AUSTIN — As UMass transfer Tre Mitchell neared the end of explaining how he had improved as a defender this offseason, Chris Beard just had to chime in.
“It’s a work in process,” Beard said, smirking.
“Yeah,” added a mid-laugh Mitchell, “it’s an ongoing process. But we made some strides.”
Seated alongside each other during a media availability last month, the Longhorns’ new coach and new center — Beard remains hesitant to pigeonhole the “position-less” big as such, though Mitchell will be Texas’ de facto five — looked like old pals, comfortable enough to sit together, crack jokes and share hard truths in the public eye. But this is a newborn relationship, one developed over the past several months as Beard, the former Texas Tech redeemer who accepted the Texas job on April Fool’s Day, courted the two-time All-Atlantic 10 junior.
“So, I was in the portal for a lengthy amount of time,” said Mitchell, who didn’t sign with Texas until June 15. “But I just sort of knew from my first phone call with coach Beard. There was just a different energy to the phone call.
“He wasn’t necessarily so concerned about the basketball portion, he was concerned about me as a person. And that just told me right away that he’s looking for the right people to build the right culture here.”
Thoughts drip slowly, deliberately from Mitchell’s mouth. He’s less concerned with the molasses flow of those words than he is with projecting the right demeanor and delivering a spotless answer. And in any case, the 6-foot-9 transfer’s game is his real megaphone.
In two seasons at UMass, Mitchell posted 18.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 blocks, 1.2 steals and 1.2 3s per game. He shot 49 percent from the field, 34.2 percent from deep — 37.5 percent as a sophomore — and 74.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Mitchell also averaged 22.5 points on 65.4 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 combined steals and blocks and 1.5 3s in last season’s A-10 tournament. He popped off for 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting in a quarterfinals loss to Saint Louis while the other Minutemen combined for 42 points on 35.9 percent shooting.
At Texas, Mitchell won’t have to be Atlas. Rather, he’s one of seven highly sought-after players plucked from the transfer portal to join four holdovers (Andrew Jones, Brock Cunningham, Jase Febres, Courtney Ramey) and four-star freshman swingman Jaylon Tyson in pursuit of the program’s first national championship.
“It wasn’t really always about being a star for me,” Mitchell explained. “I obviously loved my time at UMass and I wouldn’t change it for the world because I learned so many things while I was there. But coming here and being surrounded by other guys who are called stars, there’s just another level to practice every single day. You have to bring it every single day or you’re going to get exposed. It’s been a pleasure for me, honestly.”
Mitchell operated at a bulkier 240 pounds during his UMass days. He shed about 12 pounds following a month of intensive training with Texas strength and conditioning coach John Reilly, and he’s now listed at a svelte 220.
Beard believes losing that extra heft will amplify Mitchell’s athleticism, allow him to perform swifter rotations, soar higher for boards and blocks and wall off ball handlers and slashers on the perimeter.
“He joined our team about halfway through the summer, plus or minus a couple days,” Beard said. “So he had basically half the offseason time with John Reilly that the other guys did, and he caught up pretty quickly.
“Defensively, he’s a talented guy, kind of a natural shot-blocker. But he’s also got the size to wall up. He’s really good in the pick-and-roll coverages, guy’s got quick feet. So we have really high expectations for him defensively and it all starts with his willingness to buy-in and view himself that way.”
Beard expects Mitchell, 21, will be a “great pro one day, maybe sooner than later.”
But even one season with the soft-spoken Mitchell should help feed this starved program some NCAA tournament wins. And the surrounding talent on this roster might just serve to sharpen Mitchell, the work-in-progress still years away from fully blooming.
“For me, it’s more of a day-by-day process because I know that I’m nowhere near where I know I can be,” Mitchell said. “So I wake up every day just thinking about, what can I do today to make it better than yesterday? What can I do today to improve just a little bit? Because in the long run you put all those days together and you can accomplish something amazing.”
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