Texas Basketball: 3 players already exceeding expectations this season

Timmy Allen, F

The other former junior transfer forward on this list for the Longhorns that is off to a tremendous start this season is the former Utah Utes two-time All-PAC-12 selection Timmy Allen. Similar to Bishop, Allen is not the highest-usage player on the Longhorns by any means so far this season, but he’s excelling where he’s needed the most.

While there are certainly some similarities between the roles that Allen and Bishop are used in by this coaching staff this season, the former of those two is the higher-usage player that gets more minutes thus far. Allen gets around 25 minutes of playing time per game, while Bishop is down around 16. And Allen started in all four games thus far, while Bishop only started in two.

Texas would likely be smart to keep Allen in the starting unit throughout the regular season with the way he’s playing out of the gates, even when the junior transfer power forward Dylan Disu fully works into the frontcourt unit. Allen is just too productive and versatile for the Longhorns on both ends of the floor right now.

Through the first four games of the regular season, Allen averaged around 13 points per game, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, and no blocks. And he’s shot around 59 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc, and 71 percent from the free-throw line.

Allen is producing at a career-best level out of the gates this season, put on display by his all-encompassing advanced metrics. He’s registered a career-best 6.9 box plus/minus, .273 win shares per 40 minutes, and a 27.0 player efficiency rating. Allen is putting on a show so far this season and he is also showing no signs of letting up anytime soon.