Up until the early 2000’s, there wasn’t a whole lot of consistent talent getting churned out of the Texas basketball program. There were a few NBA players with longevity in their careers coming off the Forty Acres in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, but it didn’t happen all that often.
Then something just changed for the Texas men’s hoops program when former head coach Rick Barnes took over in the 2000’s. Texas started producing first-round level talent on a regular basis. It all started with the likes of T.J. Ford, and continued throughout Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge, all the way up to Jaxson Hayes last year.