Texas Basketball: 3 players ready to become stars in 2020-21

1) Potential Texas basketball stars in 2020-21

What we saw from the frontcourt rotation of the Longhorns down the stretch last season was something truly special. In face the a tidal wave of key injuries to the Longhorns forwards/big men in late January and early-to-mid February, Texas saw guys like Brock Cunningham, Will Baker, Royce Hamm Jr., and Kai Jones step up at different times.

But the reason for those younger Texas bigs needing to step up in the first place was the wave of injuries that came to players like Liddell and then standout junior power forward/center Jericho Sims. Last season, Smart and the Longhorns really saw Sims step to the forefront and take hold of the role as the anchor big man in the rotation.

Sims ran into the unfortunate string of getting stuck behind bigs like Mohamed Bamba and Hayes in the rotation since his college career began. But last season, he played really well in 24 games before going down with a season-ending injury. He averaged 9.7 points per game, 8.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks. Sims shot 65.8 percent from the field and 59.2 percent from the free-throw line.

It will be interesting to see how Smart configures the frontcourt rotation with such a plethora of depth, talent, and experience in the mix this season. The likelihood is that Texas will try to work their way to a starting five that includes Brown and Sims in the frontcourt. Sims can play either at the four or the five.

This is not necessarily the time where Sims will breakthrough, but the time when he should finally get the national attention and respect that he deserves.