With Texas’s loss to Purdue in the round of 32, Chris Beard’s first year as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns has come to a close. The 2021-22 basketball season was full of ups and downs for the Longhorns, however it proved to be much more competitive than was initially expected when the team parted ways with Shaka Smart in 2021. Today, we take a glance at Texas’s 2021-2022 season and evaluate whether expectations were met.
Expectations – Early 2021:
To say that the expectations for the Longhorns had been set in stone for the entirety of the basketball season, and the months leading up to it, would be a lie. When Shaka Smart accepted the head coaching position at Marquette, the Longhorns were a roster full of maybes. Ultimately, players such as Jericho Sims, Matt Coleman, Kai Jones and Greg Brown elected to move on from their stint with the Longhorns. Consequently, the team looked destined to be a bottom-feeder in the Big 12 Conference with only a couple of players left on the roster altogether.
At this point in time, forget the NCAA tournament, just a middle-of-the-pack finish in the Big 12 Conference would have been an impressive accomplishment in Chris Beard’s first season. However, of course, the team’s personnel changed drastically over time as the Longhorns became a popular destination for several marquee transfers.
Expectations – Start of the 2021-22 Season:
Leading up to the 2021-22 basketball season, the Longhorns were the preseason AP Poll’s fifth-ranked team in the nation. After the additions of Marcus Carr, Tre Mitchell, Christian Bishop, Timmy Allen and more, the Longhorns morphed into a team which was expected to contend for a national championship.
Result:
Ultimately, the Longhorns won their first NCAA tournament game since 2014 with a win over 11-seed Virginia Tech. However, the team was then ousted in the next round in a hard fought game against 3-seed Purdue. The loss to Purdue stung even more after 15-seed St. Peter’s beat the Boilermakers in the Sweet Sixteen, showing that a trip to the Elite Eight was entirely possible.
With all of that said, was Chris Beard’s first season as the head coach of the Longhorns a success? While the team was able to accomplish many things that had not been done in quite some time, such as a tournament win and creating an exciting atmosphere at the Frank Erwin Center, the season should not be placed on a pedestal. While the team certainly surpassed initial expectations, before a roster was even in place, their postseason run was cut far too short. Despite their shortcomings, Texas basketball is in a great position to begin a new era at the Moody Center.
