Texas basketball brings back more proven depth with Marcus Carr

Head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program got a lot of news this week surrounding the return/addition of some very experienced players to the team for next season. Texas got the news that they got a commitment out of the NCAA Transfer Portal this week from the former New Mexico State Aggies senior shooting guard Jabari Rice. That came in addition to the return of the former Utah Utes rising super senior forward Timmy Allen for another season.

The next bit of news for Beard and the Longhorns among returning players that bring a lot of experience to the table for next season came in regard to the former Minnesota Golden Gophers and Pitt Panthers super senior guard Marcus Carr. The reigning All-Big 12 point guard had a solid end to the 2021-22 season with the Longhorns.

And while Carr’s first season donning the burnt orange certainly came with its fair share of ups and downs, he seemingly ended it on a high note. In the two NCAA Tournament games that Texas played to cap the season that was, Carr scored 15 and 23 points, respectively.

He was one of the offensive sparks for the Longhorns at a time when they certainly needed it.

Texas basketball gets valuable backcourt depth back with Marcus Carr returning next season

Getting Carr back for next season helps Beard and the Longhorns bring back more established depth in the backcourt unit. That is definitely some big news for the Longhorns given the fact that Beard and his staff already lost the likes of senior guard Courtney Ramey and defensive standout sophomore guard Devin Askew to the transfer portal in the last few weeks.

Texas is still waiting to get word from the potential seventh-year shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones on whether he will return to Austin for one more season.

Moreover, Carr is likely going to be one of the starters manning the backcourt unit for Beard and the Longhorns next season. He started in all but two games last season while finishing second on the team in scoring (11.4 points per game) and leading the team in assists (3.4 assists per game).

Getting Carr back also gives the Longhorns an experienced guard that can help mentor and develop talented incoming freshmen guards such as Arterio Morris and Rowan Brumbaugh. Texas signed three blue-chip recruits and two five-stars in the 2022 class, which now looks to join a pretty solid backcourt with the likes of Carr, Rice, and potentially even Jones.

This is one less spot that Beard and his staff will have to worry about filling via the transfer portal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Longhorns won’t be busy in the portal this offseason. Texas has already lost the likes of the aforementioned guard duo of Askew and Ramey to the portal, along with rising junior big man Tre Mitchell.

Granted, Mitchell missed the back end of the season due to personal reasons.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 22-12 (10-8 Big 12) following their Round of 32 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers last month. Yet, Beard and the Longhorns still got their first NCAA Tournament win since 2014 by topping the 11-seed Virginia Tech Hokies in the Round of 64.