2020–21 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team

2020–21 Texas Longhorns men's basketball
2020–21 Texas Longhorns men's basketball
Big 12 tournament champions; Maui Invitational champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 9
Record	19–8 (11–6 Big 12)
Head coach	Shaka Smart (6th season);
Assistant coaches	K. T. Turner; Neill Berry; Cody Hatt;
Home arena	Frank Erwin Center
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Shaka Smart and played their home games at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas as members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 19–8, 11–6 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 tournament, they defeated Texas Tech in the first round and advanced to the tournament championship game due to COVID-19 issues at Kansas. There they defeated Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 Tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the East region. They were upset in the First Round by Abilene Christian.

2020–21 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Baylor	13	–	1	.929	28	–	2	.933
No. 16 Kansas	12	–	6	.667	21	–	9	.700
No. 21 Texas †	11	–	6	.647	19	–	8	.704
No. 18 West Virginia	11	–	6	.647	19	–	10	.655
No. 19 Oklahoma State	11	–	7	.611	21	–	9	.700
No. 22 Texas Tech	9	–	8	.529	18	–	11	.621
Oklahoma	9	–	8	.529	16	–	11	.593
TCU	5	–	11	.313	12	–	14	.462
Kansas State	4	–	14	.222	9	–	20	.310
Iowa State	0	–	18	.000	2	–	22	.083

† 2021 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

On March 26, 2021, head coach Shaka Smart left the school to take the head coaching job at Marquette.^[1] Shortly thereafter, the school named Texas Tech coach Chris Beard the team's new head coach.^[2]

Previous season

The Longhorns finished the 2019–20 season 19–12, and 9–9 in Big 12 play. They were slated to play Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament but the tournament was canceled before the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] The NCAA tournament, National Invitation Tournament, and all other postseason tournaments were also canceled due to the pandemic.^[4]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Will Baker	50	C	7'0"	245	Freshman	Austin, TX	Transferred to Nevada^[5]

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Greg Brown PF	Austin, TX	Vandegrift (TX)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Apr 24, 2020
Greg Brown PF	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 95
Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 96
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Texas 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020. "2020 Texas Longhorns Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.

2021 Recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keeyan Itejere PF	Knightdale, NC	Grace Christian School (NC)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jun 22, 2020
Keeyan Itejere PF	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75
Emarion Ellis SG	Davenport, IA	Assumption (IA)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jul 28, 2020
Emarion Ellis SG	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81
David Joplin PF	Milwaukee, WI	Brookfield Central (WI)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Aug 16, 2020
David Joplin PF	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78
Tamar Bates SG	Kansas City, KS	IMG Academy (FL)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 28, 2020
Tamar Bates SG	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 85
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 20 247Sports: 13 ESPN: —
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Texas 2021 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020. "2021 Texas Longhorns Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Gerald Liddell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Byron P. Steele HS	Cibolo, TX
G	1	Andrew Jones	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	RS Jr	MacArthur HS	Irving, TX
G	2	Matt Coleman III	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Oak Hill Academy	Norfolk, VA
G	3	Courtney Ramey	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Webster Groves HS	St. Louis, MO
F	4	Greg Brown	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Vandegrift HS	Austin, TX
F	5	Royce Hamm Jr.	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Aldine Davis HS	Houston, TX
G	10	Donovan Williams	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Fort Bend Elkins HS	Houston, TX
G	13	Jase Febres	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Westfield HS	Houston, TX
G	14	Drayton Whiteside (W)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sr	Vandegrift HS	Austin, TX
C	20	Jericho Sims	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	Cristo Rey Jesuit HS	Minneapolis, MN
C	22	Kai Jones	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	So	Brewster Academy	Nassau, Bahamas
F	30	Brock Cunningham	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	RS So	Westlake HS	Austin, TX
F	33	Kamaka Hepa	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Jefferson HS	Barrow, AK
F	34	Blake Nevins (W)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Cypress Ranch HS	Cypress, TX

Head coach

Shaka Smart (Kenyon)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 4, 2020

