The University of Texas announces Sean Miller as their new men’s basketball coach Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Mikala Compton/American-Statesman
Remember when a college basketball coach could build a cohesive roster over two or three seasons?
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It isn’t that type of party anymore.
In the Wild West of hoops now ruled by the transfer portal and NIL, core groups rarely stay together for long, so most of these programs are in a constant state of rebuild. New Texas hire Sean Miller had to hit the hardwood running this spring when he replaced Rodney Terry days after his Xavier Musketeers eliminated the Longhorns from the NCAAs. Because success won’t settle for anything less.
It’s a faster way of doing business; similar to how Miller wants his offense to play.
MORE CEDDY: Horns sit atop the AP poll but can they stay there?
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In the ultra competitive new age, recruiting has taken on a different face and unlike football, basketball teams don’t have as large of a war chest. Coaches live with the reality that if they miss on who they believe is a difference-maker, it will be a long season and, in some cases, a short tenure. The game has changed and those who adapt the quickest stand the best chance for success. Miller has two decades as a head coach on his résumé and he has been a consistent winner in the NCAAs with eight trips to the Sweet 16 and four to the Elite Eight.
But even someone of his vast experience has had to steady his boat to the changing tide in the college game.
Now five months into the job after signing a six-year, $32 million deal, Miller told reporters that the spring and summer flew by as he was adding pieces to the roster.
“It feels like a lot of different things are happening,” Miller said. “Years ago when you would take over a new program, it was about establishing your new staff, getting to know your current roster, and acclimating yourself to the new university. Now, there’s decisions on roster-building that have to be made almost in the first couple of weeks of being at a new place.”
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As the Horns prep for the 2025 season opener Nov. 4 against Duke in Charlotte, Miller and every other coach worth his or her salt is working at a frenzied pace to get the best product on the floor with the hope that it will eventually develop into a unit that can make some noise in March.
There is no realistic replacing of SEC scoring champion Tre Johnson, who went to the Washington Wizards with the sixth overall pick of the NBA draft, and any tourney run the Horns experience can only come if Miller’s core veterans take a massive step forward in production — guards Tramon Mark, Chendall Weaver and Jordan Pope.
Texas guard Tramon Mark, right, brings the ball up the court against Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier during Tennessee’s win in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal game in Nashville, Tenn. last season.
Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean
Sean Miller to his guards: Get out and run
With Johnson and last season’s second-leading scorer Arthur Kaluma no longer part of the mix after going 19-16, the returning guards are going to have to be the story.
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The hope is Mark will be up to speed by the opener after undergoing labrum surgery. The hope is the former Houston Cougar will be cleared for full contact in the next couple of weeks. Mark’s game took off late in the season with the move to point guard, and Miller believes a healthier outlook could add up to more consistency on the offensive end his senior year.
Miller also wants them running whenever possible — after misses and makes. Mark will have to be the engine.
“Tramon has scored over 1,000 points and he’s been in a Final Four,” Miller said. “He’s played at a very high level. He’s played at Texas, so to be able to welcome him back in his last year is exciting, and we have a number of different players that fit into that category. So I think the experience, I think it’s the first ingredient that I feel really good about when I look at this coming year.”
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Weaver missed 15 SEC games (hip injury) and his absence proved fatal, especially for Terry, who told me the Horns would have been much better with him due to his intangibles, athleticism and hustle. Weaver stands 6-foot-3, but plays much bigger. Just ask opposing coaches who couldn’t stop talking about him.
“ I think their best defensive guard is Weaver,” legendary Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after a 2023 game at Moody Center. “When you have a kid like him setting the standard, it makes the other guys better. So I’m not taking anything against any of the other kids, but I’m going to sit here and give a big shout out to the Weaver kid. He’s tough. He’s an athlete that plays athletic.”
The Horns will need Pope — who had an up-and-down Texas debut — to bring the same juice he showed for two years at Oregon State when he averaged 15.1 points. He struggled at the point at times during SEC play, but saved his best ball for the postseason when he averaged 13 points over the last five games. He averaged a career-low 26.5 minutes, but his playing time will likely rise given the need in the backcourt.
Texas guard Tramon Mark, center, grabs a rebound in front of Texas A&M forward Solomon Washington, left, and forward Andersson Garcia during a a 94-89 double-overtime win at the SEC Tournament last season.
Denny Simmons/The Tennessean
Newcomers will have to step up
Miller has been cobbling together the new-look roster that will include veteran 6-7 forward Cam Heide, a role player at Purdue who will be expected to bring more juice to his new gig, especially from deep where he shot 41% from behind the 3-point arc in 75 games.
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More important is his exposure to a winning culture under coach Matt Painter. As a freshman, Heide appeared in all 39 games for the Big Ten champions and national runners-up. Last season he averaged just 4.2 points in 18.5 minutes, but saved his best for the NCAAs when he averaged 8.3 points in three games. He had a double-double in an opening tourney win over High Point.
Keep an eye on 7-foot-1 Florida Atlantic transfer Matas Vokietaitis, the American Athletic Conference’s freshman of the year. The Horns need his bulk to contend with the redwoods in the SEC. He averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds last season and will help deal with the loss of the departed Kadin Shedrick. Miller also brought in 6-foot-11 Xavier post Lassina Traore — who missed last season after knee surgery — and 6-7 forward Dailyn Swain and adds European imports in 7-foot-1 post Lewis Obiorah (England) and 6-9 forword Declan Deru Jr. (Germany).
The Horns will certainly be bigger, but their fortunes — as are most at this level — will come down to shot making and getting key stops.
Do they have enough to some real SEC noise?
They don’t have a superstar on Johnson’s level, but there is good talent all around. A lot will depend on the guards and Miller, a guard’s coach if ever there was one, believes an up-tempo offense will help reach some lofty goals. Too often last season, the Horns were bogged down in a half-court hell and were forced to throw up low-percentage jump shots late in the shot clock.
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The Horns ranked 167th nationally in pace of play under Terry while Miller’s Musketeers were 91st. Miller wants a faster brand of ball.
Let’s see if these guards can deliver.