The Texas Longhorns are back in action after a long week off, opening play in the Maui Invitational against the host Chaminade Silverswords. Although Texas posted a decisive victory over Coppin State in its last game, the Longhorns were very sloppy and unfocused, giving Coach Rick Barnes and his young squad quite a bit to work on in the days leading up to this tournament.

Today’s game will be the first of three in the next three days for the Longhorns, who will quickly get a chance to measure themselves against tougher competition. Texas will face either USC or Illinois in tomorrow’s game, and will face North Carolina, Marquette, Butler, or Mississippi State on the final day of the tournament. With Jaylen Bond sidelined with an injury to his right foot and Myck Kabongo still awaiting an eligibility ruling from the NCAA as of this writing, the newest batch of freshmen will have ample playing time to accelerate their growth.

By the numbers

The Silverswords enter this game with a 2-1 mark, having won the season-opening GNAC/Pac West Challenge before losing to defending D-II champ Western Washington last week. Coach Eric Bovaird has his team pushing the tempo so far this season, with Chaminade clocking in at a brisk 79 possessions per game. Even though the Silverswords are playing up-tempo basketball, their offense isn’t built on turnovers, as opponents have only coughed it up on 17.7% of possessions so far.

Although Chaminade hasn’t done a great job shutting down opposing offenses, they at least haven’t been giving them free points at the line. The Silversword defense has allowed a free-throw rate of just 29.5% so far, with no players fouling out in any of their first three games. While the numbers might speak to matador-style defense by Chaminade, the pace of play certainly can’t help things. With the five starters accounting for 80% of the minutes and a core rotation of just eight guys, playing nearly 80 possessions a game has to add up to some tired legs.

Meet the Silverswords

Chaminade boasts a diverse roster, with players from Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Asia. Three seniors and a junior in the starting lineup give Coach Bovaird some experienced leadership, and also ensures that the team won’t be intimidated by big-name opponents. Although Chaminade was defeated by an average of 28.3 points in their three EA Sports Maui Invitational games last year, this group of upperclassmen did get a D-I win over Oklahoma in the 2010 tournament.

Guard De’Andre Haskins (No. 33) is the leading scorer on the team, averaging 18 points per game. He also rebounds well from the wings, ranking second on the team with his six boards per contest.

Haskins began his college career at Valparaiso before taking the junior college route and eventually landing at Chaminade. Having missed last year with a knee injury kept him out of action last year, the well-traveled fifth-year guard provides experience and leadership in this year’s backcourt. Haskins is the only current player to have started in that upset win over Oklahoma, scoring eight points in 25 minutes.

Australian guard Dominique Cooks (No. 3) also saw action in that 2010 win, scoring four points off the bench. This season, he’s averaging 9.7 points and 3.7 rebounds through three games.

Fellow Aussie Rhys Murphy (No. 25) is the team’s tallest player at just 6’7″, but his outside threat makes him more of a stretch four than a typical post player. He leads the team with a 50% success rate from behind the arc this year, knocking down 7 of his 14 attempts. As a member of Oregon State last season, Murphy saw action in only half of the team’s games and averaged just 5.1 minutes per appearance. He did not log any playing time when the Beavers knocked off Texas in the Legends Classic semifinals.

Senior Bennie Murray (No. 10) averaged nearly 14 points per game last season, and has upped that average to 15.3 through three games this year. He’s playing more than 33 minutes per game, despite posting an ugly 0.33 assist-to-TO ratio.

Sophomore Lee Bailey (No. 5) has struggled with ball control nearly as much as Murray, logging a 0.55 A/TO ratio. He’s second on the team in scoring, though, pouring in nearly 16 points a game. Bailey is clearly the cornerstone of this program moving forward, having started all 25 games a freshman while leading the team in minutes.

Forward Mike Green (No. 22) is first off the bench for the Silverswords, averaging nearly 15 minutes per game. At 6’6″, he’s one of the team’s tallest players, and could see a spike in playing time this week against bigger D-I opponents.

