Horns of plenty

AUSTIN—Life for Texas basketball A.D.—After Durant—turned out a lot better than anyone would have guessed.
The season after Kevin Durant won national player of the year honors as a freshman and left for the NBA, the Longhorns he left behind took the team farther than he did. They took a share of the Big 12 title, won a school-record 31 games and returned to the NCAA tournament regional final for the second time in three years.
And with all five starters returning—with one big maybe—the future looks very bright for Texas.
The big question is whether point guard D.J. Augustin decides to return for his junior season. Since 2003, Texas has lost T.J. Ford, who led the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2003, Daniel Gibson, LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker and Durant to early departures.
So, what’ll it be for D.J.?
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Augustin said in the locker room after Texas lost to Memphis on Sunday in the South Regional final. Still, he sounded more like he was thinking about returning.
“I’m excited. Everybody’s going to get better like we did last summer and hopefully we’ll come back and make it farther next year,” Augustin said.
Augustin is a likely high first-round draft pick should he opt for the NBA and its paycheck. Augustin’s family home in New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and he’s certainly not being chased out by UT’s rigorous school work. He proved that he can hack it not only on the court but in the classroom by earning Academic All-American honors.
His matchup Sunday against Memphis’ Derrick Rose could influence his decision. Rose, who also is considered a high draft pick if he leaves school early, badly outplayed Augustin in Memphis’ 85-67 win and showed Augustin just what he can expect in terms of size, speed, strength and quickness in the NBA.
Even if Augustin leaves, Texas has shown a remarkable ability to rebound from personnel losses. Coach Rick Barnes has built a program able to withstand such losses and maintain its place among the nation’s elite. The Longhorns would still return eight of their top nine players this season.
The precocious freshmen who made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season came back determined to be bigger, better and to go much deeper into the postseason. As a salty group of sophomores, they won Texas’ third share of a Big 12 conference title in Barnes’ 10 seasons.
“We had to start all over again knowing were going to be a somewhat of a small, perimeter-oriented team,” Barnes said. “We’ll look back and realize this team was a special group in a lot of ways, but I like the fact that they know what they’re chasing.”
Even Ford, now with the Toronto Raptors, was impressed with his former team.
“They did a hell of a job. After what Kevin Durant did last year, nobody expected them to have this type of season and be top five most of the year, get a number two seed and make it to the Elite Eight. That’s a great accomplishment,” Ford said.
A.J. Abrams will continue to be one of the most dangerous 3-point shooters in the Big 12 and Justin Mason has developed into Texas’ best defender. Damion James proved he can be one of the league’s most versatile scorers. After spending his freshman season as an under-sized post player while Durant bombed away from the perimeter, James moved to the wing and averaged a double-double this season and set a school record with 393 rebounds.
Connor Atchley led the Big 12 in blocks and led the Longhorns in 3-point shooting by hitting 42 percent.
What may prove most important for Texas next season was how the young post players matured in the postseason.
Dexter Pittman, at 6-foot-10 and 299 pounds, proved his worth matches his girth by helping shut down Stanford 7-footer Brook Lopez late in Texas’ regional semifinal win.
Alexis Wangmene had limited playing time but is a big, strong body and Clint Chapman also gave Texas valuable minutes in the postseason. And freshman Gary Johnson, who missed the first third of the season as doctors monitored a heart condition, should have a bigger role in the offense.
“Now I know what it feels like to get here and I want to get back here,” Johnson said. “I want to be a bigger part of this team next season.”
Even with all that experience returning, there is more help on the way. Two players coach Rick Barnes was counting on this season were sidelined all year with injuries.
Matt Hill, a 6-10 center, was projected as a starter and freshman Dogus Balbay from Turkey was expected to provide key minutes at point guard behind Augustin until both were injured in the preseason and missed every game.

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