Texas Basketball: 3 struggling players with something to prove in February

Tre Mitchell, C

There are few Longhorns players that had a more up and down run through the first two-dozen games than the former UMass Minutemen star center and junior Tre Mitchell. Texas still has a lot of value that they have either coming off the bench or anchoring their starting unit at the five with Mitchell. It’s dangerous to have his versatile skill set in the frontcourt unit no matter what.

Mitchell is one of the most versatile centers, but he’s just got to find his stride down the stretch this season. He was definitely much more productive and efficient for the Longhorns during non-conference play than he was through the first half of the Big 12 slate. Mitchell has just two games scoring in double figures in Big 12 play thus far.

That’s not what Beard and the Longhorns thought they were getting when they landed a commitment from Mitchell out of the transfer portal last offseason.

The good news here is the fact that Mitchell is still showing flashes of what he could do on a consistent basis down the stretch. And that’s when it will matter most.

Mitchell was also a nice spark for the Longhorns, coming up with an impressive 17 points off the bench in their upset win over Kansas on Feb. 8. It would be big for Mitchell to provide a similar spark when Texas takes on Baylor this weekend.

I am personally the most hopeful that Mitchell can pick up his game down the stretch this season compared to the rest of the players on this list. While Mitchell has a solid 23.6 player efficiency rating so far this season, it’s not looking as good in Big 12 play thus far. His player efficiency rating is sitting at just 15.6 during the Big 12 slate.