Texas Basketball: Brock Cunningham is a ‘more confident’ shooter

After adding a couple of key pieces to the roster via high school recruiting and the NCAA Transfer Portal this summer, Texas basketball has its full attention on summer workouts and the season ahead. New full-time head coach Rodney Terry has a deep and proven squad in place to embark on a quest for a Big 12 title and another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

A key piece for Terry and the Longhorns that can help lead them on another deep postseason run is super-senior forward Brock Cunningham. The sixth-year senior is the longest-tenured Longhorns player by a wide margin.

Cunningham is coming off his most productive season at Texas during the 2022-23 campaign. He emerged as a real two-way force for the Longhorns coming off the bench, averaging career bests in assists per game, steals, points, and rebounds.

The most significant way that Cunningham emerged last season was with his floor spacing. Cunningham became one of the most efficient three-point shooters in the Big 12 last season, shooting better than 41 percent from deep on nearly two three-point attempts per game.

Texas basketball sixth-year senior forward Brock Cunningham looking more confident as a shooter in 2023

The process for Cunningham to become one of the most efficient floor spacers in the Big 12 started before last season, though. Cunningham shot a career-best 47.8 percent from deep during the 2021-22 campaign. Granted, that came on a smaller sample size of just 23 total three-point attempts on the season in 2021-22.

Cunningham still shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc when he finally got a shot to space the floor with a heavier volume of three-point attempts last season.

And it sounds like he’s continuing to gain confidence as one of the best floor spacers in the Big 12 heading into the 2023-24 season. Inside Texas reported on Aug. 1 (paid content) that Cunningham has the “look of an even more confident shooter” this summer.

Cunningham is reportedly getting up “hundreds of shots on a daily basis” as he looks to continue to improve his shot this offseason.

We’ve always known Cunningham to have this insane work ethic griding on both ends of the floor. But to hear him applying this work ethic in a way that will make him even more aggressive, efficient, and confident as a three-point shooter is scary for the rest of the Big 12 heading into the 2023-24 season.