Longhorns will return to the floor after finals with Big 12 on mind

While most students will be enjoying their winter vacations as far away from the classroom as possible, the Texas men's basketball team will be enduring a month-long cram session in preparation for their upcoming conference schedule.

Sporting an unblemished record through nine games for the first time since 1981-82, the team is off this week in order to prepare for their academic finals, but they return to the court on Saturday for a home game against Texas State in the first of six pre-Big 12 Conference pop quizzes.

Texas owns a 36-5 advantage in the all-time series against the Bobcats, dominating inside the Erwin Center to the tune of 25-2. In fact, the last time the Bobcats defeated Texas in Austin was in 1937.

The Longhorns then host Oral Roberts Dec. 18 before heading to Auburn Hills for another difficult road game as they face Michigan State, currently ranked ninth in the AP Top 25. So far, road games have not phased the Longhorns, who have defeated Tennessee and UCLA away from home.

Led offensively by sophomore forward Raymar Morgan's 17.6 points per game and senior guard Drew Neitzel's average of 4.7 assists, the Spartans hope for a repeat of their performance against Texas last year, when they upset the No. 18 Longhorns 63-61, giving Texas its first loss of the young season. Neitzel scored the winning basket of that game with 2.4 seconds remaining.

With a week off to enjoy the Christmas holiday, Texas takes to the court again on the following Saturday, closing out 2007 with a home game against Wisconsin on Dec. 29. The contest marks the first of three consecutive games in Austin for the Longhorns.

The Badgers are 6-2, sitting in third place of the Big Ten, with both loses coming against ranked opponents ­- No. 6 Duke and No. 10 Marquette. On the other hand, the No. 4 Longhorns are the only team in the country to have victories over a pair of AP Top 10 opponents.

With all five starters averaging double-digit scoring, led by A.J. Abrams' 19.1 and D.J. Augustin's 19 points per game, the Longhorns enjoy a 23.9 point average margin of victory.

Texas finishes off its non-conference schedule against TCU and Saint Mary's (Calif.) on Jan. 2 and Jan. 5, respectively.

Coach Rick Barnes will use the next week to prepare for the opening game of league play when the Longhorns head north to Columbia for a Saturday afternoon showdown against Missouri.

The Texas Longhorns didn’t fall off the face of the earth when NCAA player of the year Kevin Durant bolted for the NBA.

They’re looking like national championship contenders.

Highlighted by two of the most impressive wins in college basketball, the Longhorns are off to their best start in 26 years with a 9-0 record.

They grabbed some attention by pounding then-No. 7 Tennessee, 97-78, on Nov. 24 at the Legends Classic in Newark, N.J. But they rocked the college basketball world with a 63-61 upset of then-No. 2 UCLA on Dec. 2 at Pauley Pavilion.

I’ve voted the Longhorns No. 1 in the Associated Press poll the last two weeks. Why? Because they deserve it.

Nobody else has beaten two Top 10 teams this year including the three teams ranked ahead of them in this week’s poll, North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas.

How do you improve after losing a phenom who averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds as a freshman? You mature, play better defense and find more collective scoring. You have a point guard who distributes the ball like candy and makes everybody look good.

As good as D.J. Augustin was as a freshman last season, he’s twice as good this year. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a 19.0 scoring average and leads the league by a mile with seven assists per game. He’s like former Texas guard T.J. Ford with a better 3-point shot.

“D.J. is unbelievable,” said Texas coach Rick Barnes. “He does so many things for you and has improved in so many areas. He understands the game better now, and really communicates with his teammates. He gives everybody a lot of confidence.”

No bruising post, no problem

While the Longhorns don’t have a bruising post scorer like Brad Buckman, they haven’t really needed one.

“We’ve got a great post game with D.J. driving to the basket,” Barnes said. “He’s a good layup maker and finisher and he can hit free throws.”

But Augustin is far from a one-man show. Three-point shooting whiz A.J. Abrams ranks third in the Big 12 with a 19.1 scoring average. Forward Connor Atchley and guard Justin Mason are both averaging double-figure scoring, while sophomore forward Damion James is coming into his own with 12.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Perhaps the biggest reason Texas is winning is because they’re playing strong defense. The Longhorns won 25 games last year by outshooting people, but this year they’re clamping down.

