Texas Basketball: 3 assistant coach candidates to replace Ulric Maligi

Chris Lowery, Kansas State associate head coach

At this moment, we don’t know if Tang will keep the roughly decade-long Kansas State assistant coach/associate head coach Chris Lowery around on his staff. As Tang assembles his coaching staff in Manhattan in the days and weeks ahead, it will be worth noting what happens with one of the most well-respected assistant coaches in the Big 12 in Lowery.

In a world where Lowery does become available for the Longhorns, it’s definitely worth considering him as a candidate to replace Maligi.

Moreover, Lowery is a much more experienced head coach with a wider range of experience at the collegiate level than Maligi. Lowery even has a good amount of head coaching experience from his time with the Southern Illinois Salukis in the 2000s and early 2010s.

But Lowery’s combination of his wide range of experience coaching at the college ranks along with his proven track record as a recruiter and player developer makes him a worthy candidate for this job opening on Beard’s staff. This could be a valuable addition that helps Beard and the Longhorns build out this program over the long haul.

Lowery was present and at least partially responsible for the Wildcats landing recruits that turned into NBA-caliber players such as power forward Dean Wade, guard Nigel Pack, and small forward Xavier Sneed.

It would be good for the Longhorns to have this combination of recruiting prowess and a proven track record of player development as Lowery does on their coaching staff. This could be a different approach to take to this hire, but it would certainly be an intriguing one for Beard.