3 breakout candidates for Texas basketball for the 2022-23 season

Brock Cunningham, F

One of the most notable returning Longhorns players heading into next season is the rising senior forward Brock Cunningham. As one of the true fan favorites for Beard and the Longhorns on this year’s team, Cunningham is going to be a critical piece of this frontcourt unit.

I wouldn’t imagine that Cunningham is going to be a starter for the Longhorns next season. But there is a shot that he could be the sixth or seventh-man in this rotation if he can improve a few areas of his game.

First and foremost, if Cunningham can continue the hot shooting stretch, especially from beyond the arc, he’ll be a lethal threat on offense next season. Cunningham shot better than 47 percent from beyond the arc on 2.3 attempts per 40 minutes last season.

That wasn’t the only area in which Cunningham showed off his improved shooting efficiency during his junior campaign. He also shot a career-best 48.2 percent from the field and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.

And this was a trend that stuck for Cunningham in terms of averaging career-bests in offensive counting stats per 40 minutes last season. He averaged a career-best 7.8 points per 40 minutes last season, 7.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks.

All this led to Cunningham registering a career-best 132.2 offensive rating, 6.5 box plus/minus, and .182 win shares per 40 minutes, last season.

That indicates that Cunningham clearly had the most well-rounded season of his collegiate career to date in his first year playing under Beard’s regime.

If Cunningham does see an uptick in his minutes this season compared to the past three, he’s going to clearly be a top breakout candidate for this team during the 2022-23 campaign. And from what we’ve heard coming out of the offseason thus far, Cunningham was one of the most impressive and rapidly-improving players on the team. That bodes well for what lies ahead for Cunningham’s senior campaign.