Texas basketball head coach Sean Miller discusses state of point guard position

If you were to take a quick glance at the current iteration of first-year head coach Sean Miller’s Texas basketball roster, the point guard position would stand out as one that looks very thin this deep into the offseason.

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This exact position was one of the weakest on Texas’ roster last year. While Tre Johnson put up star-level numbers at the 2, Texas spent most of the year rotating between Jordan Pope and Julian Larry as the main ball handlers. This duo was fairly low impact throughout the season in terms of playmaking, with the two combining for less than 16 points and five assists. Larry’s 2.9 APG led the team.

Even with the emergence of Tramon Mark as a lead ball handler late in the season, providing Texas with better offensive numbers, Texas fans knew that more guard play was necessary for the 2025–26 season after the departure of Johnson to the draft and Larry’s graduation.

Despite this, Miller only added one player that can be defined as a guard — Saint John’s transfer Simeon Wilcher. Wilcher spent his sophomore season at St. John’s, one of the nation’s best teams, and started in 25 of the team’s 36 games. Wilcher was productive but wasn’t much of a stat-sheet stuffer. Eight PPG on 40% shooting doesn’t exactly move the needle.

“He’s a combo guard. He could play either spot. I think that his future is with the ball in his hands, and I think that we’re anxious and excited to help him continue to evolve and grow in that area,” Miller said about Wilcher at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida. “But what I like the most about him is he was an important player on a two-seed, a team that won 30 games, a team that won the Big East. He’s a two-way player. There are times defensively when he can change the game, which is exciting.”

This now sets up Texas to have another trio of ball-handling guards: Wilcher and the returning Mark and Pope. This group is one of the more perplexing point guard combos in the SEC, as none of these players are true point guards. Combo guards, as Miller identified Wilcher, can play both on-ball and off, with the ability to play alongside another point guard or as the primary ball handler.

“If you just watch the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Finals, I think that everybody recognizes that the game has evolved and grown,” Miller said. “And when you think of just point guard play, you used to think of that one guy, right? It just was the extension of the coach, and he passed more than he shot and he ran the show. And that’s not to say that it still doesn’t exist, but I think the way the modern game is, and certainly the style that we play, you have a number of different players that are capable.”

Though this trio of guards is not on the level of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jalen Brunson, you can understand where Miller is coming from. All three of these players are their teams’ point guards, but also the main scoring options down the stretch. Having multiple players on your team with this skill set in the college game can be beneficial to your overall flexibility and ball-handling on the perimeter.

“I think the depth and the collection of those guys will all make us have a good group of point guards, guards that can make decisions and play a style that we want to play,” Miller said. “Usually, when you watch us play, you’ll see three perimeter players who all have to use pick and rolls and make decisions and be able to push the ball with tempo on the break, and sometimes maybe even more than three on the court at the same time.”

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One reason to be confident about this group of ball handlers is the fact that Miller’s offensive system is far superior to the one Rodney Terry utilized last season. Miller prioritizes fast breaks, off-ball movement, and NBA-style packages that will open up the offense in ways we haven’t seen in Austin in years.

There’s still a chance Miller looks internationally to add to the backcourt, as Wilcher is the only player with eligibility after this year, but as it stands, this trio will be handling the ball for Texas as they attempt to rebound from a disappointing season.