Like Green, 6’7″ junior forward Tyree Harrison (No. 11) could also see an increase in minutes during the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Although he’s playing only about 12 minutes per game, he’s made a mark on the glass, posting a defensive rebounding rate north of 24%. If the Silverswords want to keep Texas from getting easy second chance points, Harrison, Murphy, and Green will have to scrap on the boards.

Rounding out the rotation is freshman guard Kevin Hu (No. 23), who came to Chaminade by way of Taiwan, and was described as the team’s best dancer by Coach Bovaird at last night’s Tip-Off Banquet. Hu is coming off the best game of his young career, dropping in 16 points in only 15 minutes against Western Washington last Wednesday.

Keys to the game

1) Build an early lead – Neutral-site tournament crowds always favor the underdog, and that is never more true than at the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Chaminade is playing about 130 miles from their home court in Honolulu and will certainly have the local fans behind them. Add in the fans of every other school in the tournament pulling for another historic upset, and the crowd support should be at about 99.8% for the Silverswords this afternoon. Texas needs to race out to an early lead and take the crowd factor out of the equation immediately.

2) Control the basketball – Chaminade doesn’t thrive on turnovers to fuel their offense, but the Longhorns simply haven’t been able to hang on to the rock this season. Texas coughed it up 26 times against Coppin State last Monday, and matching Chaminade’s quick pace is bound to cause some more miscues for the young Horns today. The Longhorns need to control the ball, slow down if start making mistakes, and limit the number of free possessions they give to the Silverswords.

3) Take away dribble penetration – Based on the numbers, Chaminade appears to be a driving team. They have logged assists on only 30.5% of their baskets and have a free-throw rate of 51.4%. Texas needs to frustrate the opposing guards and make them move the basketball to earn their points. If the Horns can successfully cut off driving lanes, the Silverswords will be forced out of their comfort zone and will likely settle for long, contested jumpers.

Under head coach Rick Barnes, the Longhorns have always focused on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, only once in the last ten seasons did the Horns finish outside of the top fifty in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric. While Barnes has long used a stingy man-to-man defense to achieve those impressive numbers, depth concerns have forced him to flip the script in the first two games this season.

“Defensively, we’re playing zone because of Myck Kabongo’s situation,” he told reporters after the game. “If we’re going to take advantage of the length of these guys, we’ve got to play some zone.”

That zone defense stifled Coppin State in last night’s victory, limiting the Eagles to just 24.6% shooting on the night. In tempo-free numbers, Texas held Coppin State to just .631 points per possession, the best single-game performance by a Longhorn team since limiting UT-Pan American to .523 PPP on December 15th, 2009.

A big part of that defensive success was due to the improved play by freshman Prince Ibeh. With Jonathan Holmes saddled by foul trouble, Ibeh logged 20 minutes against the Eagles and swatted three shots. On one block, Ibeh seemed to jump so far off the floor that he looked suspended in mid-air. He also was tied for the team lead with nine rebounds, three of them coming on the offensive glass.

At 6’10” and blessed with great length, Ibeh has so far shown great lateral quickness and springy hops. If Texas is going to utilize the 2-3 zone more often this season, Ibeh’s defensive presence is going to alter game plans for opponents.

Freshman Ioannis Papapetrou was the other Longhorn who snagged nine rebounds, but his impact on the game was far from one-dimensional. After not making a big offensive impact against Fresno State, Papi showed off a variety of skills in a 10-point performance. The Greek product knocked down 2-of-4 from behind the arc and also displayed a nice driving ability when the defense pressured him on the perimeter. When Javan Felix was getting a breather on the bench, Papi even brought the ball up as a point forward. Defensively, he harassed Coppin State players who handled the ball in the corners, and he hustled all over the floor for those nine boards.

For fellow freshman Felix, the second game was rough. Javan failed to score a point in the game and was responsible for eight of the team’s 26 turnovers. The most frustrating aspect of the turnovers by Felix and the Longhorns was that 18 of them came on steals. Lazy passes on the perimeter were intercepted and turned into fast break buckets. The Longhorns also repeatedly just held the ball in front of the nose of defenders while standing outside the arc, resulting in easy steals. Felix had major issues against the tough defense of Troy Franklin, getting so thoroughly embarrassed by one mid-court pickpocketing that Coach Barnes immediately took a timeout to dress him down.

