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Texas' Mo Bamba flashes star potential, personality at Texas Tip-Off

By , Staff writerUpdated
Mohamed Bamba waits for a free throw during the Jordan Brand Classic All-Star basketball game at the Barclays Center on April 14, 2017 in New York.
Mohamed Bamba waits for a free throw during the Jordan Brand Classic All-Star basketball game at the Barclays Center on April 14, 2017 in New York.Tim Clayton-Corbis /Getty Images

AUSTIN – Mohamed Bamba ducked through the puny doorway and made his way through the cramped classroom tucked away in the back of Gregory Gym. The 7-foot freshman sensation shook hands with every person assembled. When unfurled, his digits seemed to extend in perpetuity.

This was an extraordinarily large teenager. Even his aura felt larger than life. Some giants never find comfort in the supersized bodies; Bamba doesn't have that problem.

He was the star attraction Wednesday night at Texas' "Tip-Off" event, leading UT Orange to a 58-49 win over UT White in a 24-minute intrasquad scrimmage. Bamba paced all players with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

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"It feels good to finally get out there and play in front of a home crowd," Bamba said. "Certainly things we need to do better, but it was good to get out there and show what I can do offensively and defensively and how good of a team we've got."

No one, not Bamba or coach Shaka Smart or anyone else, knows whether this team will rebound from a disastrous 11-22 campaign. But it's safe to say there will be fireworks aplenty.

As an entrée to the game, sophomore Kerwin Roach pulled his own mother from the stands to use as a dunk-contest prop. He promptly soared over her, legs split wide, sending the gym into a frenzy.

Springy 6-9 freshman Jericho Sims threw down a few nasty slams of his own, including a windmill alley-oop in which he practically hung eye-level with the rim.

"Jericho is a freak of nature," sophomore guard Andrew Jones said. "I haven't seen a guy like that ever in my life. Y'all are going to know about Jericho Sims very soon. An under-the-radar guy who's not going to be there too much longer."

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Sophomore center James Banks bounded up and down the court like a 6-10 ball of pure energy, scrapping for rebounds and hammering home a few jams. He also fouled out in just 15 minutes.

The teams combined to shoot 12 of 29 from deep. Jones, Roach, Jacob Young and Eric Davis made two apiece. That's an encouraging trend considering UT ranked a difficult-to-digest 342nd (of 347 Division I teams) in 3-point shooting percentage last year.

Both offenses mostly avoided becoming stagnant or bogged down. That type of spacing and constant movement was made possible due to the versatility of Bamba and junior Dylan Osetkowski.

The latter in particular could emerge as the fulcrum of this offense. Smart deemed the Tulane transfer "the best offensive engine that we have." Even with his right (dominant) hand heavily wrapped, Osetkowski was handling the rock and slinging slick passes to cutters and marksmen on the perimeter.

"It just makes it easier for us guards," said Davis, who poured in 13 points on 5 of 8. Playing through those guys. "Coach calls Dylan a conductor and I believe it as well. He's driving the ball, gets a couple and-1s, gets to the line. Now the 'D' sucks in and we've just got to sit there and knock down shots.

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"They're (Bamba and Osetkowski) willing passers. They're going to get a lot of attention and it makes our jobs as guards easier."

The duo has become so dominant that Smart has not yet paired them together in any team scrimmages. "The other team has no chance," he said with a shrug.

Their passing acumen should make the college adjustment run a bit smoother for freshman point guard Matt Coleman, who in time could emerge as the stable hand this team desperately needed last season. But at least initially the full load won't be his to bear.

"He had a couple bad turnovers today but I thought for the most part he ran his team pretty well," Smart said. "I thought that was a big part of why that Orange team came out ahead. He puts a lot of pressure on himself because he wants to do everything perfect, which is not a bad thing. But he's got to understand that this is a game where you've got to move on and go to the next thing. We didn't really have that same level of steadiness (at PG) last year."

Talent abounds on Smart's third UT team. It's almost impossible to believe this squad won't at least challenge for an NCAA tournament bid. But it will only go as far as Bamba takes it.

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His introduction to Longhorn Nation was filled with Cheshire cat smiles, electric dunks and rejections, and a few questionable dance moves.

At the end of his availability, Bamba appeared almost forlorn when there no more questions to be asked.

"We're just getting warmed up," one reporter quipped.

And so is Mo.

nmoyle@express-news.net
Twitter: @NRMoyle

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Nick Moyle is a New Jersey native and an alum of Rutgers University and Indiana University’s National Sports Journalism Center. He joined the Express-News in 2015.Email Nick at nmoyle@express-news.net.