Gameday preview: How to watch the start of the Sean Miller era when Texas battles No. 6 Duke

Texas basketball season is here, meaning the Sean Miller era is set to officially begin. The Longhorns will not start their 2025-26 campaign with an easy tune-up matchup. The first test on the docket is a “neutral” site game in Charlotte, N.C. against No. 6 Duke as part of the Dick Vitale Invitational.

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“We look forward to the challenge of playing if not the best program in America, certainly one of them. We have an amazing amount of respect for Duke,” Miller said last week. “I really have a lot of respect for Jon Scheyer as a coach. I think the job that he’s done taking over for Coach K in itself on its face superior. I don’t know if anybody could do a much better job than what Jon has done taking over at Duke then leading them here to the future. We know it’s going to be a difficult challenge. At Texas, to go where we want to go and be the program we want to become, part of that path is you have to be able to play against the best. Duke certainly represents that.”

Duke is entering its fourth season under head coach Scheyer, who succeeded the legendary Mike Kyrzyzewski ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. Under Scheyer, the Blue Devils have won two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles, reached two Elite Eights, and made the 2025 Final Four. Duke was on its to playing for its sixth national title before Houston mounted an epic comeback in the final two minutes to knock off the blue blood program.

A number of NBA talents left Duke, namely Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, and Sion James. One of the, diaper dandies as Dick Vitale would say who will carry a significant load this year for Duke in an effort to advanced past where those current pros finished their collegiate careers is Cameron Boozer.

Boozer, son of Carlos Boozer, was the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 Rivals Industry Ranking. His talented twin brother, Cayden, was ranked No. 18 overall and also signed with the Blue Devils. Though both will contribute, Cameron is the name to know on this Duke team specifically in terms of his advanced ability to rebound at such a young age plus all the other things that make him a 2026 lottery prospect.

“My early impressions of Boozer is he’s like that generational freshman,” Miller said. “There’s always a No. 1 pick in the draft. Not all of them are the same. There’s always the best freshman that plays in college basketball. From year to year, that varies in actually who that great freshman is. I look at Cam as the best of the best.”

As the season gets going for Texas, Miller knows there’s growing to do. But he also knows that during that growth process, his team can show signs of what it could become when conference play begins and the calendar flips to 2026.

“I think we have a group that’s really coachable, that wants to learn, that wants to grow, that wants to be a ‘together’ group,” Miller said. “Being a new coach in the season of ’25-26 comes with its own set of challenges. I would say to you guys that we’re going to be a very difficult team to judge in the months of November and December. In my best attempt and I think all of our best attempt to be the best we can be, we have some limitations simply because we haven’t been together and through experiences long enough. We just don’t have enough of those.

“The silver lining when you watch our group, what I hope we bring to life for everybody is we’re a team that continues to develop and get better as we go along and that we hit our stride at the right time with continued good health and constant work and improvement.”

One note: Miller mentioned last week that Lassina Traore and Matas Vokietaitis did not participate in either of Texas’ closed scrimmages. However, he said Vokietaitis is set to play against Duke after an ankle sprain. Traore had a “mid-foot sprain” but Miller said he anticipates him being available, too. Both have been practicing.

Game notes via UT

Texas vs. No. 6 Duke

Dick Vitale Invitational presented by Belk
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 – 7:45 p.m. Central / 8:45 p.m. Eastern
Spectrum Center (19,077) – Charlotte, N.C.

GameDay Quick Facts

TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally by ESPN with Dave O’Brien (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst), Dick Vitale (analyst) and Kris Budden (reporter) on the call.

RADIO: The Longhorn Radio Network broadcasts every UT game on the statewide network. Craig Way (pxp) and Eddie Oran (analyst) will call the action. Check TexasLonghorns.com for a listing of affiliates carrying the game. ESPN Radio will broadcast the game nationally with Mike Couzens (pxp) and Bobby Valvano (analyst) on the call.

SERIES: Duke leads, 5-0. Last meeting: Duke 85-78 OT (Nov. 24, 2017; Portland, Ore.)

Notables

THE SEAN MILLER ERA BEGINS: Tuesday’s contest marks the debut of Sean Miller as the head coach of Texas Basketball. Miller has posted a 487-196 (.713) record in 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach and guided teams to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including four trips to the Elite Eight and eight to the Sweet 16.

FOR OPENERS: The Longhorns have won 21 of their last 23 season openers and posted an overall mark of 98-21 in their previous 119 season-opening games. 

ROSTER CONSTRUCTION: The 2025-26 Texas roster includes four returning players from last season’s team, five players from the NCAA Division I transfer portal and a pair of incoming freshmen. The 11 players who bring previous collegiate experience to this year’s roster have combined career totals of 5,980 points, 2,662 rebounds and 15,591 minutes in 694 games (387 starts).

Projected Duke Starting Five

All stats from 2024-25

• G Caleb Foster, Jr. (4.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.4 apg)
• G Isaiah Evans, So. (6.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.5 apg)
• G Dame Sarr, Fr.
• F Cam Boozer, Fr.
• C Pat Ngongba, So. (3.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.8 apg)

2025-26 Texas roster

All stats from 2024-25

Player	Number	Grade	PPG	RPG	APG	Previous School
Jordan Pope	0	Sr.	11.0	2.0	1.7	Oregon State
Cole Bott	1	Gr.	0.7	0.3	0.5
Chendall Weaver	2	Sr.	6.5	4.9	1.4	UT-Arlington
Dailyn Swain	3	Jr.	11.0	5.5	2.6	Xavier
Declan Duru Jr.	4	Fr.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Camden Heide	5	Jr.	4.7	3.6	0.5	Purdue
Simeon Wilcher	7	Jr.	8.0	1.9	1.4	St. John’s
Matas Vokietaitis	8	So.	10.2	5.4	0.3	FAU
John Clark	9	Fr.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nic Codie	10	So.	1.7	0.9	0.1
Tramon Mark	12	Gr.	10.6	3.7	1.7	Arkansas
Lewis Obiorah	14	Fr.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lassina Traore	23	Gr.	N/A	N/A	N/A	Xavier
Anthon McDermott	33	R-Fr.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Brandon Taylor	44	Gr.	1.9	0.4	0.4	East Texas A&M