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Stadium: Erwin Center
The Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Special Events Center — usually just The Erwin Center in common usage — is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. It is also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to its drum-like appearance from outside. The facility is primarily the home court for the UT men's and women's basketball programs, and is also home to the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League.
Team History:
The men's basketball team has achieved national prominence under head coach Rick Barnes in recent years. Barnes has guided Texas to a school-record nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a school-best eight consecutive 20-win seasons as of March 11, 2007.
Hired as the 23rd men's basketball coach in Texas history on April 12, 1998, Rick Barnes left Clemson University to take over a Texas program coming off of a losing season and "in disarray." Former head coach Tom Penders had resigned after a scandal involving his unlawful release of player Luke Axtell's grades to the media. Longhorn players Axtell, Chris Mihm, Gabe Muoneke, and Bernard Smith had met with Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds "to say that they had lost faith in Penders and his program."
Despite playing with just seven scholarship players for the majority of the 1998-1999 season — and opening the season with a 3-8 record — Barnes engineered one of the greatest midseason turnarounds in school history. The Longhorns won 16 of their final 21 games, posting a 13-3 record in conference play and winning the school's first regular season Big 12 Conference championship by a two-game margin, and finishing the year at 19-13, with a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Season Preview:
P.J. Tucker has a message for all those underclassmen who have decided to stay in the draft or are even waffling at this juncture: You had better get with the right team, one that fits your game.
If you don't, expect the road to be quite bumpy early in your career.
Look, you can debate who is to blame for Tucker's plight. After leaving Texas with one year of eligibility remaining, he was drafted by Toronto at No. 35 in the second round in 2006 and released less than a year later when the Raptors picked up Luke Jackson from Oregon.
Still, the reality is that Tucker and the Raptors weren't a good fit, unlike what his former Texas teammate Daniel Gibson has found in Cleveland. Gibson, like Tucker, left Texas early. And like Tucker, Gibson was selected in the second round (42nd overall in 2006).
"It's not about the pick or the round," said Tucker. "I'd rather go in the second round to a team that I could play for than a team in the first round that doesn't need me. It wasn't a great fit for me or the team. It just didn't work out. It's all about the fit, just look at Daniel, look at Paul Millsap [No. 47 to Utah in the 2006 second round] and Dee Brown [No. 46 to Utah in the 2006 second round]. If you go with the right team, then everything will work out."
Tucker played in 17 games for the Raptors and averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds. He played for the Colorado 14ers in the NBA Developmental League and averaged 10.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19 games.
Official Site:
texassports.com