Great Players, No Legacy

Three first round draft picks and nothing to show for it: Texas basketball's NBAdilemma

Tristan Thompson went No. 4 to Longhorns.
Jordan Hamilton made it three Longhorns in the first round.
But where has all this first-round talent gotten Texas and Rick Barnes?

As surprising as the Longhorn basketball team's early exit from March Madness 2011 was, it is mind-blowing for a Texas sports fan to tune into a professional draft and see three — yes three — UT players go in the first round.

Tristan Thompson went fourth to the Cavaliers, Jordan Hamilton went 26th to the Mavs and Cory Joseph 29th to the Spurs in the NBA Draft Thursday night. There it was for all the world to see: The University of Texas won the battle for most first-round draft picks.

So how is it that a team with three players chosen by the professional experts to be immediate game-changers in the NBA can only manage one win in the NCAA tournament. Oh sure, there was that horrible in-bounds pass call against Arizona, but let's not blame a ref for that loss/

The game should never have been that close. Texas had it well in hand until the wheels came off in the last minute.

Perhaps the most significant issue keeping Texas basketball fans from the land of plenty is this ... the Longhorns can't keep their great players on the team for more than a year or two. They come into the 40 acres with all the hype a national prep superstar should get. They play a couple years, and then they leave for the beckoning millions of dollars being waved under their noses from the very start.

It's nearly impossible to coach a group of guys who barely have time to learn each other's names into a team in which every player knows what the other is thinking.

T.J. Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge, Daniel Gibson, Kevin Durant, D.J. Augustin are now joined by Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph. All left within two years of walking into the Erwin Center as a Longhorn.

Give Rick Barnes credit, he has a knack for getting great players, but it's nearly impossible to coach a group of guys who barely have time to learn each other's names into a team in which every player knows what the other is thinking. Consequently we get one and done in the NCAA tournament.

Don't get me wrong, the Rick Barnes era has been the best ever. At least we can be confident Texas will get there every year (the Longhorns have made the tourney every year since 1999), and every once in a while the team makes our hearts sing. But Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Kansas are all arguably doing as well or better despite not getting all the McDonald's All-American players Texas keeps recruiting.

So the question becomes is Rick Barnes' recruiting philosophy working or should Texas perhaps be going for players who are really good but not first round NBA prospects straight out of high school ?

It seems crazy to suggest Texas NOT recruit the best players in the land, but what has eight first-round NBA draft picks gotten the program? Since the 2004 Final Four appearance, the Longhorns have advanced to the Sweet 16 only three times, the Elite Eight only twice.

Here's one silver lining, at least Texas sports fans will get to root for these guys. Jordan Hamilton hit a monster trey in getting traded from the deep world champ Mavericks to the run-and-gun Denver Nuggets on draft night, and Cory Joseph will be playing right down the road in San Antonio. Thompson becomes the third highest pick in Texas basketball history behind Durant and Aldridge who were taken second overall in their respective draft years.

No doubt, it's fun to watch the Texas kids rock the NBA, Durant in particular, and maybe Thompson soon. It would also be kinda fun to watch them rock the NCAA tournament once in awhile.

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High Score

Austin named the nation's pickleball capital in industry report

Photo by Henry Selis Photo

Other Racquet Social Club is back after city woes.

It's no secret that Austinites love pickleball. A new study proves just how much by ranking Austin the No. 1 city for pickleball in the whole country. Dallas and Houston also made the top 10 at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively.

The report was published by TeachMe.To, an online marketplace for learning sports (and sometimes music) from private instructors. It used data from its own platform, USA Pickleball, Places2Play, local pickleball associations, and more. It also referred to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, with a growth rate of 223.5 percent over three years.

Similarly, TeachMe.To ranked Austin as the fastest-growing city for pickleball, and citing this as the main reason for the overall title of "the nation's pickleball capital."

It name-checked the Austin Metro Pickleball Association (AMPA) — with approximately 3,000-3,500 members — and the Austin Pickleball League (APL), estimating that overall, "15,000-20,000 people play pickleball at least occasionally in the greater Austin area." About half of those players — about 8,000-10,000 people — play at least twice a month.

The report did not include gender data on Austin, specifically, but it did note that not only are two-thirds of pickleball players female; women's involvement in the sport is also growing 50 percent faster than men's.

New courts everywhere
This probably isn't a surprise to people who have noticed the number of courts opened around Austin in recent years. By 2024, TeachMe.To's data shows 32 dedicated courts in Austin, and thanks to with a utility rate of 92 percent it doesn't look like that'll be slowing down.

In the summer of 2023, the online booking platform Swimply noticed how many pickleball courts there were in Austin compared to such great demand, and added courts to its service. In fall 2023 and summer 2024, at least two important developments expanded that availability: Other Racquet Social Club opened as a friendly, country club-like neighborhood option, and national chain The Picklr announced it's bringing five locations to Austin and Round Rock.

Perhaps because Austin is such a food-obsessed city, there seems to be some growing opportunity for food and beverage hospitality around pickleball, too. Other Racquet recently started hosting the Bill's Dips food truck, a spinoff of the popular downtown restaurant Bill's Oyster; and a pair of bars with pickleball courts, Drifters Social Coffee & Cocktails and The Pickle Pub, also opened in South Austin this year, with strong online ratings already.

The trend has even reached into real estate (see this cute house with its own pickleball court) and inspired athletes to introduce similar sports to the local market, as in the case of the padel club Paddle39. TeachMe.To's report also mentioned tech companies adding pickleball to their campuses.

Aside from growth, the study also considered lesson activity (including information about teacher availability and diversity of clinic offerings), infrastructure, community vitality, the tournament scene.

Austin had the highest concentration of all the cities of players under 40 (65 percent), as well as the highest share of national lesson bookings. At 16.90 percent, that means about one in six of the pickleball lessons contracted through this platform were in Austin. Lesson demand, the report says, is growing 125 percent year-over-year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was No. 3 thanks in part to its "central location" according to the report.

"The city's 45 dedicated courts and 85 [percent] public accessibility rate have fostered one of the most active competitive scenes in the country, with 8,500 registered league players," it says. "The combination of strong tournament presence, extensive infrastructure, and a 112% growth in lesson bookings solidifies Dallas as a powerhouse in the national pickleball landscape."

Houston made No. 8 with an emphasis on integrating pickleball with other sports.

"The city's 22 dedicated courts have seen a 92% increase in lesson bookings, driven by innovative programming that includes the nation's first corporate league system," it says. "Houston's success in integrating pickleball into existing sports infrastructure while maintaining 72% year-round utilization demonstrates a sustainable model for rapid growth."

Overall predictions
After laying out data about the top cities in pickleball, the report made some predictions. As the Austin newcomer mentioned above believes, the report also thinks padel is the next big thing. It also guesses more cities will act like Houston by focusing on hybrid facilities.

It also expects to see an expanded professional circuit and mainstream coverage, more technology used on the court, a rise in the prevalence of young players, and more opportunities in corporate wellness and real estate. "Dedicated pickleball facilities will become as common as swimming pools in luxury developments," it says. Texans will be the judge of that one.

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