It’s opening day, as the Longhorns kick off the 2007-08 season with an exhibition tonight against Xavier University from Louisiana. That means it’s also time for the final installment of “Meet the Freshmen” here at LRT, which takes a look at versatile big man Clint Chapman.

Coming out of Oregon, Chapman played for the Canby Cougars, who finished at 22-8 during his senior season. Clint soared up the recruiting rankings during his last two years of high school, finishing in the top 70 of the Rivals rankings. Pac-10 schools were incredibly high on the kid, as Washington, Oregon, ASU, and Cal were all in the mix.

Chapman checks in at 6’10” and is a hard-working defender in the paint. On offense, he can step out and hit midrange jumpers to about 18 feet, but still needs work on his post moves. He has great fundamentals and is another quality big man on a team that sorely needed depth in the frontcourt last season.

Clint has been wearing a protective brace on his right wrist, but is still able to practice and play. Tonight’s exhibition game should give a sense of how safely the coaches and trainers want to play it with Chapman in the early part of the season.

Chapman is expected to split minutes with Wangmene coming off of the bench, so this minor injury means that we may just see a bit more of Alexis in November and December. But no matter how the minutes break down, Chapman is going to be an key reserve for Rick Barnes and the Longhorns.