With Felix held scoreless, even more of the offensive punch had to come from sophomore star Sheldon McClellan, and he rose to the challenge. After scoring 14 of his 20 points in the season opener from the stripe, McClellan only tallied 8 of his career-high 25 from the line against Coppin State. He led the team with a trio of three-pointers, missing just one long range attempt. Another basket came from just inside the arc, while his most impressive shot was on a baseline drive where he stopped on a dime and knocked down a turnaround jumper.

Although McClellan and Papapetrou both found success from outside, the team still had its share of struggles beyond the arc. After knocking down just 1-of-13 in the season opener, the Horns made only two of their first 10 attempts against Coppin State. Texas ultimately booked a 35% mark on the night, connecting on seven of 20. Julien Lewis and Connor Lammert were responsible for most of the misses, combining to make just one of their nine attempts.

In our Fresno State game wrap, we quantified just how poorly last year’s team performed from behind the arc. This year, there is clearly the potential for greater success with McClellan playing more aggressively, Papapetrou showing off some long range, and even Demarcus Holland looking like a sharpshooter off the bench. However, Lewis’ 1-for-9 mark on the season is a concerning one, as it reminds us just how often he was an indiscriminate and inaccurate shooter last year. If the Longhorns can get some long-range punch from McClellan and Papapetrou, there is no reason for Lewis to be leading the team in three-point attempts.

While some improvement was seen on threes, the Longhorns looked downright awful at the stripe. McClellan was once again steady at the line, pushing his season mark to 91.6% (22-of-24) on free throws. But for the rest of the team, the charity stripe was far from friendly, as they combined to make just 8-of-19 (42.1%) of their attempts. Ibeh and Cameron Ridley were the worst offenders, going 2-of-9 at the stripe. Ridley had numerous shots clank off the back iron, while Ibeh airballed a free throw and chucked another off the backboard, completely missing the rim. If the Texas bigs are this bad at the line all year, opponents will certainly take a few fouls to make them earn their points.

In addition to struggling at the stripe, Ridley also once again looked awkward and uncomfortable on offense. All three of his fouls came on the offensive end, and he coughed it up on another three occasions. Although Cam has big hands just made for basketball, he’s had major issues handling passes in his first two games. Opponents can already sense that nervousness, as Fresno State and Coppin State both were able to fluster and frustrate the big man with quick, pesky double teams. Ridley obviously still needs to adjust to the competition level, but it’s a very young season and plenty of time to improve. The Longhorns have to hope he takes advantage of that opportunity.

Although there were a lot of areas for Coach Barnes to address in the long week off before the Maui Invitational, Texas did look great in transition. The Horns consistently got out and ran the floor, and Felix repeatedly looked up to find his teammates for easy buckets. Texas also took advantage of defensive lapses by Coppin State, connecting for a handful of rim-rattling alley-oops. All told, the Longhorns logged 14 assists in this game, a vast improvement on the three-assist performance against Fresno State. In tempo-free terms, Texas jumped from 16.7% to 60.9% in the assist rate category.

Up next: vs. Chaminade (Maui Invitational); Monday, 8:30 P.M. CT

Texas is back in action on Monday night, hosting MEAC foe Coppin State in one last tune-up before taking part in the Maui Invitational next week. Tonight’s game is technically part of that very tournament, as organizers have added an additional round called “Maui on the Mainland” that allows small and mid-major schools a chance to compete against major-conference opponents. As is the case with most of the exempt November events, Texas will advance to the quarterfinal round in Maui regardless of tonight’s outcome.

The Longhorns are coming off a narrow two-point victory over Fresno State on Friday, and are looking for a confidence-boosting performance before they face tougher competition at the Lahaina Civic Center. Texas needed stifling defense and a workmanlike second-half performance from Sheldon McClellan to squeak past the Bulldogs, so a comfortable victory and good performances from the other Horns could give the team a little bit of momentum heading into Maui.

