IT Week in Review: Jordan Whittington's tough sacrifice, Moro Ojomo makes money in Indy, WBB takes home the conference crown
The Inside Texas Week in Review takes a look at an important off-field development for Jordan Whittington, Moro Ojomo’s strong combine performance, women’s basketball’s conference championship, and more.
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Jordan Whittington
Anyone who has paid attention to Jordan Whittington knows how hard the fifth-year wide receiver has worked in order to be a consistent presence on the field for the Texas Longhorns.
After three injury-hampered years, the Cuero product stayed on the field for every game during the 2022 season and was the No. 2 wide receiver to Xavier Worthy’s No. 1.
Hours upon hours upon hours at the training table and going through the recovery process were needed for Whittington to stay available for Steve Sarkisian and company. He also maintained a healthy diet to keep him in peak shape, with one weekly exception.
Whittington admitted last year he treated himself to a pint of ice cream following scrimmages. The sweet treat was a deserved reward for Whittington’s work.
But now ahead of spring, another change in Whittington’s routine has been made for him to become the best possible receiver he can be.
One of the most interesting and entertaining characters on the team, Whittington is treating his final season of college football like a contract year. He’s doing all the necessary things, even making the small sacrifices, in order to make 2023 his best at Texas.
Moro Ojomo
Texas sent five players to the NFL Combine this weekend, but none may have had more to prove than defensive lineman Moro Ojomo.
There was little doubt Ojomo would nail the interview and off-field aspect of the combine, but teams likely wanted to learn more about what the Katy product offered as an athlete.
As someone who bounced between roles at Texas, whether it be defensive end, 4i, or 3-technique, Ojomo was a consistently good player in spite of the switches, but the NFL is looking for consistently great. The combine offered him an opportunity to show that in addition to his stellar senior season, he had the tools needed to be consistently great.
He took full advantage of the opportunity. Ojomo ran a 5.04 40-yard dash with a 1.77 10-yard split, had a 33-inch vertical, and jumped 9 feet 4 inches in the broad jump. Plus, he delivered with 29 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.
Ojomo will get another opportunity at improving his marks this Thursday at Texas’ pro day, but posting those athletic numbers along with the solid showing in relatively limited opportunities at his pro position will help Ojomo make teams think long and hard about using a pick on him.
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Vic Schaefer
Texas women’s basketball locked up a share of the Big 12 title with a win over the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday, the program’s first regular season conference since the 2004 season.
The trophy is part of why Vic Schaefer came to Texas. Sure, Schaefer and company has achieved a lot in his time in Austin. Back-to-back Elite Eight appearances, a feat the program hadn’t achieved since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, were tremendous achievements. That was something Karen Aston and Gail Goestenkors couldn’t do during their times.
But Aston and Goestenkors also couldn’t bring home a Big 12 title. Kim Mulkey’s presence in Waco as head coach of Baylor had a lot to do with that, but with Mulkey now in Baton Rouge and the SEC, Schaefer has surged into the void left by her departure to establish Texas as the leading women’s basketball program in the Lone Star State.
Expectations are understandably high for the women’s basketball program, but Schaefer has met them nearly every step of the way. An exciting NCAA Tournament journey is on the horizon for the Lady Longhorns, and they’ll have a piece of hardware to their name when they embark on it.
No more doubts about the Moody Center
As mentioned previously, the Texas basketball programs successfully defended home court this year with a 31-3 combined record at the Moody Center.
There should be credit issued to Schaefer, Chris Beard, and Rodney Terry for putting together the teams then navigating them through the 34-game slate at the Mood.
But there’s no reason to ignore the Longhorn fans who were rewarded with a great venue in which to support great teams.
Texas averaged just under 11,000 fans per game for men’s basketball this season. In the Erwin Center, that would have been good for over half of the seats. The butts in those seats likely would have been scattered around the entire arena rather than concentrated in the lower bowl.
For the women’s basketball program, the comparatively meager numbers would have made for an even worse environment. But packed into a lower bowl, the true fans were concentrated in great seats and were able to see a great show.
No matter what the future of the program is for the men or the women, the programs both have a phenomenal venue for their games. Luckily for the fans who deserve a lot of credit for those records, the programs rewarded their investment this past year with a significant amount of wins.
