HookEm

What’s the story on tailgating? Also are there any bars where UT fans will congregate before or after the game?

This is worse than high school. Damn gentlemen, grow up. Who even remembers who attacks them on a message board.

Overall I think this year's team has the potential to be a lot better than last year's team. Better defending, better rebounding, better size, better roster construction. If the two teams played each other, I think 2025 would have the advantage at almost every position. Point Guard Hunter '24 = Pope '25 - This one is pretty close overall, but I give the slight edge to Pope due to FT% and lack of turnovers. Abmas '24 < Johnson '25 - Abmas was good, but Johnson is better in almost every way. Weaver '24 < Weaver '25 - Weaver has improved in all facets vs. last year Horton '24 < Larry '25 - Larry has better defense, handles, vision, shot, everything Forward Mitchell '24 << Mark '25 - Mark is a drastically better all-around player. Disu '24 > Kaluma '25 - Disu is better but it is close. Disu drifting out to the perimiter drove me crazy. Kaluma's approach with defense and rebounding leads to more wins. Cunningham '24 < Kent '25 - Brock was a mess last year. The refs rightfully targeted him. He was a constant technical risk. Center Shedrick '24 << Shedrick '25 - A healthy Shedrick will be much improved Onyema '24 << Onyema '25 - Onyema looks lighter on his feet and more comfortable this year Other depth Vinson and Pryor provide some depth that we didn't have last year. The main edge I would give 2024 over 2025 is in overall athleticism. Hunter and Mitchell are more athletic than their counterparts in 2025. But they are way behind in skill level.

As I understand it, the Arkansas resident kids also have an advantage. Some of the frats / sororities limit the number of Texans. All this is 2nd hand info so take it for what it's worth.

We were told that as well. It is misleading. The 30% number may be the total across the whole student body, but it is heavily weighted toward freshmen and sophomores. Rough maths for females: 3,600 new freshmen with 2,000 rushing or about 56%. With them parading around in huge groups all over campus it can seem like 90%. Just FYI so your kid knows what to expect.

Weaver is about exactly Westbrook's size from when he was at UCLA. Their college stats aren't hugely different either. That said, I appreciate that Weaver will never be in the same universe as Westbrook. I'm just saying that he could play a similar style of basketball. The main difference is Westbrook's handles are about 10x as good as Weaver's. Westbrook could drive through traffic at full speed and go up and dunk on people. Weaver always seems slightly out of control (even though he really doesn't turn the ball over much). When will Mark make his debut?

The problem is that the Big 10 is just FULL of boring schools. Even when some of them are good like Indiana, they are still boring schools. And their elite, interesting schools like USC and Michigan are boring this year. An interesting team playing a boring team is still a boring game. So really there are very very few watchable games. It is a garbage conference overall that is simply too spread out geographically. USC playing Michigan State or Iowa or Minnesota is not compelling and will rarely ever be. UCLA vs. Rutgers. That is just riveting TV. SMFH.

My daughter is a freshman at Arky in Supply Chain as I have mentioned. She loves it there, has made great friends already and is doing well in school. Just be aware that the school is VERY Greek. If your kid isn't going to rush (mine didn't), then they should be prepared to find a like minded set of friends, which can be difficult. She is staying at Gregson Hall, which I would highly recommend. Great location and the culture seems to be better than the other dorms. My son is at UT and is living in an apartment as a sophomore. The overall cost is about the same. In fact, I would say cost is higher at UT once they move off campus. Apartments in Austin aren't cheap. Parking isn't cheap. Food, eating out and entertainment isn't cheap. All of that is much cheaper in Fayetteville in my experience. Heading up there on Thursday decked out in burnt orange for the game. Hook'em.

Weaver should have gotten even more minutes last year because of how bad Horton was. He was slow, didn't play defense, wasn't in shape and was 38% from the floor. Horrid. This year though, I think we have enough depth that he doesn't need to be getting 32 mpg. If he could run point, it would really open up some interesting lineups. He shot 40% from 3 at UT-A, so I know he has the ability if he will slow down a little. His best future would be playing a 2012 Russell Westbrook style of PG where he can use his athleticism to get to the rim, rebound from the guard position, and just out energy everybody. He has put on some muscle in the offseason, so he is starting to look the part. What would be wrong with this lineup: Weaver + Mark + Johnson + Kent + Kaluma? Everybody can defend. You could play somewhat positionless basketball on offense and switch everything on defense.

