Texas Longhorns Basketball Program Needs New Leadership

The season script for the Texas Longhorns basketball team could have been written even before the season began.

After all, the story has been the same for the last several seasons: high pre-season expectations, an impressive early season, followed by a poor finish to the regular season, and a short post-season.

After the Horns’ surpassed expectations last year (which is a rare occurrence over the last ten years), it was widely believed that this year’s Texas team, with the addition of standout freshman Myles Turner, could be one of the best that Rick Barnes has put together during his time in Austin.

But since a promising early start, things have gone quickly downhill. The Longhorns, who looked like a legitimate top ten team early on, will soon fall from the top 25 after a four-game skid, and are sitting at a 3-6 conference record.

Texas Longhorns

It appears once again, that this team will limp into the last half of the season, and if they are lucky enough to make the post season (which is becoming increasingly less likely with every loss), chances are they’ll most likely suffer a first round loss.

New season, same result.

What’s most alarming is the fact that nearly all of Barnes’ teams have regressed throughout the last several seasons. Somewhere along the way, his teams seem to lose confidence and end up playing scared. It’s a pattern, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that it will continue until the program brings in new leadership.

How long with Steve Patterson allow this program to keep spiraling downward?

Due to Patterson’s history in basketball, many thought that Barnes’ time in Austin was running short. However, after last season’s surprising success, Barnes was given another season (and rightfully so).

But if the Longhorns continue their free-fall this season, and it’s hard to imagine things turning back around, then one would have to believe that Barnes’ time in Austin has come to an end. In fact, it may already be too late for Barnes to save his job.

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There is no doubt that Rick Barnes has been great for Texas basketball; no one can argue that he was the right man for the job at the right time. He’s brought in the best players to ever play on the Forty Acres and turned the program into one that is in the post-season conversation every year.

However, under Rick Barnes, the Longhorns have reached a plateau, and the argument could be made that they’re now going backwards.

To put it bluntly, it’s time to look ahead to the future, to stop talking about next season, and actually make the changes that are needed to turn the program back around. Those changes can only be made by bringing in a new leader with a new plan and a new vision for the future.