Texas basketball loses assistant Ulric Maligi to Kansas State

There is a big loss to note for the Texas basketball coaching staff on March 23 with the reported departure of assistant coach Ulric Maligi to a Big 12 foe in the Kansas State Wildcats. Texas had a solid run in the season that was under this new coaching staff including former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard in his first year on the Forty Acres and Maligi as one of the more notable assistants.

As a side note, it was reported by Inside Texas and confirmed by Kellis Robinnett of the Kansas City Star/Wichita Eagle that Maligi will be leaving the Longhorns for the Wildcats this offseason.

Maligi will be joining new Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang as he starts to assemble his staff in Manhattan early this offseason.

Losing Maligi is a big deal for the Longhorns coaching staff. Beard relied on Maligi in terms of player development, recruiting, and scouting since his time at Texas Tech. The 37-year-old Maligi remained with Beard since 2019. He became a mainstay on the Texas Tech coaching staff and was counted on in a similar fashion on the Longhorns staff.

Maligi is also one of the fast-rising assistant coaching names to watch around the Big 12 landscape at the state of Texas. He’s held multiple relevant roles before the age of 40 including coaching jobs with the likes of the SMU Mustangs, Texas A&M Aggies, and Houston Cougars, including those already mentioned here.

Texas basketball loses key assistant Ulric Maligi to a Big 12 foe in Kansas State

The biggest loss with Maligi joining Kansas State will be the fact that he was doing a great job as a recruiter. Maligi was building a fantastic foundation for Beard and the Longhorns on the recruiting trail with the job he was doing in the 2022 and 2023 classes.

Texas has signed a nationally relevant 2022 recruiting class, highlighted by a pair of five-star commits in point guard Arterio Morris and forward Dillon Mitchell.

He was also the primary recruiter going after key targets on the recruiting trail for the Longhorns 2023 class such as four-star McKinney shooting guard Ja’Kobe Walter and five-star Denver Prep Academy center Baye Fall.

Maligi will definitely be missed and this leaves a big gap on the Longhorns coaching staff in the wake of his departure this offseason. Beard will have big shoes to fill to make sure that Texas doesn’t get hurt too bad on the recruiting trail by the departure of Maligi. But Beard had to replace other big-time assistants like this before, and he’ll likely be able to do so again.

Texas finished up the season that was following a Round of 32 loss to the three-seed Purdue Boilermakers back on March 20. That resulted in the first NCAA Tournament win for the Longhorns since back in 2014.