Texas men’s basketball midseason recap: Longhorns on the up-and-up.

With an overall record of 14–5, Texas’ 2023–24 season has been up and down; yet, when looking at the bigger picture and placing it inside the program’s turbulent year, it becomes easier to understand why the team is so inconsistent.

After winning six of the previous seven games, it appeared as though the program was starting to take off when head coach Chris Beard was fired.

Therefore, nobody could have expected the explosive rise of Texas’s interim head coach, Rodney Terry, who led the team to a Big 12 championship and an Elite Eight appearance—possibly with the exception of the Texas locker room. As fans protested, the temporary title was officially dropped a few days after Texas was eliminated from March Madness.

appointing Rodney Terry thought that Longhorn basketball was changing its ways, and for good reason. Terry quickly won over Longhorn Nation with his exuberance and bravado, which stood in stark contrast to his predecessor’s no-nonsense demeanor. His first full season hasn’t been quite as amazing, though.

With a 3-3 record in conference play, Texas has performed largely in the middle of the pack in the formidable Big 12. The Longhorns were 11-2 at the beginning, but looking past the victories and defeats revealed an inexperienced squad.

Texas easily defeated lower-tier opposition in the first few weeks of the season, but they had trouble adjusting to a starting lineup that included three transfers and was missing Dylan Disu, the standout player from the previous campaign.

These worries were confirmed when UConn overcame Texas in the squad’s first true test of the season. Max Abmas, a graduate transfer, saved his team from a disastrous loss against a Louisville club that is currently 6-13. These concerns weren’t allayed by the Longhorns, who lost handily to Marquette in a game that included former Texas coach Shaka Smart.

Following their defeat at the hands of Marquette, the Longhorns won five games in a row, perhaps their best of the year against LSU in Disu’s return. But in their final Big 12 season, the Longhorns had an opportunity to get off to a good start, but they lost to Texas Tech at home once more.

After Texas’ 1-3 start in the Big 12, which included a home loss to UCF in which the Longhorns blew a 15-point lead in the second half, uncertainty about the team’s future escalated.

The national media saw UCF display “Horns Down” following the upset, which exacerbated Terry’s outspoken outrage. The defending Big 12 Champions looked to be in free fall, fearing that another loss would end the season.

After putting out a temporary fire with a game-winning performance by junior Tyrese Hunter against No. 9 Baylor, the Longhorns proceeded to crush rival Oklahoma on the road, earning their most comprehensive victory of the year.

A week prior, the Longhorns appeared to be a team that had outperformed themselves in 2022 and might have hired a head coach on the spur of the moment due to positive feelings. Another disappointing loss will probably rekindle the debate about Terry’s and the Longhorns’ legitimacy.

But in a competitive Big 12, Texas is already gaining ground when it matters most. It hasn’t been flawless, but Terry’s first full year in charge has never been. He’s already proven himself on the recruiting trail, proven himself in postseason play, and—above all—shown an unwavering composure in the face of seeming doom.

Terry told the journalists, “I think you just have to keep working the process, stay the course, and keep grinding like anything.” Ultimately, aim to position your squad so that they are playing their best basketball in the appropriate season.