Texas Basketball: 3 new additions shining through the first 5 games

Christian Bishop, F

The former Creighton Blue Jays versatile junior forward Christian Bishop was one of the early additions for Beard and the Longhorns out of the NCAA Transfer Portal early in the offseason. It was hard to tell what spot Bishop would hold in this rotation heading into the regular season too, given all of the forward depth in the mix for Texas.

Yet, that hasn’t stopped Bishop from making some big-time contributions in the first five games of the regular season while filling different roles in the rotation. At different points of the season so far, Bishop filled the role of a reserve and a starter. He’s also played more like a rock down low and someone that can space the floor a little bit playing at the four.

Bishop isn’t the best knockdown shooter that the Longhorns have in this rotation, but his versatility has definitely been put on display early on this season. He’s one of the most effective rebounders, fierce on-ball defenders, and underrated rim protectors on the team. Bishop is also proving to be a stout inside scorer that can really take advantage of matchups with undersized defenders.

So far this season, Bishop is on pace to put up some career numbers per 40 minutes. He’s averaged around 23 points per 40 minutes this season, 11 rebounds, two assists, no steals, and one block.

The advanced metrics also do a nice job highlighting the effectiveness of Bishop out of the gates. He’s registered a career-best 30.2 player efficiency rating and a stout 9.4 box plus/minus thus far.