Meanwhile, Coppin State is hoping to bounce back from an 87-73 loss at Southern Cal on Friday night. Freshman combo guard Patrick Cole (No. 1) had a breakout game in his collegiate debut, scoring 25 points while swiping six steals in 28 minutes of action. The Eagles were a two-man show in the loss, as reserve point guard Troy Franklin (No. 23) was the only other player to score in double figures, logging 23.

Like Barnes, Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell is dealing with an influx of new talent. The Eagles lost four starters from last year’s team, and welcome nine new players to the roster, including Cole and Franklin. The only returning starter is point guard Taariq Cephas (No. 11), who dished out three assists while scoring five in the season-opening loss.

Last season, the only thing the Eagles loved more than pushing the tempo was shooting the three. According to Ken Pomeroy, the team’s adjusted pace was 69.2 possessions per game, the 40th-fastest mark out of 345 D-I teams. On Friday night, Coppin State picked up where it left off, racing through 76 possessions against USC. The Eagles also hoisted up 26 three-point attempts against the Trojans, accounting for more than 45% of their shots on the night. That number is right in line with last year’s numbers, as the Eagles of 2011-12 took 45.6% of their shots from behind the arc, the 4th-highest distribution in the country.

The five seniors on last year’s team accounted for 83% of the outside scoring, but the loss of that quintet clearly isn’t keeping Coach Mitchell from giving his new group the green light. With just one game in the books, that decision has paid off so far. Cole and Franklin combined to hit 5-of-9 from long range against USC, while juco transfer Andre Armstrong (No. 5) knocked down 3-of-7 off the bench.

Defensively, Coppin State had one of the nation’s worst performances in their debut. Terribly outsized by the likes of Aaron Fuller and Omar Oraby, the Eagles did not log a single block, and were abused on the defensive glass by the Trojans. USC posted an offensive rebounding rate of 47.1%, and took advantage of those extra chances to post an offensive efficiency mark of 1.14 points per possession.

Keys to the game

Typically, lopsided match-ups at this time of the year allow us to include such insightful keys to game like “Show up to the gym on time.” Although Coppin State is nowhere near as talented or experienced as Fresno State, Friday’s close call has dissuaded us from going with any smug, throwaway points of emphasis in this preview. Texas should win this game easily, but it’s worth pointing out that even Pomeroy gives the Eagles a 2% chance to do the unthinkable.

1) Challenge on the perimeter – One of the easiest ways to get upset by a weaker opponent is to allow them to go wild from long range, and Coppin State is one team that could easily do that. The Longhorns will definitely give up some threes in this one, but they have to make the Eagles work to earn those points, and they can’t let those long defensive rebounding opportunities result in extra shots.

2) Pound the ball inside – Big man Cameron Ridley had a rough offensive outing on Friday night, but this could be the matchup that gets him going. Even if the freshman continues to struggle, Jonathan Holmes should be able to exploit his size advantage around the paint and earn some easy points. Holmes should also get a nice chunk of points from cleaning up the offensive glass, as he is coming off a 14-rebound performance in which he snagged eight offensive boards.

3) Keep the Eagles off the line – Coppin State had one of the nation’s best free-throw rates in their debut, shooting nearly three free throws for every five field goal attempts. The Texas defense looked very good against Fresno State, but the reserves did have some issues closing the gaps in their zone against dribble penetration. If the Longhorns allow the Coppin State guards to attack the paint off the bounce, they will likely give up quite a few points at the charity stripe. Although the odds of upset are slim, Texas has to play smart defense and avoid giving away points with needless fouls.

In the first 14 years of the Rick Barnes era, the Longhorns lost just two home openers. In fact, in the last ten years, no team had started their season with a road win at the Frank Erwin Center. Friday night, a Texas squad with no scholarship upperclassmen came perilously close to ending that streak and suffering an embarrassing upset at the hands of Fresno State.