Schedule and results

Source:^[6]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 7:00 pm, LHN	No. 19	Texas–Rio Grande Valley	W 91–55	1–0	20 – Ramey	10 – Tied	7 – Ramey	Frank Erwin Center (2,451) Austin, TX
November 30, 2020* 11:00 am, ESPN2	No. 19	vs. Davidson Maui Invitational Quarterfinals	W 78–76	2–0	14 – Ramey	6 – Tied	9 – Coleman III	Harrah's Cherokee Center (0) Asheville, NC
December 1, 2020* 12:30 pm, ESPN	No. 17	vs. Indiana Maui Invitational Semifinals	W 66–44	3–0	16 – Coleman III	11 – Cunningham	4 – Cunningham	Harrah's Cherokee Center (0) Asheville, NC
December 2, 2020* 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 17	vs. No. 14 North Carolina Maui Invitational Finals	W 69–67	4–0	22 – Coleman III	8 – K. Jones	3 – Tied	Harrah's Cherokee Center (0) Asheville, NC
December 6, 2020* 12:00 pm, ESPN	No. 17	No. 12 Villanova Big East-Big 12 Battle	L 64–68	4–1	17 – Tied	6 – Tied	3 – Coleman III	Frank Erwin Center (2,506) Austin, TX
December 9, 2020* 12:00 pm, LHN	No. 13	Texas State	W 74–53	5–1	18 – Brown	9 – Sims	6 – Tied	Frank Erwin Center (2,426) Austin, TX
December 13, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN	No. 13	at No. 2 Baylor	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues					Ferrell Center Waco, TX
December 16, 2020* 7:00 pm, LHN	No. 11	Sam Houston State	W 79–63	6–1	17 – Tied	10 – Brown	6 – Ramey	Frank Erwin Center (2,411) Austin, TX
December 20, 2020 1:00 pm, LHN	No. 11	Oklahoma State	W 77–74	7–1 (1–0)	24 – Brown	14 – Brown	4 – Tied	Frank Erwin Center (2,428) Austin, TX
December 29, 2020* 7:00 pm, LHN	No. 8	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues					Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX
January 2, 2021 11:00 a.m., ESPN2	No. 8	at No. 3 Kansas	W 84–59	8–1 (2–0)	18 – Ramey	12 – Sims	6 – Coleman III	Allen Fieldhouse (2,500) Lawrence, KS
January 5, 2021 7:00 pm, LHN	No. 4	Iowa State	W 78–72	9–1 (3–0)	23 – A. Jones	9 – K. Jones	4 – Tied	Frank Erwin Center (0) Austin, TX
January 9, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 4	at No. 14 West Virginia	W 72–70	10–1 (4–0)	19 – Ramey	14 – Brown	16 – Ramey	WVU Coliseum (305) Morgantown, WV
January 13, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 4	No. 15 Texas Tech	L 77–79	10–2 (4–1)	20 – Jones	9 – Brown	4 – Ramey	Frank Erwin Center (0) Austin, TX
January 16, 2021 7:00 pm, LHN	No. 4	Kansas State	W 82–67	11–2 (5–1)	19 – Jones	7 – Sims	9 – Ramey	Frank Erwin Center (0) Austin, TX
January 20, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 5	at Iowa State	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues					Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA
January 23, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 5	at TCU	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues					Schollmaier Arena Fort Worth, TX
January 26, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 5	No. 24 Oklahoma	L 79–80	11–3 (5–2)	15 – K. Jones	10 – K. Jones	5 – A. Jones	Frank Erwin Center (0) Austin, TX
January 30, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 5	at Kentucky Big 12/SEC Challenge						Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 2, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 6	No. 2 Baylor	L 69–83	11–4 (5–3)	25 – Jones	9 – Sims	6 – Ramey	Frank Erwin Center (2,532) Austin, TX
February 6, 2021 2:00 p.m., ABC	No. 6	at Oklahoma State	L 67–75 ^2OT	11–5 (5–4)	17 – A. Jones	10 – Tied	3 – Tied	Gallagher-Iba Arena (3,350) Stillwater, OK
February 9, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 13	at Kansas State	W 80–77	12–5 (6–4)	24 – A. Jones	9 – Sims	7 – Coleman III	Bramlage Coliseum (752) Manhattan, KS
February 13, 2021 1:00 p.m., LHN	No. 13	TCU	W 70–55	13–5 (7–4)	19 – A. Jones	8 – Sims	5 – Ramey	Frank Erwin Center (2,431) Austin, TX
February 18, 2021 TBD	No. 12	at No. 9 Oklahoma	Postponed due to inclement weather					Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK
February 18, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 12	at Iowa State	Postponed due to inclement weather					Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA
February 20, 2021 2:00 p.m., ABC	No. 12	No. 13 West Virginia	L 82–84	13–6 (7–5)	28 – Ramey	8 – A. Jones	7 – Coleman III	Frank Erwin Center (0) Austin, TX
February 23, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 14	No. 17 Kansas	W 75–72 ^OT	14–6 (8–5)	15 – Ramey	10 – Jones	5 – Coleman III	Frank Erwin Center (2,482) Austin, TX
February 27, 2021 11:00 a.m., CBS	No. 14	at No. 18 Texas Tech	L 59–68	14–7 (8–6)	11 – Sims	7 – Sims	6 – Coleman III	United Supermarkets Arena (4,250) Lubbock, TX
March 2, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 15	at Iowa State	W 81–67	15–7 (9–6)	17 – K. Jones	7 – Ramey	5 – Coleman	Hilton Coliseum (1,191) Ames, IA
March 4, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 15	at No. 16 Oklahoma	W 69–65	16–7 (10–6)	16 – Sims	12 – Sims	4 – Ramey	Lloyd Noble Center (2,952) Norman, OK
March 7, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 15	at TCU	W 76-64	17–7 (11–6)	16 – A. Jones	5 – A. Jones	6 – Ramey	Schollmaier Arena (2,229) Fort Worth, TX
Big 12 Tournament
March 11, 2021 8:30 p.m., ESPN	(3) No. 13	vs. (6) No. 20 Texas Tech Quarterfinals	W 67–66	18–7	19 – Coleman	11 – Sims	6 – Coleman	T-Mobile Center (3,510) Kansas City, MO
March 12, 2021 8:30 p.m., ESPN2	(3) No. 13	vs. (2) No. 11 Kansas Semifinals	Cancelled due to positive COVID-19 test from Kansas^[7]					T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO
March 13, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN	(3) No. 13	vs. (5) No. 12 Oklahoma State Championship	W 91–86	19–7	30 – Coleman	14 – Sims	5 – Ramey	T-Mobile Center (3,525) Kansas City, MO
NCAA tournament
March 20, 2021 8:50 pm, truTV, TNT^{[a 1]}	(3 E) No. 9	vs. (14 E) Abilene Christian First Round	L 52–53	19–8	13 – Jones	11 – Sims	5 – Jones	Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

