Texas Basketball: 2010’s All-Decade Longhorns Team
Center: Tristan Thompson (Forward, 2010-2011)
13.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 24.2 PER, 5.5 WS
There’s a big argument for a number of one-and-done former big men out of the Texas basketball program to get on this 2010’s All-Decade Team. But it’s hard to ignore the production that the current Cleveland Cavaliers standout big man Tristan Thompson did during his one season stint with the Longhorns.
Thompson will continue to live on in the minds of Texas basketball fans for a long time as one of the most talented and productive big men in program history. He’s not quite up there with the likes of Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge. But he should be held in the same regard, or in a better light, than the likes of Hayes and Jarrett Allen.
What Thompson accomplished under the coaching direction of Barnes, that most big men did not under Smart, is an All-Big 12 Tournament nod and getting his team to a good run in the NCAA Tournament. Texas was a close loss against the Kansas Jayhawks away from winning the Big 12 Tournament. And they were one point away from tying the Arizona Wildcats in the Round of 32 in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
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Yet, the production that Thompson posted is seriously impressive. He has one of the best individual seasons in the past decade in terms of win shares for the Longhorns. Racking up more than five in one season is hard to do for a freshman big man. And his 2.4 blocks per game added to his value for that 2010-11 Longhorns team.