Timmy Allen, Sir'Jabari Rice, Marcus Carr ink UDFA deals
Four members of the record-setting 2022-23 Texas men’s basketball team were among the pool of players available last week when the NBA conducted its annual draft but none were selected in the two rounds.
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Timmy Allen, Christian Bishop, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice, each key contributors to the Longhorns’ run to the Elite Eight in 2022-23, were all draft eligible and three of those players have since signed contracts as undrafted free agents.
Allen, Rice and Carr will have a chance to make impressions at the NBA’s Summer League after signing deals with Memphis, San Antonio and Phoenix, respectively.
Allen will join the Grizzlies after spending his final two years at Texas and playing three seasons for Utah. As a fifth-year senior for the Longhorns in 2022-23, Allen was named to the Honorable Mention All-Big 12 team after he played and started in 35 of UT’s 38 games.
He led the team in rebounding (5.6 rpg) and ranked second in assists (122), third in scoring (10.5 ppg), blocks (17) and minutes (28.4 mpg) and fourth in steals (32). He reached double figures in scoring 20 times in 2022-23.
Rice signed a two-way contact with the Spurs after earning a spot at the NBA Combine and impressing scouts at the G League Elite Camp in Chicago May 13-14. He averaged 14.5 points, three rebounds and two assists in two games during the camp and leading his team in scoring in both contests.
Rice, the 2022 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, averaged 13 points, 3.5 rebounds and two assists per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field. During his only year in Austin after playing four years at New Mexico State, Rice was Texas’ second-leading scorer despite starting just three games. He led the Longhorns in scoring in 11 games, reached double figures in scoring 26 times and topped the 20-point mark six times last season.
Carr landed with the Suns after playing his final two collegiate seasons with the Longhorns. A sixth-year senior in 2022-23, Carr averaged 15.9 points per game, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals for the Big 12 Tournament-winning Longhorns.
He earned league first-team honors on the season after he averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 assists in his first campaign on the 40 Acres.
Bishop is still waiting to sign a deal and to find a place to continue his basketball career as a professional.
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Since the NBA Draft lottery started in 1985, Texas has produced nine lottery picks including: LaMarcus Aldridge (No. 2 pick in 2006); Kevin Durant (No. 2, 2007); Tristan Thompson (No. 4, 2011); Mohamed Bamba (No. 6, 2018); Chris Mihm (No. 7, 2000); T.J. Ford (No. 8, 2003); Jaxson Hayes (No. 8, 2019), D.J. Augustin (No. 9, 2008) and Myles Turner (No. 11, 2015). Since 2004, a lottery pick has included the top 14 selections in the draft.
A total of 48 Longhorns have heard their names called on draft night since its inception in 1947. Texas has produced a total of 19 first-round selections and 13 second-round picks in program history and has had 23 players drafted in the last 24 years (dating back to the 1999 Draft), including 18 in the past 17 years.
