Texas Basketball: Andrew Jones add to list of returning players for 21-22

It was a wild day of headlines for newly hired head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program on April 13. On the morning of April 13, Texas had three commits in their 2021 recruiting class and a roster that was still largely in question ahead of the 2021-22 season.

And by the time the late afternoon of April 13 arrived, Beard and the Longhorns were down to two commits in the 2021 class and up to two more key players returning in the backcourt/wing rotation. Texas got the likes of senior sharpshooting guard Jase Febres and redshirt junior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones back via their own announcements early this week.

Jones came out on his Twitter timeline on the afternoon of April 13 announcing that he would return for the Longhorns for the 2021-22 season. Texas just got two of their most experienced and proven players from last year’s team back for next season.

https://twitter.com/DrewdotCash/status/1382044904495443969

Impact of Andrew Jones returning for Texas basketball

The former elite five-star recruit and Irving, TX, native Jones had a very inspiring story throughout his college career to date. And he became one of the biggest contributors in the backcourt/wing rotation for the Longhorns in the last two seasons.

Jones was a true spark plug in terms of volume scoring off the bench for the Longhorns during the 2019-20 campaign. And then he became an integral part of the starting five this season playing alongside the likes of junior guard Courtney Ramey and senior guard Matt Coleman.

He played in 26 games for the Longhorns last season, earning All-Big 12 honors for the first time in his career to date. And Jones averaged a team-leading 14.6 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.1 blocks. He shot 40.5 percent from the field, 34.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.1 percent from the free-throw line.

Jones showed improvement on both ends of the floor last season as he registered a 5.9 box plus/minus rating, .139 win shares per 40 minutes, and a 16.9 player efficiency rating. His volume scoring ability remains, but one-on-one defending and hitting the glass both tremendously improved for him during the 2020-21 campaign.

Texas finished up the 2020-21 season with a record of 19-8 (11-6 Big 12) under the direction of former sixth-year head coach Shaka Smart. Then, the Longhorns replaced Smart with the former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Beard back on April 1.