Texas men’s basketball head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns made a good impression on a duo of Indiana State prospects during their April visit to campus.
After playing together for two years in Terre Haute, graduate guards Jayson Kent and Julian Larry decided to take the next step together.
Though the players were recruited separately, the two decided on a joint campus visit.
Kent committed during the visit and put some friendly pressure on his teammate to join him in Austin.
“We (were) coming back from Austin and I was like ‘Dude, whatcha gonna do? This probably looks like the best option for us. We can run it back one more time with another championship,’” Kent said. “So I kind of trickled a little bit. But I was like ‘At the end of the day, just do what’s best for you, but you know where your boy is going.’”
Indiana State was fresh out of a conference championship in the Missouri Valley Conference, and 2023 Big 12 champion Texas had everything Larry was looking for.
“I remember the player development, because that was the most important thing for me,” Larry said about his visit. “If we had everything going on the court, and everything was good, well I’m good because I’m the type of guy that can adapt to anywhere he’s at.”
The culture surrounding Texas basketball and Terry’s values matched perfectly with the pair.
“I’ve heard (Terry) has always been an energy guy,” Kent said about what he’s looking forward to the most. “And just having a coach with the energy who trusts his players to do what they do best, and being able to have his coaching staff push me to that next level and tell me ‘You belong here.’”
Going into a new season with a new team and group can be hard, but the two having each other’s back will ease the transition process.
“It’s good having somebody on the court that you know,” Larry said. “We know our offensive work, and we know we’re gonna try to steal bits and pieces.”
With two seasons of playing together, Larry is confident he and Kent have a dynamic that can work well for Texas. While they might be new faces to the team, the two have experience to share with the younger players.
“At first it was tough, because I had to come in and be like ‘I’m not that guy, but I’ve had experience,’” Larry said. “I had to come in the summer and prove to those guys like ‘Hey, I’m someone you can look to.’ Now it’s just more of making sure we’re good as a team.”
