Gerry Hamilton

Texas Longhorns 2026-27 Roster Seniors: None Juniors: Elyjah Freeman, G/F, 6-8 (9.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals at Auburn) Matas Vokietaitis, C, 7-0 (15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.9 blocks) David Punch, PF, 6-7 (14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals & 1.9 blocks at TCU) Mikey Lewis, CG, 6-3 (13.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists at St. Mary’s) Anthon McDermott, SG, 6-5 Sophomores: Isaiah Johnson, lead guard/PG, 6-1 (16.9 ppg, 2.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists at Colorado) Amari Evans, G/W, 6-5 (4.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals at Tennessee) Freshmen: Marcus Spears Jr., PF, 6-9.5 Austin Goosby, CG, 6-5.5 Bo Ogden, W/G, 6-5.5 John Clark, PF, 6-9 (RS-Fr.) Lewis Obiorah, C, 7-0 (RS-Fr.) Joe Sterling, SG, 6-4 Coleman Elkins, C, 6-10 Mantas Laurencikas, PG, 6-3 Texas' 2026-27 Schedule Nov. 2 - Chicago State at Texas, 8pm CT. SEC Network Nov. 5 - Gardner-Webb at Texas, 7pm CT SEC Network Nov. 9 - Grambling State at Texas, 6pm CT SEC Network Nov. 15 - Baylor vs Texas (San Antonio), 2pm CT ESPN Nov. 19 - Southern Utah at Texas, 7pm CT SEC Network Nov. 22 - Southern Indiana at Texas, 7pm CT ESPN Network Nov. 26 - Georgetown vs. Texas (San Diego), 1:30pm CT FS1 Nov. 27 - UCLA/St. Mary’s vs. Texas, 4pm CT FOX Dec. 1 - Texas at Louisville, 8pm CT ESPN2 Dec. 8 - Jackson State at Texas, 7pm CT SEC Network Dec. 12 - Texas vs. Miami (Fla) (Houston) 4:30pm CT ESPN Dec. 16 - Memphis at Texas, 8pm CT ESPN2 Dec. 21 - Prairie View A&M at Texas, 7pm CT SEC Network Dec. 29 - East Texas A&M at Texas, 7pm CT SEC Network Jan. 2 - Florida at Texas, 5pm CT ESPN2 Jan. 5 - Texas at Georgia, 8pm CT ESPN Jan. 9 - Texas at Ole Miss, 11am CT ESPNU Jan. 12 - Auburn at Texas, 8pm CT ESPN/2 Jan. 16 - Oklahoma at Texas, 11am CT ESPN/2 Jan. 19- Texas at LSU, 8pm CT SEC Network Jan. 23- Arkansas at Texas, 5pm CT ESPN/2 Jan. 27 - Texas at South Carolina, 7pm CT SEC Network Jan. 30 - Kentucky at Texas, 11am CT ESPN/2 Feb. 6 - Texas at Florida, 11am CT ESPN Feb. 9 - Alabama at Texas, 6pm CT ESPN Feb. 13 - Texas at Vanderbilt, 1pm CT ESPN/2 Feb. 17 - Texas A&M at Texas, 8pm CT ESPN2/U Feb. 20 - Texas at Oklahoma, 7:30pm CT ESPN Feb. 24 - Texas at Mississippi State, 6pm CT ESPN2/U Feb. 27 - Tennessee at Texas, 5:30pm CT ESPN/2 March 2 - Missouri at Texas, 6pm CT ESPN/2 March 6 - Texas at Texas A&M, 7pm CT SEC Network

