Texas coach Rick Barnes can’t remember the last time he had a senior class.
“I don’t know how long,” Barnes said. “It may even go back as far as 2002.”
With Damion James, Justin Mason and Dexter Pittman deciding to return for their final seasons, Barnes is hoping their experience will lead to more productivity on the court.
“I’ve been really pleased with the leadership of those guys and the way they have embraced the younger players,” Barnes said. “These guys have been through it, they know what it’s gonna take.”
The Big 12 named James to the All-Conference preseason team and extended honorable mention to Pittman. In 1,614 minutes last season, the two combined for 894 points and 513 rebounds.
“We took it upon ourselves to become leaders,” Pittman said. “We know what we’re working for, and that’s a national championship.”
Summertime, and the livin’s easy
Over the summer, a number of professional basketball players who used to be Longhorns returned to campus to take classes, work out and bestow some wisdom on the current Texas team.
Royal Ivey of the Philadelphia 76ers, T.J. Ford of the Indiana Pacers and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder all participated in pick-up games with the Texas players.
“Kevin told me to always work harder than everyone else,” said freshman Avery Bradley. “It was really fun. A good learning experience because they helped me out a lot. They showed me some NBA moves and some college ways to score.”
Ivey is a point guard for the 76ers, but taught “Big Man” Pittman some new tricks.
“I know the pro-scouts want to see me screen-and-pop and do different kinds of things, so [Royal] was teaching me the basics of that,” Pittman said.
Offense wins games, but defense…
With six returning starters and seven incoming players listed as either guards or small forwards, Barnes knows that this year’s squad has all the offensive tools to score — which is why he said the main focus through the first three weeks of practice will be on the defense.
“We want to be a transition team, we want to get up and down the floor, but the biggest thing will be defensively,” Barnes said.
Even though Texas made it to last year’s NCAA tournament, the team had the No. 111 scoring defense in the country, giving up an average 65.6 points.
“To be honest with you, we feel like, right now, we can go out and play offensively with anybody,” James said. But, he added, the team needs guys “who can lock down and play great [defense].”
Brown finally on campus
J’Covan Brown is finally a Longhorn. It has been a long and tenuous journey, but after being cleared by the NCAA in mid-August, Brown is practicing with the team and ready to compete for a spot on the floor, a year after he originally planned to join the lineup.
“We’d have loved to have had him here last year, he would have made a difference,” Barnes said. “He was extremely loyal to us from the beginning, and we’re just happy that he did what he had to do to get himself in a position to get here.”
Brown was dismissed from the Port Arthur Memorial High School team during his senior season and has not played organized basketball in two years. He was supposed to come to Texas in the fall of 2008, but was not granted eligibility by the NCAA because of academic issues.
During that time, Brown stayed in the Houston area, practicing his basketball and trying to get his grades up. He was granted eligibility two days before the start of classes this year.
“I put all that behind me. Now, I’m just a new person,” Brown said. “If it don’t kill me, it just makes me better.”
Now, Brown is finally a part of the team. Barnes counts him among a group of talented incoming guards, but knows Brown has some catching up to do.
“Not being here this summer set him back,” Barnes said. “From a physical standpoint, he’s behind ... But he’s trying. The next couple of weeks will be important for him.”
The international
Dogus Balbay, the Longhorns’ Turkish national, got to experience a slightly different summer than his teammates. For a month, Balbay played for Turkey’s basketball team as they competed against the top countries in Europe.
“International basketball is kind of different. When I play there, my role is kind of different,” Balbay said. “But you see your friends again and play with them.”
Balbay actually broke his shooting hand going up for a rebound against France and had to spend a month rehabbing it, but said he never second-guessed his decision to play for
Turkey.
“You always want to play for your national team,” Balbay said.
Bejarano decommits
Last week Daniel Bejarano, a native of Phoenix, Ariz. and a verbal commit to the Texas class of 2010, rescinded his pledge to the Longhorns and announced that he would attend the University of Arizona instead.
Bejarano is a 6-foot-5 swingman and the No. 57 player in the nation, according to the recruiting Web site Rivals.com.
Bejarano had originally committed to Texas, but after his father was shot and killed in June, he decided he wanted to stay closer to home to be near his family.
“This is where I belong,” Bejarano said. “I feel this is where my dad would want me to be.”
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