Back in March, a new era of Texas men’s basketball kicked off with the hiring of former Xavier head coach Sean Miller after a tumultuous final season under Rodney Terry, where the Longhorns finished with a record of 19–16 and were eliminated in the First Four of the NCAA tournament.
The hiring of Miller brings a head coach with 20 seasons of coaching experience between two stints at Xavier and with the Arizona Wildcats. Miller has attained a 487–196 career record, holding a win percentage of .713.
In 20 years of coaching, Miller’s NCAA tournament track record is extensive, leading his teams to 13 appearances in the tournament, eight Sweet 16s and four Elite Eight appearances.
As soon as Miller reached Austin, he began constructing his roster.
He secured key returns from last year’s roster with senior guard Chendall Weaver, senior guard Jordan Pope and graduate guard Tramon Mark, while also retaining sophomore forward Nic Codie and redshirt freshman Anthon McDermott.
Both Mark and Pope were big pieces of the Longhorns’ offense last season, with both players in the top five for points per game and both averaging double-digit points on the season. Weaver was a defensive spark off the bench for Texas, averaging six points per game and 4.9 rebounds. Weaver’s impact goes beyond the box score with his high-intensity defense and hustle being a plus for Miller going forward.
Miller was also busy in the transfer portal, signing five players. Miller snagged two of his players from Xavier to follow him to Austin: senior forward Lassina Traore and junior guard and forward Dailyn Swain.
Traore transferred to Xavier for the 2024-25 season but missed the year with a season-ending knee injury in October last year. Swain played his first two years of college basketball under Miller, molding the 6 feet, 8 inches wing into a strong defender.
Miller also added junior guard Simeon Wilcher from St. John’s, sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis from Florida Atlantic and junior forward Camden Heide from Purdue.
The 7-foot center might make the quickest impact for the Longhorns, giving Miller a real defensive presence in the paint. Vokietaitis was named the AAC Freshman of the Year a season ago while at FAU, averaging 10.2 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game and about a block per game.
Miller inherited the commitment of freshman forward John Clark, who committed while Terry was still head coach. Clark is a four-star recruit and is ranked as the class of 2025’s No. 60 overall prospect in the nation by 247 Sports Composite. Miller also added international freshman center Lewis Obiorah. Widely seen as more of a developmental piece, the English prospect has plenty of potential with a 7 feet, 1 inch frame.
The new-look Longhorn roster will need time to gel, but the outlook for the 2025-2026 season is full of potential in year one under Miller.