It will be interesting to see how the lineups shake out as the season moves along and we get Mark integrated into the team. To me it is clear that (so far) Tre Johnson and Arthur Kaluma are our best players and need 30+ minutes a night. I assume that Mark is going to need 30 minutes a night as well. I think Kent is a winning player and needs more minutes at the expense of Shedrick. A "small" lineup with Kaluma and Kent at the 4/5 needs to see the floor 10-15 minutes a game. Onyema doesn't need to see the floor at all. Kent and Kaluma are solid defenders and also very active rebounders. Given our guard/wing size, we can afford a little less size down low. Shedrick is an "ok" post defender, but I have seen him get exposed bigtime when he has to switch off on smaller players or step out and try to defend the perimeter. If there is a wide open 3, chances are Shedrick was responsible. That doesn't happen with Kaluma and Kent. In the end we should have an 8-man rotation with: Starters: Pope, Johnson, Mark, Kaluma, Shedrick 2nd Unit: Larry, Weaver, Kent rotating in to give whatever composition we need. If we need another big body, bring in Vinson. That's it. Unless we are up by 25, nobody else needs to see the floor. Pope really needs to get it together. The dude is a bigtime scorer, averaging 17+ ppg in the PAC10 last year. He is a career 37%+ from 3 and an elite free throw shooter (88%). This year he is averaging 20% from 3 and hasn't even gotten to the line once. If he plays like he is capable, it will completely transform the team. If I was Terry, I would spend a game or two making sure that Pope gets fed and see if he can get going. If not, Larry needs to start getting more time. He seems to be a much better defender than Pope. He is also a better distributor and protects the ball well. It might ultimately be better to start him and let Pope come in with Weaver for a spark off the bench. Weaver is also getting too much playing time. I suspect that will change dramatically when Mark gets healthy.

Here are our national award winners for reference: National Player of the Year (Wooden / Naismith) TJ Ford - 2003 Kevin Durant - 2007 All American - 1st Team Clyde Littlefield - 1916 Abb Curtis - 1924 Jack Gray - 1935 Chris Mihm - 2000 TJ Ford - 2003 Kevin Durant - 2007 DJ Augustin - 2008 All Americans - 2nd Team John Hargis - 1947 PJ Tucker - 2006 Jordan Hamilton - 2011 If Tre Johnson can make an All-American team that makes him one of the top-10 BEST UT players of all time, if not higher. That doesn't mean it gives him a top-10 UT career.

Hunter was good when he started on the ISU Sweet 16 team and was good when starting on the UT Elite 8 team. He was fine deferring to Carr and Rice. Regardless, no point in arguing it. He’s gone. Maybe the new guys will end up being better.

Tre Johnson’s offensive game kind of reminds me of Kawhi Leonard when he was in his prime. He is a confident ball handler in traffic and can get his shot off from anywhere. He also isn’t an “explosive” athlete but his balance and body positioning and instincts are all great. He is also a big time competitor, especially when you consider he is a freshman. I think this team will get a lot better. It is constructed to win in a way that last year’s team wasn’t. We are stacked on the wings and have so many different lineups. Hot take alert: I like Tyrese Hunter better than Pope or Larry. He would have fit in so much better on this team than the last one. Shedrick is looking better. I really like what I see out of Kent. He is an awesome garbage collector / rebounder and is decent from distance. If Tre Johnson or Mark could play point guard we could roll out a lineup of: Johnson, Mark, Kent, Kaluma, Shedrick and out size anybody.

Anybody looking to sell their Men's Season Basketball Tickets? If so, shoot me a DM.

Ok sounds good. I will likely be tied up with parenting duties for this one, so I doubt I can spend a lot of time running a big tailgate. That said, if anyone picks up the banner, let me know and I may be able to help. We will likely park at the Fayetteville High School - and it would also make for a decent tailgate spot. I assume there would be plenty of room if people show up early. Closer to the stadium would have required some additional pre-planning.