Bohls: Home-grown, late-arriving Dylan Disu has been a late bloomer for Texas basketball

DES MOINES, Iowa — Dylan Disu followed his dream.

Not with the most direct route possible, but ultimately his desired destination matched up with that dream.

Disu, you see, is a born and raised Texan.

Grew up in Pflugerville. Just a long fast break from the Texas campus.

Starred for Hendrickson High School.

Attended Texas basketball — and football — games. Loved all things Longhorns.

But the Longhorns didn’t love him back. Not initially, anyway.

Disu's stature — or lack thereof — had something to do with it. The 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward for the Texas basketball team didn’t always have the size, the length, the stamina he does now. Or the health. And Texas didn’t have a spot for the skinny guy who was just growing into his body and scratching the surface of his game.

He got no offer from then-Texas coach Shaka Smart, who can be excused for overlooking Disu when he was landing players like Mo Bamba, Jarrett Allen, Jaxson Hayes and Kai Jones.

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And that’s exactly the reason the borderline four-star recruit left the 512 and settled in at Vanderbilt, of all places, after rejecting offers from Texas A&M, Illinois, SMU and Georgia Tech.

“It was tough,” Disu said Friday after practice at Wells Fargo Arena to get ready for Saturday night’s second-round game against Penn State. “I was kind of upset about it.”

He’s an emotional guy, but also, as Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry said, “a very cerebral guy, and we want him to bring that intellectual part to the team and be more vocal and share it.”

Or, as teammate Christian Bishop put it, “He’s a smart guy. Dylan’s a nerd."

But he fit in immediately at Vanderbilt where he was so young and raw, coaches called him “Bambi.” Good basketball school. Great academics.

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And both are equally important for this 22-year-old senior who has a 3.50 GPA and has skyrocketed into a prominent role in the Longhorns' front court. He has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games. That includes his 17-point, nine-rebound performance in Texas’ 81-61 win over Colgate on Thursday night in the team’s NCAA Tournament opener.

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“He’s playing with a fire,” teammate Timmy Allen said. “And it’s contagious. And there’s more to be given with his tenacity and his intention to dominate, so we feed off that.”

In so many respects, Disu is at home, near his stepdad and mom, Michelle, a college basketball player herself who taught Dylan how to shoot. “Just ask her, she’ll tell you,” he said.

Disu longed to be a Longhorn, but until he grew from 5-foot-10 as a high school freshman to 6-foot-9 before his junior season, he figured his place might be at an Ivy League school. “My coach said that’d be a good spot for me. At an Ivy League or Patriot League school.”

But he kept growing and cultivated enough attention to have some options. He chose Vanderbilt, where he had a 3.60 GPA and was the SEC's scholar athlete of the year two years ago. “I even got a trophy,” he said.

He got another one just a week ago as the most outstanding player of the Big 12 tournament.

Two years ago, Disu never could have envisioned that.

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But he ultimately got as good an education off the court as on and learned how harsh the sport can be.

It took him awhile, but Disu is finally home

After once showcasing his skills with a 29-point, 16-rebound performance against Kentucky, leading the entire SEC in rebounding and planning to return for his junior season, he suffered a serious, late-season knee injury in 2019 that required surgery. Four days later, he learned his head coach, Bryce Drew, was fired.

Disu followed him out the door.

And straight to Texas. How big a Longhorns fan was he?

He worked out with Brock Cunningham when they were seventh-graders. He went to Mack Brown’s football camps as a fourth-grader. He posed for pictures with Brown and worshipped Vince Young. “I really liked him. I was a quarterback-wide receiver and liked running quarterbacks.” Finally when he grew to 6-5 as a sophomore, he thought he might have outgrown the sport.

He dutifully rooted for the Longhorns even though he said his stepdad Rodney Anderson and sister Breonna are both Aggies. He still has a framed jersey autographed by Colt McCoy in the family home.

“He’s a hooper,” Cunningham said. “He’s got a basketball body.”

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While he may not be the star of this 2-seeded Longhorns team, he has more than become a pivotal player in Texas’ legitimate search for its first men’s national title.

Allen has done a lot of the grunt work, often guarding the opponent’s best player. He said he’ll get the honors of shadowing Penn State’s All-American point guard Jalen Pickett, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Siena who is so versatile that he’s led his team in rebounding 17 times.

The Nittany Lions have won nine of their last 11 games after hovering around .500 at 14-11 in mid-February. But they ignited behind their four-guard starting lineup, which could make the Big Ten team a bit vulnerable in the paint.

But it’s been Disu and Bishop who have picked up the slack inside. Disu once scored 51 points in a high school game against Leander and can hit the occasional trey with 10 to his credit this season with 32.3% accuracy.

“He can make ‘em,” Longhorns assistant Bob Donewald said. ”He made 37% of them at Vanderbilt. He’s got a real nice stroke.”

And now confidence to match that stroke.

Disu has been a critical part of Texas' late-season run

Starting with the Baylor game seven games ago, Disu has emerged as a consistent offensive weapon in the post. He’s got a good handle. He can hit the occasional three and has a nice mid-range shot. He loves to drive to the basket with authority and show off his one-handed floater.

“It’s just something that I think I’m naturally good at,” Disu said after his big night against the Raiders. “I have a solid touch.”

He does that.

He’s also very active down in the paint, which could be crucial in the showdown with a Penn State team that makes its living behind the 3-point iine. Disu and Bishop are two sidekicks down low who have steadily improved since midseason.

“He’s a cautious kid because he’s a thinker,” Donewald said. “But he’s always had the skill set. At the start of the second half last night, he came to me and said, ‘They can’t guard me. Keep coming to me.’“

They did and they’ll continue to do so to as long as Texas is alive in the tournament. In fact, Disu may be the most improved player in the entire Big 12. And that’s saying a lot.

“I feel really confident right now in my game,” Disu said, “but I think that confidence comes from just the encouragement that I’ve gotten from both coach Terry, the coaching staff and my teammates. They believe in me.”

He believes in himself, too, and will soon choose to stay another year in school or graduate in May and test the NBA waters. He thinks his versatility makes him more appealing to teams, but he’s still undecided about his future.

Until then, he’s glad to be a Longhorn. Better late than never.

Saturday's game

(2) Texas vs. (10) Penn State, 6:45 p.m., CBS, 104.9

Following the Horns

Our coverage team of Longhorns beat writer Thomas Jones and American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls have been in Des Moines, Iowa, since Wednesday. Follow their daily coverage on the Texas men at hookem.com. Longhorns beat writer Danny Davis and columnist Cedric Golden will cover the UT women as they open the NCAA Tournament this weekend at Moody Center.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: It took Dylan Disu awhile to come back home, but Texas sure is happy