“We only had one way to go because we had one of our worst defensive teams last year,” Barnes said. “We can still rebound better and do a better job of guarding against teams getting the ball into the post. But we’re better than we were last year.”

With four freshman starters last season, the Longhorns were still good enough to finish 12-4 in the Big 12 and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to USC in the second round. Those heavy minutes on the floor are obviously paying off this year.

The Longhorns still need to develop a deeper bench and become a more physical team to withstand a grueling schedule. But the post-Durant Longhorns are off to a blazing start.

A few weeks ago, that nasty little spin off the “Hook’em Horns” slogan was a joke.

Rivals were taking jabs at the mighty Texas Longhorns and their squeaky clean program after the arrests of several players.

It’s not funny anymore.

Yet another Longhorn has been charged with a serious crime, and coach Mack Brown’s long, hot summer of legal problems is raising serious concerns about the program. Fans are wondering if players are turning in their burnt orange jerseys for jail jumpsuits.

Brown says he won’t let a run of bad publicity tarnish a legacy of winning clean. The court of public opinion will decide that. Illegal acts by a group of young men can ruin a reputation one arrest at a time.

When UT President William Powers Jr. felt the need to publicly support his coach, it was clear the bad publicity is taking a toll. It’s time for Brown to rein this in — and fast — because it looks bad for him, the players (those not in trouble) and the school.

It’s time for him to stand up in public and say, “I’m the coach at Texas and I’ll get this under control.”

Redshirt freshman running back James Henry is the sixth Longhorn to be arrested since June. He’s charged with beating up a victim of a home invasion robbery allegedly involving two other football players.

Investigators believe Henry kicked and punched one of the robbery victims in retaliation for identifying one of the other players. Police listened to jailhouse telephone calls and say Henry later admitted getting in a fight with a victim.

On his way out of jail Tuesday, Henry told the San Antonio Express-News it was a “mishap.”
Actually, it’s a felony.

The legal system frowns on beating up witnesses. Police also say Henry helped dispose of stolen property.

He now faces charges of obstruction and retaliation, and then serious prison time if convicted.

On Monday, Brown took the media to task for convicting players who are arrested before the judicial system runs its course. He pointed to the case of Tarell Brown, who he suspended for the Ohio State game last year after a drug arrest. The charges were later dropped.

“There’s probably more attention on the day they get charged than when they get dropped,” Brown said. Then he got a bit defensive, suggesting that Austin media and fans are “as hard on kids as I’ve ever seen.”

On Tuesday, he put out a statement saying he was “disappointed” and hurt by the latest arrest but added “I will put our long-term record of character up against anyone.”
Brown is a sensitive and sincere man.

He runs his program like a family. He aches when his players make mistakes in life, and no coach in America would feel worse about the mounting arrests than he will. That family atmosphere is a big reason parents want their sons to play for him.

But families have problems. Sometimes they are big problems.

When they involve Longhorns football, they are big public problems.

It’s time Brown be the stern father, not the gentle one. It’s time to get tough with a team that apparently has lost the kind of internal leadership that can keep players in line.

Team policy is that a player charged with a felony gets suspended. Misdemeanors are handled on case-by-case basis. It’s time Brown tells his players that if they get arrested, they get kicked off the team.

It could cost a game or a season if it’s a star player, but Brown needs to put the fear of God in those who might drive drunk, get in a fight or do something else dangerous and stupid.

According to police, investigators interviewed Henry several times since the original robbery in July. His interview Aug. 20 — during preseason training camp — was his second trip to police headquarters.

If school officials knew the player was a suspect in the case and did nothing, that looks bad. If they didn’t, then why not?

Coach-player contact over the summer is strictly limited. By training camp, players are moving lockstep in a regimen of practice and meetings. Henry, meanwhile, was squeezing in interviews with the police.

Wasn’t anyone watching?

Texas’ Henry arrested

AUSTIN — Texas freshman running back James Henry has been charged with two felony counts of obstruction and tampering with evidence, making him the sixth Longhorns player arrested since June.

Henry, arrested Monday, is accused of beating up one of the victims of a July home invasion allegedly involving two other players, Andre Jones and Robert Joseph.

Henry was booked into Travis County Jail where bond was set at $30,000. He was released Tuesday and coach Mack Brown said he was suspended indefinitely from the team.

Henry, who redshirted last season, has played in two games on special teams for the No. 7 Longhorns. Travis County jail and court administration officials did not immediately have a record of an attorney for him.

