Texas Basketball: Full projected rotation with return of Courtney Ramey

Small Forward: Andrew Jones

The ability exists for to-be redshirt senior Andrew Jones to play either at the two or the three. That part of his skill set is similar to that of the fellow senior Febres. But with a backcourt unit in the starting five that is likely to be Askew and Ramey, Jones could be a good fit at the three for Beard and the Longhorns next season.

Jones started most of his games played last season at the three. That’s where he fit under Smart’s coaching regime, and that could hold true under Beard. It’s hard to argue with some of the production that Jones posted down the stretch last season while playing at the three.

In his first year of getting All-Big 12 honors, Jones averaged a team and career-best 14.6 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.1 blocks. And he shot 40.4 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.1 percent from the free-throw line.

Jones is going to be an integral part of the starting unit for the Longhorns. Although he is a bit undersized to be considered a true three-and-D wing, at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, Jones shouldn’t be underrated in terms of his ability to contend with almost anyone on each end of the floor.

The defensive ability of Jones was slept on last season. He’s ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in all of the following defensive stat categories for at least one season in his college career to date; defensive rating, defensive win shares, defensive box plus/minus, steal percentage and steals per game.