Men’s Basketball picked second in SEC media preseason poll Vokietaitis named to Preseason All-SEC Second Team and Punch tabbed All-SEC Third Team by league media members. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Texas Men’s Basketball team was picked to finish second in the Southeastern Conference by a panel of both SEC and national media members, the league office announced Monday. Junior center Matas Vokietaitis was tabbed to the five-person Preseason All-SEC Second Team, and junior forward David Punch was named to the five-person Preseason All-SEC Third Team. Florida is the preseason SEC favorite in the media poll and is followed by Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama in the top five. Thomas Haugh of Florida was tabbed the Preseason SEC Player of the Year. Vokietaitis returns for his second season at Texas and his third year in college basketball. A 2026 NABC All-Gulf District Second Team selection, he played and started all 36 games last year and led the team in blocks (33) and ranked second in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg). Vokietaitis reached double figures in scoring in 31 of the 36 games, including eight 20-point performances, while hitting double digits in rebounds six times and posting six double-doubles. In his four NCAA Tournament contests last season, he averaged 16.0 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per game. Punch elected to transfer from TCU following the 2025-26 season. He has played in 66 career games (61 starts) and registered two-year career totals of 687 points, 370 rebounds and 94 blocks in 1,661 minutes. Punch earned honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference and NABC All-Gulf District First Team honors last year. He played in 34 of a possible 35 games (34 starts) and led the team in scoring (14.1 ppg), rebounding (6.8 rpg) and blocks (66), ranked second in steals (45) and third in assists (68) and minutes (29.7 mpg) while helping the Horned Frogs post a 23-12 mark (11-7 Big 12) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Texas opens the 2025-26 season with a home contest against Chicago State on Monday, Nov. 2. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. Central in Moody Center, and the contest will be televised by SEC Network. Preseason Predicted Order of Finish: Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina Preseason Player of the Year: Thomas Haugh (Florida) Preseason All-SEC First Team: Rueben Chinyelu (Florida), Juke Harris (Tennessee), Thomas Haugh (Florida), Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State), Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt) Preseason All-SEC Second Team: Amari Allen (Alabama), Alex Condon (Florida), Milan Momcilovic (Kentucky), Jordan Smith Jr. (Arkansas), Matas Vokietaitis (TEXAS) Preseason All-SEC Third Team: PJ Haggerty (Texas A&M), Malachi Moreno (Kentucky), Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn), David Punch (TEXAS), Billy Richmond III (Arkansas)

You don't have to be a QB instructor for a person to know what they are talking about. Ball should never have been thrown. It's not processing in real time fastest enough for Arch at this point. That is reality. And the other reality is he may just end up lacking innate feel and athletic instincts at the highest level of some others that shows up in situational awareness and under duress in key moments. The plays were made early in the season to let anyone with working eyes that has been around the game their whole life. Read what I wrote, and go back and watch the games again. It's all right there.

Make sure and go to KSR after the first basketball loss this season.

Ball should never have been thrown. A QB is never taught to throw the ball going right off balance under duress and late down the field from the hash marks to middle of the field. NEVER. Nothing else matters. It's situational awareness, innate feel for the position. The problem with Arch is he's not progressing. His eyes aren't progressing as a QB right now. For his future, they have to start progressing. Then it comes down to pure feel and instincts for the QB position. That will have to be proven out.

Texas win by 9-10

The offensive stats will look better the next three weeks!

Tough call there IMO I think CJ needed a change of scenery, and he wasn't healthy enough last year. I'm a huge fan of CJ Baxter. Hope he makes it to the NFL and sets up his life. Great dude. Real leader as you alluded to.

50-50

This is like watching the Nick Saban documentary all over again This really is what being the most physical football team is all about in a game in which physicality at the highest levels are required

I get what you are saying, but both can be true. You can 100% accurately evaluate Arch right now. QB innate feel, instincts and in game quick decision making this season has a lot of opportunities and trends.