* – Recorded statistics when playing for Texas

Texas Longhorns Men’s Basketball statistics
Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Andrew Jones	19	19	31.7	.406	.302	.807	5.0	2.11	1.11	0.11	15.4
Courtney Ramey	19	19	34.4	.417	.437	.831	2.8	3.95	0.95	0.11	14.1
Matt Coleman III	20	20	34.4	.476	.353	.800	3.9	4.25	1.20	0.10	13.0
Greg Brown	19	19	22.5	.426	.351	.672	7.4	0.26	0.63	1.11	10.9
Kai Jones	19	2	22.7	.582	.423	.660	4.8	0.74	0.95	0.74	8.2
Jericho Sims	19	19	23.5	.640	.000	.520	6.8	0.58	0.58	0.84	8.1
Donovan Williams	12	0	12.3	.327	.174	.846	1.2	0.25	0.42	0.25	4.1
Kamaka Hepa	7	1	7.6	.471	.500	.000	1.0	0.14	0.14	0.29	3.4
Jase Febres	6	0	14.1	.286	.263	.000	1.7	0.67	0.50	.50	2.0
Royce Hamm Jr.	16	1	10.4	.559	.500	.300	2.9	0.19	0.13	0.50	2.6
Gerald Liddell	7	0	11.5	.429	.286	.167	1.7	0.43	0.14	0.14	2.1
Brock Cunningham	18	0	16.8	.237	.233	.333	3.4	0.94	0.89	0.11	1.4
Blake Nevins	2	0	0.6	.500	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Andrew Deutser	1	0	1.1	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Drayton Whiteside	2	0	0.9	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	19	17т	13т	11	10	8	4	4	4	5	5	6	13	12	14	15	13	9	Not released
Coaches	22	22^	12	11	10	9	4	4	4	5	5	6	13	13	16	16	16	9	21

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

Notes

^ The game against Abilene Christian, which was originally scheduled to air exclusively on truTV, was simulcasted on TNT after the Oregon-VCU game, which was scheduled to air on the latter network around the same time, was cancelled due to VCU having to withdraw from the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols.

References

^ Mar 26, FOX Sports Wisconsin; ET, 2021 at 11:59a (March 26, 2021). "Marquette hires Shaka Smart as new men's basketball head coach". FOX Sports. Retrieved April 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Longhorns name Red Raiders' Beard as coach". ESPN.com. April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
^ "All Power 5 leagues cancel conference tournaments". ESPN.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships". NCAA.org. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "Westlake product, Longhorns center Will Baker enters transfer portal". KXAN. November 28, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Texas Longhorns. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "Kansas vs. Texas Big 12 Championship Semifinal Game Has Been Canceled". big12sports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2021.

[8] The game against Abilene Christian, which was originally scheduled to air exclusively on truTV, was simulcasted on TNT after the Oregon-VCU game, which was scheduled to air on the latter network around the same time, was cancelled due to VCU having to withdraw from the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols.

[1] Mar 26, FOX Sports Wisconsin; ET, 2021 at 11:59a (March 26, 2021). "Marquette hires Shaka Smart as new men's basketball head coach". FOX Sports. Retrieved April 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[2] "Longhorns name Red Raiders' Beard as coach". ESPN.com. April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

[3] "All Power 5 leagues cancel conference tournaments". ESPN.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[4] "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships". NCAA.org. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[5] "Westlake product, Longhorns center Will Baker enters transfer portal". KXAN. November 28, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[6] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Texas Longhorns. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[7] "Kansas vs. Texas Big 12 Championship Semifinal Game Has Been Canceled". big12sports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2021.

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2020–21 Texas Longhorns men's basketball

Big 12 tournament champions Maui Invitational champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 9
Record	19–8 (11–6 Big 12)
Head coach	Shaka Smart (6th season)
Assistant coaches	K. T. Turner Neill Berry Cody Hatt
Home arena	Frank Erwin Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →