We will see what can happen for the Texas basketball program through the reminder of this season without senior Kerwin Roach Jr. on the floor.
The amount that a recent suspension for the senior shooting guard for Texas basketball, Kerwin Roach Jr., impacts the team is still up in the air. Losing out on the talented Roach Jr. comes at a bad time when Texas basketball needs to round out the Big 12 slate well for the next few weeks.
Texas basketball is soon to tip off one of the final games of the regular season against its biggest rival, on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners. According to a report to the Dallas Morning News, the leading scorer for the Texas basketball program Roach Jr. is suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules ahead of tip-off against Oklahoma.
This isn’t the first time that Roach Jr. was suspended either during his time on the Forty Acres, or just in this season individually. Roach Jr. missed a few of the preseason games for Texas basketball this season and the regular season opener. Getting him back in the lineup for the second regular season game was huge for the Texas Longhorns.
But, Roach Jr. really heated up for Texas basketball when he got his footing under him early in the non-conference slate. He sparked this Texas offense and got a run going for a bit.
Kerwin Roach has been suspended for violating team rules and will miss Saturday's game at Oklahoma, per @ChipBrown247 pic.twitter.com/Z3cSTVBtws
— Bleacher Report CBB (@br_CBB) February 21, 2019
On the other hand, Roach Jr. did give some of the up and down trends that so characterized this team in the fourth year under head Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart.
Statistically, what the Horns are set to lose is the leading scorer, at 15.0 points per game, along with a senior leader that is one of the team leaders in player efficiency rating. Roach Jr. is also averaging a career high 4.5 rebounds per game to go along with more than three assists and 1.3 steals. He gets to the free-throw line more than about any other player for the Horns too and is hitting his attempts there at a career mark 73.6 percent.
Roach Jr. gives the Horns the ability to stretch the floor and a ball dominant senior that is more productive than just about any other guard in the fold for head Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart.
More than anything, if Roach Jr. is in fact out for the rest of the 2018-19 season it will impact him and the Horns in two enormous facets. In terms of the detriment to Texas basketball, Roach Jr.’s absence about eliminates the idea of this team making a good run in the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments.
In terms of how this suspension impacts Roach Jr., his 2019 NBA Draft stock could bottom out. He was already projected as a mid-to-late second round selection in the upcoming NBA Draft, but he could fall out of the two rounds completely now. That does mostly depend on his workouts and the shaping of this draft class leading up to the summer.
We’ll get an early glimpse at how much the Horns can manage without the services of Roach Jr. on offense. The Texas basketball fans will also see a much larger role handed to the younger guards Matt Coleman and Courtney Ramey. Jase Febres could also find himself with more playing time.