Sean Miller hugs Hook ‘Em as he is announced The University of Texas’ new men’s basketball coach Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Mikala Compton/American-Statesman
Texas basketball coach Sean Miller has been on campus for more than four months already, but he’s yet to work with his full squad.
That will soon change, Miller said Tuesday.
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During an almost hour-long chat with select members of the media inside a luxury suite at Royal-Memorial Stadium, Miller revealed that returning guard Tramon Mark and transfer forward Lassina Traore are close to returning after each underwent surgery within the past year.
Mark, a graduate guard who transferred to Texas from Arkansas last summer, had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder in the offseason and “is about four weeks away from being cleared for contact,” Miller said.
MORE: New coach Sean Miller expects ‘perennial great program’ with Longhorns
Mark battled through the injury in the second half of last season. He played lots of point guard on a team that went 19-16 and lost to Miller’s Xavier squad in a First Four game. He drew praise from Miller, who said retaining Mark for his sixth and final season was one of his top priorities after taking over for Rodney Terry.
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“You guys would have watched him navigate this past year, where sometimes (the shoulder) would go out or flare up on him,” Miller said. “Good news is he got that corrected in the spring. He’s fine. You watch him, he can shoot. He could do everything, other than take the chance here, prematurely, of putting him out there against others.”
Traore, a graduate forward who followed Miller from Xavier, underwent surgery on his knee to repair a torn ligament suffered last October. Miller said the 6-foot-11, 245-pound Traore had developed into Xavier’s best big man before suffering the season-ending injury.
“He’s made a full recovery,” Miller said. “If you do the math, he’s entering that ninth month (of recovery). We’ve been very cautious. He’s been cleared for noncontact, but he hasn’t done anything contact-wise this summer. We just want to make sure that, from a physical perspective, we look at him as a 100% before we put him out there, and that’s where he’s at.”
Both players “are key pieces to what we want to do,” Miller said. Mark has played in 136 career games with 94 starts at Houston, Arkansas and Texas and has 1,507 career points. Traore has played in 87 career games with 67 starts and has averaged 10.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in 24.5 minutes a game at St. Louis and Long Beach State. He did not play a regular-season game at Xavier.
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Miller also said two international members of the 2025 class are expected to arrive in Austin later this month. Lewis Obiorah, a 7-1 post from England, should be on campus “within one week” while 6-9 forward Declan Duru Jr. will arrive from Germany “within two weeks.”
Miller described Obiorah as a “developmental player” who needs boasts raw talent but must work on the fundamentals against higher-caliber players.
“He’s a work in progress,” Miller said. “His best days are ahead of him.”
Duru, who competes for Germany’s under-19 national team, is more seasoned and has spent five seasons in the youth development program for Real Madrid, one of Europe’s elite basketball clubs that has produced several NBA players, including Luka Doncic.
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Miller said Duru “is more battle-tested, and I believe that as an incoming freshman, is a potential contributor and somebody who can impact this year’s team.”
Texas, which opens the season Nov. 4 against Duke, will begin its fall camp next month.