Texas Basketball: 3 most important returning players so far this offseason

Marcus Carr, G

Big news arrived for Beard and the Longhorns in the last week with the announcement that the former Minnesota Golden Gophers and Pitt Panthers rising super senior guard Marcus Carr would be returning for one more season in Austin. While there were a number of Texas fans that were very critical of Carr at times last season (and rightly so at different points of the campaign), you can’t argue with the spark that he brings to this offense and the way he played in the NCAA Tournament.

Carr was oftentimes the sole source for Texas in terms of players on the floor being able to create their own looks. And that certainly showed at times during the two-game run for the Longhorns in the NCAA Tournament in the season that was. Carr combined for an impressive 38 points, 16 assists, and two steals, on an efficient 50 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent from beyond the arc.

Moreover, getting Carr back will allow Beard and the Longhorns to have a mentor and an anchor they can rely upon to head up the backcourt unit next season. Texas will have a lot of young and potent talent coming into the backcourt unit this year between the likes of four-star point guard Rowan Brumbaugh and five-star point guard Arterio Morris. And now Beard and his staff will be getting an experienced guard back next season in Carr that these two incoming freshmen can learn from.

I would expect Carr’s role to at least incrementally change as next season progresses. Texas will need to be less reliant on his shot creation, especially late in games if they want to make some necessary strides to improve the offense next season. Beard and his staff also need to surround Carr with more effective floor spacers.

But there’s no doubt in my mind that Texas getting Carr back is huge news that is beneficial to this team ahead of next season.