Texas never led the visiting Bulldogs by more than five points, and did not take the edge for good until less than two minutes left in the game. Poor shooting and a rash of first-half turnovers rendered the Longhorn offense ineffective, making things interesting down to the final second. Fresno State’s desperation heave from the backcourt missed the mark at the buzzer, allowing the Longhorns to survive with a 55-53 opening night victory.

Sophomore Sheldon McClellan led the way for Texas, putting in 20 points — 18 of them in the second half — to carry his team to victory. Expectations were high for McClellan coming into the season, as fans and pundits both looked for the gifted scorer to have a breakout season. With Myck Kabongo sidelined during an NCAA investigation and Jaylen Bond suffering from an ankle injury, it was even more necessary that McClellan live up to those expectations against Fresno State.

For the first twenty minutes, it didn’t look like the sophomore was going to do so. He missed a trio of three-pointers to start the game, and didn’t even crack the scoresheet until notching a pair of free throws with 5:25 to go in the first half. Another missed three-pointer and a missed layup rounded out McClellan’s first twenty minutes, as he and the Longhorns headed to the locker room in a 25-all tie.

The poor start didn’t deter McClellan, as he turned up the aggressiveness in the second half. With Texas running staggered baseline screens to free him up, the sophomore repeatedly received the ball on the wing and immediately took it at the defense. Driving baseline and slashing to the lane, he put the Bulldogs on their heels and earned trip after trip to the line. McClellan finished the game with a perfect 14-of-14 mark at the charity stripe, grinding out the points to push Texas into the win column.

While Sheldon was struggling in the first half, freshman point guard Javan Felix was making an early splash. The New Orleans native scored six of Texas’ first eight points, showing off his soft touch on runners in the lane before pulling up for a jumper from the elbow. The hot start was short-lived, though, as Felix quickly tailed off and finished the game just 5-of-15 from the field. He lost his touch on the floater, and the Fresno State defense was able to challenge and sometimes even block that free-throw line jumper.

Although Felix only finished with one assist on the night, he set up his teammates numerous times with nice feeds into the post and kickouts for wide-open threes. Unfortunately, the Longhorns simply couldn’t knock anything down and wasted some great opportunities. On many possessions, Texas was fouled down low and had to earn their points from the line, something that doesn’t show up when looking in the assist column. Although Texas had just three assists on eighteen made buckets, the team posted a solid free-throw rate of 49%, essentially earning one free throw for every two field goal attempts.

Though Felix was the one who turned heads on Friday night, the freshman who entered the game with all of the hype was McDonald’s All-American Cameron Ridley. His defensive performance was promising, as he stood tall in the paint, didn’t bite on fakes, and challenged the Fresno State bigs. Despite being limited to just 13 minutes, Ridley logged three blocks and owned the paint with the steady resolve of recent Longhorn standout Tristan Thompson.

As encouraging as Ridley’s performance was on the defensive end, his struggles on the other end of the court kept him on the bench down the stretch. The 6’9″ big man was called for a pair of offensive fouls, had trouble handling post feeds, and was very slow to react to double teams from the Bulldog defenders. His one offensive highlight came on Felix’s lone assist, when the point guard spun in the lane before dumping a jump pass to Ridley on the baseline. Cameron took one powerful step and flushed it home for an and-one opportunity, but missed the ensuing free throw.

The Longhorns were led on the boards by sophomore Jonathan Holmes, who consistently crashed the glass from the wings and high post. He snagged 14 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, making up for the huge hole left by Bond’s injury. While Jonathan didn’t have much success scoring inside, his ability to extend possessions was key on a night that Texas had trouble putting the ball in the hoop.

Texas’ 44.1% mark on the offensive glass kept possessions alive, but it was the Longhorn defense that kept Fresno State within reach. Texas opened both halves in a 2-3 zone that surprised the Bulldogs and led to long possessions with questionable shot selection. However, the second-teamers let the Fresno State guards find cracks to exploit with dribble penetration, leading to some easy buckets in the first half.