Brown defended the integrity of his team and football program when he met with reporters Tuesday.

“When someone is accused of trouble or has trouble, it is devastating to me personally,” he said. “It’s really all on me. It’s on me alone. I’m responsible for making all the final decisions at the football office at the University of Texas.

“It’s obvious I need to be more accountable and do a better job.”

When asked what changes he might make within his program, Brown said he didn’t know yet.

“I’ve got to go back and look at everything I’m doing. Twenty-three years as a head coach, I’ve dealt with more in six months than I have in 23 years,” he said.

Henry’s arrest is the latest trouble for a program reeling under a string of arrests. On Monday, Brown reinstated linebacker Sergio Kindle and defensive end Henry Melton, who had been suspended for the first three games because of drunken driving arrests over the summer.

Last week, senior safety Tyrell Gatewood was suspended indefinitely after his arrest on drug charges.

Freshman defensive back Ben Wells, who was riding with Gatewood when he was pulled over, was given a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia and released.

Jones remains suspended from the team. Joseph had already left the team before his arrest.

OFFENSE: Only a couple of years removed from the Vince Young era, and Texas already has its next great quarterback. Colt McCoy etched his name into the Longhorns' annals in his first season, setting freshman records with 10 wins and 2,570 passing yards en route to earning national Freshman of the Year honors. His 29 touchdowns were more than any other quarterback in school history. So now, with a year under his belt and a few extra pounds on his frame, the sky is the limit for McCoy. It also helps that he has all of his wideouts back, led by one of the top pass catchers in the country, Limas Sweed (41 catches, 801 yards, 12 TDs). Sweed will be lining up alongside Billy Pittman (35 catches, four TDs) and Quan Cosby (45 catches, 525 yards). In the backfield, Jamaal Charles (831 yards, 5.3 yards per carry, seven TDs) has the potential to be one of the top backs in the conference. However, he will be running behind an offensive line that graduated three All-Big 12 selections. Tackles Tony Hills (6-6, 300) and Adam Ulatoski (6-8, 305) each have starting experience, as does guard Cedric Dockery (6-4, 320), although his season was cut short by a knee injury last year.

DEFENSE: The biggest hit to the defense is in the secondary, where the Longhorns must replace a pair of All-Americans and a three-year starter. Senior Marcus Griffin, who was second on the team with 90 tackles last year, leads the charge at free safety. Drew Kelson makes the move to safety from linebacker, while seniors Brandon Foster and Ryan Palmer may take over at cornerback. Also challenging at cornerback are sophomore Deon Beasley and freshman Chykie Brown, both of whom impressed the coaching staff in the spring. Up front, there are not as many question marks, as the Longhorns return a pair of defensive tackles and a trio of linebackers from a unit that ranked third in the nation against the run. Senior defensive tackles Frank Okam (6-6, 320) and Derek Lokey (6-2, 280) anchor the line. At linebacker, the team returns all three starters in Robert Killebrew, Rashad Bobino and Scott Derry.

SPECIAL TEAMS: After splitting time last year and going 6-for-6 in field-goal attempts, junior kicker Ryan Bailey is in line to take over the position full- time. The Longhorns have plenty of speedsters who are capable of stepping in and performing well in the return game, but Cosby will re-assume his position as kick returner after averaging 25.7 yards per return. It's up in the air as to who will join him back deep to return kicks. After returning a punt 55 yards for a touchdown a year ago, Cosby is penciled in to handle the punt return duties as well.

OUTLOOK: The Longhorns were the nation's sixth-best scoring offense last year, and that was with a freshman quarterback. Now that he feels more comfortable in the offense, there is no telling just how good McCoy can become. His supporting cast is chock full of talent, from Sweed and the receiving corps, to Charles in the backfield, so McCoy certainly won't have the whole offensive load on his shoulders. The biggest area of concern is likely in the defensive backfield. Even with a Thorpe Award winner, another All-American and a three- year starter, Texas ranked 99th in the nation against the pass. The Longhorns are stout against the run, but it will be up to the secondary to limit big plays in the passing game, otherwise the onus will be on McCoy and company to light up the scoreboard. Coach Brown doesn't win national championships by accident, so it's a safe bet he will have all the parts working in proper order by the first of September, which means the Longhorns could very well have another shot at the Promised Land.