Texas Basketball: Projected early starting 5 for 2021-22 season

Wing: Andrew Jones

We shouldn’t ignore what the Longhorns are going to get back out of the return of the redshirt junior shooting guard/wing (to-be senior) Andrew Jones. It was anticipated that the Longhorns were going to get Jones back for the 2021-22 campaign, but that was definitely no guarantee following the departure of Smart back in late March.

Jones was really good on the offensive end of the floor for the Longhorns down the stretch last season, and he continually improved on defense. The defensive proficiency of Jones was always the big hurdle for his game, but he’s smoothed that out over the course of the past season and a half.

How he’s able to hold up on the defensive end of the floor as a potential undersized three could be interesting in the new Beard scheme. But Jones definitely has the quickness and athleticism to take care of business defending on the perimeter and wing. It’s just the length and off-ball awareness that will be called into question heading into next season.

Jones was the Longhorns scoring leader last season, and he showed more efficiency in his offensive game than ever before over a complete regular season slate. He averaged 14.6 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.1 blocks. And Jones shot 40.4 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.5 percent from the free-throw line.