, top-10 Illinois team. If you think about the conference and non-conference schedule, we might play every team in the top 10 this year.”

“You have guys like TJ Ford hanging around practice, how much of a luxury is it to have former players like that around the program?”

CB: “Our objective from year one was ‘Unite the Family;’ there’s nothing more important than student attendance, winning some games on the court, getting guys graduated. We’re one year into Unite the Family. LaMarcus Aldridge was here yesterday, Dogus Balbay was here earlier this summer…It’s a player’s program. When you get a job, you visualize how it can be on all cylinders. When you think of the Texas job, you think about the power of the brand…If we can get Texas players and fans united, we can compete with anybody.”

“What have you seen out of Dillon Mitchell and Arterio Morris that indicate they might be special players?”

CB: The freshmen have all been great. The first thing I noticed is that they’ve bonded together, which is special. Any Final Four team has great chemistry. All of the freshmen are close, which has been pretty cool to see. They’re all obviously special guys, and they’re gonna have to step up as leaders, some sooner rather than later. But before you can be a leader, you have to be a follower. They’re all aggressive, and all have identities as players, but they also have humility about them as well. The relationship between the older and younger guys has been great…As far as specific players’ games, Dillon Mitchell is a versatile player. He’s really a position-less guy…he can guard probably five positions…his athleticism doesn’t define him. He’s a really good basketball player too. He loves the game and is one of those guys who is always in a great mood. He’s got a scary ceiling. Terio is also an explosive athlete. I’ve been impressed with him on the court with his willingness to play defense. He’s also a shot maker, which makes it easier to play when you’re trying to find a role.

Other notes:​

Coach Beard answered a question about Arterio Morris’ legal situation. Here’s how he responded: “There’s not much I can say, but I can say very clearly again that as soon as we heard about the situation, Arterio himself was very transparent…we immediately turned it into the appropriate channels. It’s in the Title IX Office’s hands, at the University of Texas, they make a lot of the decisions on the day-to-day and what that looks like moving forward. We’ll trust the process. That’s about all I can say.”

The most talked about transfer has been SirJabari Rice, the guard transfer from New Mexico State. They say his shooting has been solid and that he plays really tough defense, which of course is the hallmark of any Chris Beard player. From my understanding, he’s becoming a leader already, and is making his name known to the team and Coach Beard.

During practice, Tyrese Hunter had an excellent drive, beating the defense off the dribble and taking it to the rack before laying it in. It was something Texas was unable to do consistently last year, and bodes well for the offense going forward.

Marcus Carr has lost a good bit of weight since last season ended, much of which had to do with his play in GLOBL Jam this summer representing Team Canada. He threw down an impressive dunk while warming up today, something I haven't seen out of him since he arrived on campus. He looks to be more explosive than he was in 2021-22.

A good portion of the drills I saw at practice were three-point shooting drills. One of the more impressive shooters in these drills was Brock Cunningham. You can tell they're making deep shooting a priority this season, which will only be aided by the addition of assistant coach Brandon Chappell.

Players commented on Dylan Disu's play this summer, which impressed them, given this time last year, Disu was still dealing with the aftermath of the injury that sidelined him for almost a year. Players said he is now explosive and can really get up and block shots. It will be interesting to see where he lands in the rotation this year, considering they're going to need rim protection due to lacking size inside.


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