Going to call a spade a spade This is a post I didn't want to have to make. I'm a big fan of Arch Manning. Have been since seeing him for the first time in high school. He's a very hard worker. He carries himself the correct way. He cares. He's a very "good guy," just like he says he wants to be. That's what has been drilled into him by his family, and the family is great. I love his sense of humor, and he carries himself really well in a true fishbowl of life he will forever live in. I'm happy he's a Texas Longhorn. His commitment to Texas was and remains massive for the University of Texas. I've said before many times on the YouTube channel he's the first high school athlete that I've seen built up and broken down, as that is normally saved for pro athletes and a select few in college. Being Arch Manning comes with a lot of good to great, and some the exact opposite. He's certainly not going to be treated by the media in a click bait world like the normal athlete. It is what it is, and it's not easy for an 18-22-year-old figuring out life just wanting to be a college "kid" while developing his craft. It was going to be that way for Arch at any blue blood he signed with. With that said, I feel strongly that 20 starts and five games into the season with the fourth quarter vs. Oklahoma less than 24 hours removed is the time to address what has to happen moving forward for Manning. I thought back during the fourth quarter and after the game to the season opener vs. Texas State with 16 seconds remaining in the first half with Texas up 28-7. Texas was coming out of a timeout with the ball on the Texas State 10-yard line. I remember thinking (maybe saying on the Watch With Us) do not force a throw here. Even though the game wasn't in doubt, make the smart or correct quarterback play to end the half. Value points, value momentum, value the football. It all matters later in a season when games are on the line. Every play when a decision has to be made at the QB position is key part of development. Every single one. After an incompletion, Arch forced a throw over the middle into triple coverage that ended in a really bad interception. Did it hurt Texas in terms of winning or losing the game vs an inferior opponent? Of course not. Was it a really bad QB decision? Absolutely. Arch said it after the game and on Monday. I remember saying on the Watch With Us that needs to be the worst pass/decision Arch makes all season. Because anything close to that recurring would likely be a lot more meaningful in SEC play. Arch had some bad QB luck vs. Ohio State in the first half. He made two tremendous throws that were dropped - Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo. Two should have been TDs (or eventual TD with Coleman). He had a wonderful QB moment in the fourth quarter rally and victory over a very good Ohio State team. In order to be real, it's also very important to be fair. The first drive vs UTSA was solid. He got off to a quality start. There was seemingly progression in decision making vs Ohio State and UTSA. After taking the self inflicted big hit, that game changed. Around a number of errant throws in that game (and before the hit) was the illegal forward pass with 13:56 remaining in the third quarter. It happens for all quarterbacks, and has throughout the history of the game. Fast forward to the Tennessee game. I've never seen two illegal forward passes by the same quarterback in a game. Never. I'm sure it has happened, but my eyes weren't on the TV or in person for a game in history it happened. And I've certainly never seen three in two games, or an illegal forward pass by the same QB in back-to-back games. Again, it's probably happened somewhere in the history of the game, but my 51-year-old eyes have never seen it. To do that three times in two games, and back-to-back games, is truly head scratching plays at the QB position. Around all that there were plays in each game where Arch was outside the tackle box and ate the ball taking an unneeded sack vs throwing the ball away. Similar to the end of the half vs. Texas State, those decisions don't hurt a team when you are winning, but one should clearly put those away in the memory bank if the decision-making returns in game deciding situations or games. Well, the fourth quarter of the Oklahoma game happened less than 24 hours ago. The pick-six pass can't be made, period. Under duress, Arch did a good job keeping the play alive, but what happened next just can't happen at the QB position. At some point in a quarterback's development, one has to register in the moment when the play calls for innate feel, instincts or extremely quick processing to throw the damn ball away. Not taking a sack in a meaningless game and throwing the ball away reps mattered earlier in the season. Sadly, the INT into triple coverage to the end the half vs. Texas State did not remain the worst pass thrown all season. I'm not going to break down the entire why the decision/throw was horrible, because it doesn't even need to be broken down. The ball wasn't valued. The moment wasn't valued. The situation wasn't valued. It wasn't processed in real time by a QB. Then there was the second INT. The reaction to the blitz was a forced throw again. It was a tough spot, but Manning had time to throw an uncatchable ball to the Texas coaches standing along the sideline. And this isn't a nitpick, as one can look at many scenarios in which a QB makes the correct throw away under duress with the game on the line. So where is Arch Manning at through five games this season, and 20 starts into his college career? In my opinion, he's now at the most important part of his career and development to date. Some really bad quarterback decisions in meaningless games early in the season became major in a rivalry game against a struggling team. A game that was given away by the Texas special teams, offense and quarterback. The head scratcher plays have to begin to cease. If we are still talking about them continuing to happen in November, there is a bigger problem that will have to be addressed. The plays in which one is forced to question innate feel and instincts for the position need to be in the rearview mirror, starting Saturday vs. Florida. The growth in game in split second decision making has to happen October 17. Period. The reality is Texas is going to score more points, make more explosive plays in the passing game and "look" better on offense the next three games in October. Texas isn't facing Matt Patricia, Jim Knowles and Brent Venables defenses and overall personnel level the next three games. But that doesn't mean Texas has suddenly improved or "found it" offensively. That doesn't mean Arch Manning has figured it out. This isn't about stats. This is about in-game decision making, and seeing the correct growth. Time is no longer on Arch Manning's side, and on Texas' side. Growth has to be easily seen. The time is now. I'm rooting for Arch, as I always have been. The fishbowl and pressure of being a Manning following in massive footsteps is real. That will always be acknowledged when I speak about Arch. At the same time, he's in a position in which major and career arc changing growth at the position has to begin today. There is no other option after five games this season. I'm not expecting perfection, as that is not the real world. I am expecting key growth to begin now. It simply has to for Arch, and the Texas Longhorns 2026 season.