For the game, Texas limited Fresno State to just .914 points per possession. Getting that many freshmen to buy into a defense-first concept is certainly a big deal, but exuberance should be tempered by looking back at the FSU offense from a year ago. The Bulldogs were in the bottom half of D-I hoops according to Ken Pomeroy, whose adjusted offensive efficiency rating gave them just .989 points per possession. Their effective field-goal percentage was one of the 100 worst in Division I, checking in at only 46%. Texas’ defensive performance was definitely stout on Friday night, but fans should limit their excitement until after the Horns face tougher competition in the second and third days of the Maui Invitational.

While the bad shooting was certainly a big culprit, the Longhorns also had issues running their sets early in this one. The Longhorns worked hard in the first half to get their scorers open with baseline screens, but the Texas bigs repeatedly allowed the sets to get too stretched out. On different possessions, Holmes, Connor Lammert, and Ioannis Papapetrou all found themselves holding the ball four or five feet beyond the perimeter, hoping to make an entry pass against tight Fresno ball pressure. Even with perfect execution on the baseline, that feed would have been far too difficult and dangerous to make.

The Longhorns also struggled to make any long jumpers, hitting just one of their 13 three-point attempts. The numbers aren’t worth panicking over after just one game, but outside shooting could prove to once again be a major issue for Texas this season. Last year’s squad held the ignominious distinction of being the school’s worst three-point shooting team (32.78%) in the last 13 years, and the Horns lost the top two shooters from that team in J’Covan Brown and Sterling Gibbs. Their departures leave Coach Barnes with five rotation guys who combined for a hideous 30.7% mark from long range in 2011-12. If this young Texas team actually challenges last year’s marks for three-point futility, the Horns are going to struggle to score against a ton of packed-in defenses.

Up next: vs. Coppin State (0-1); Monday, 7 P.M. CT

For most college basketball programs, a rebuilding year consists of a losing record, numerous growing pains, and simmering discontent in the fanbase. For Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns, the 2011-12 campaign was certainly a rebuilding year. With just one returning starter and a whole host of freshmen on the roster, making the NCAA tournament for a 14th-straight year seemed to be a pipe dream. Somehow, Barnes and the Longhorns were not only able to avoid a losing record, but even managed to squeak into the NCAA field once more.

While Texas finished above .500, the Horns weren’t able to skip out on the growing pains and fan discontent. With a freshman-laden roster, Texas repeatedly fell short in one- and two-possession games, failing to execute at crunch time. Although the Longhorns overcame those difficulties and defied all reasonable expectations by making the NCAA tournament, fans ignored the short-term storyline and instead focused on the recent trend of post-season disappointments. Fair or not, the Texas fanbase has long been known as a “What have you done for me lately?” type of crowd, and the Longhorns have not advanced past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2008. Although Barnes has built Texas into a nationally-relevant program and recruits at the highest levels, critics point to the lack of trophies inside Denton Cooley Pavilion.

That attitude puts additional pressure on this season, especially when combined with the struggles of the football team. It’s no secret that Texas is a pigskin state, and when Mack Brown was having success on the gridiron in the late 2000’s, the corresponding success on the hardwood was just an added bonus for the school’s fans. With message boards and radio shows already filled with negativity over the current football season, Coach Barnes and the Longhorns will be under the microscope of an already-irritated fanbase.

As if those pressures weren’t enough on their own, the Horns will have to start this season without sophomore point guard Myck Kabongo. Last month, Yahoo! Sports was the first to report on an NCAA investigation into Kabongo’s relationship with agent Rich Paul and whether or not he received improper benefits on a trip to workout with former Longhorn Tristan Thompson in Akron, Ohio. The NCAA has still not ruled on the matter, and Texas will not play Kabongo until the governing body hands down its decision.

Starting in his place will be 5’10” point guard Javan Felix, an ESPN Top 100 recruit from St. Augustine in New Orleans. While it would be unreasonable to expect immediate greatness from the freshman, the early buzz on Felix is exciting. The length of Kabongo’s absence is still up in the air at this point, so getting major minutes for Felix in low-risk games against Fresno State, Coppin State, and Chaminade will be huge for his development. If Kabongo is still unavailable when the Longhorns start facing foes from BCS conferences, the freshman point guard — and Texas — will truly be tested.

