In January of 2017, Shaka Smart had a problem — he desperately needed a point guard.
Smart’s Texas Longhorns team suffered the unexpected loss of Isaiah Taylor to the NBA Draft after his first season, leaving the Horns reliant on young players like Kerwin Roach II and Andrew Jones to handle the basketball.
It wasn’t working, as Texas stumbled through the 2016-17 season, suffering losses to UT-Arlington and Kent State and dropping four of the first five games in conference play before finishing the season with an 11-22 record.
The team clearly lacked leadership, too, as Smart tried to instill his culture in his second year at Texas — even before the season started, Roach and Tevin Mack were suspended for multiple games.