I legitimately don’t understand why Texas defense is coming up in the OU loss discussion. Texas defense is the only phase that is playing/showing championship caliber performance. It’s damn hard to lose a game when a defense holds an opponent to 238 yards and 2-13 on third downs. Texas offense and special teams are the reason there is a loss in the column. Period.

It's Sark's scheme. Just to be clear.

Well done lol

Thoughts on the ugly loss 1. It’s a horrible freaking loss. No sugarcoating. Period. There are few feelings in sports worse than feeling like you gave a game away. 2. Going into the game, Texas was the favorite for a reason. It was said all week the only way Oklahoma would win this game is if Texas helped them/gave them momentum. Well, Texas did it. And the team got the loss they deserved. A punt blocked for a TD after a bye week following a horrible special teams performance. You deserve to lose. A late throw pick six INT by a fourth year quarterback that doesn’t seem to be able to process in play when and why to throw a ball away. You deserve to lose. Two INT’s in fourth quarter. You deserve to lose. 3. I will give Oklahoma credit for winning the third quarter physically. They earned the 3rd quarter. 4. Texas defense is playing championship caliber football. The Texas offense and special teams is showing the possibility of pissing away a very good defensive team. Texas gave up 238 yards, and lost today. Oklahoma was 2-13 on 3rd downs, and Texas lost. That’s bad and rare, period. 5. Going into this game, the team that rushed for the most yards was 23-1-1 in the last 25 games. Texas won the rushing battle, but lost the game. 122 to 83. OU had one run of 42, and zilch otherwise save a couple of effective runs for 6-8 yards. 6. Texas out gained OU 382 to 238. And lost. 7. There is so much more to talk about, but the reality is Texas gave Oklahoma the opportunity to win the game. And when you do that, a loss is deserved. 8. Texas is a poor offensive football team. There is seemingly a refusal or will to win with physicality. It’s too hit or miss, and too clunky far too often in year six. And Arch makes way too many head scratcher plays with over 20 starts. —— Texas at 4-1, now has one game margin for error. With no bye week remaining and seven straight SEC games to follow, Texas is a ways away from being a contender for anything meaningful offensively. The offense will look like they are getting well or improving with lesser defensive teams coming in the schedule, but it may be the eyes fooling more than Texas making strides.

Best of luck to you!