The Horns will also hit the floor tonight without sophomore Jaylen Bond, the team’s most tenacious rebounder. The Pennsylvania native injured his ankle in practice this week and will not be available against the Bulldogs. As a freshman, Bond led the team with offensive and defensive rebounding rates of 13.3% and 21.4%, respectively, but did not play enough minutes to qualify for the national rankings.

Texas hopes that freshman Cameron Ridley is able to make up for that presence on the glass. A 6’9″ center, Ridley was a McDonald’s All-American and consensus top-twenty recruit, so he’s expected to immediately make a mark on the 40 Acres. He’s got the size and the physical tools to make a splash, so fans are hopeful that he can quickly adjust to the more competitive college game.

Ridley and Felix are just two of seven freshman joining the Longhorns this season, once again making them one of the youngest teams in the country. Big man Prince Ibeh brings quickness and athleticism to the table, giving the Horns a defensive presence that can alter the game inside. Greek import Ioannis Papapetrou, already nicknamed “Papi” by Kabongo and his teammates, should help to stretch the floor with his European background. There’s not much known about his skills at this point, so it will be interesting to watch his role develop throughout the course of the season.

Connor Lammert and Demarcus Holland are two freshmen who aren’t expected to make major contributions in their first year. Lammert is a the younger brother of Texas Tech’s Clark Lammert, and he’s another skilled-shooting forward who can help stretch the defense. Holland is a combo guard who can put it on the floor to generate points, but he struggled from outside in high school. If Kabongo is out for an extended stretch or misses the season entirely, Holland will provide some extra depth in the backcourt, although he is much more useful at the two.

The seventh member of this year’s freshman class is Danny Newsome, a walk-on from Langham Creek outside the Beltway in Houston. While he’s not going to provide meaningful minutes this season, he could perhaps develop into a new sidekick for the always-entertaining Melchionni Report.

With so many fresh faces on the roster, the success of this year’s team will likely ride on the development of the five-man sophomore class. Although Kabongo and Bond won’t be taking part in tonight’s game, all eyes will be on Julien Lewis, Jonathan Holmes, and Sheldon McClellan to see how much progress they made in the offseason.

Lewis was a very streaky shooter as a sophomore, so much so that you could generally tell what type of night he was going to have after just one or two shots. While it’d certainly be nice if he developed into a dead-eye over the summer, it’s much more reasonable to hope that he will make better decisions this year on nights when he is struggling. If he can defer to teammates on his off nights, perhaps the Longhorns can avoid some of the 1-for-10 performances like he delivered at Missouri last year.

Holmes quietly provided a lot of good minutes last season, and his rebounding really improved down the stretch of Big 12 play. If he can continue to clean up the offensive misses and perhaps improve the three-point shot he liked to test out last year, Holmes could be a key leader on this young squad.

The most important sophomore on the roster, though, is McClellan. Fans saw flashes of his brilliance last year, when he would take over a game for just a few possessions at a time. Conventional wisdom holds that players make their greatest leap in the summer following their freshmen season, so Texas fans have high hopes that McClellan is going to be an unstoppable scorer this year. If he has the confidence and killer instinct that Coach Barnes has been trying to instill in him from Day One, Sheldon could be a difference-maker in the Big 12.

Coach-speak aside, the numbers seem to paint an excellent picture for McClellan, as well. John Pudner is a political professional who imported the Sabermetrics WAR (Wins Above Replacement player) formula to college basketball and named his new measurement “Value Add.” His entire player database is available online, and it offers my fellow stat-nerds hours of enjoyment.

The most interesting aspect of Pudner’s analysis, as it pertains to Texas, is the massive benefit he projects the Longhorns will receive from McClellan this season. Based on minutes, usage rate, and efficiency numbers from last season, Sheldon is ranked as the 37th most-valuable player this year. That’s the third-highest ranking in the entire Big 12, checking in just behind Jeff Withey of Kansas and Rodney McGruder of Kansas State. If McClellan can come anywhere close to making that kind of an impact this season, the Longhorns will surprise a lot of folks across the nation.