Bohls: Texas, Rodney Terry could return the nucleus for another deep NCAA run next season

While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. A rebuild for Rodney Terry? Maybe not

Texas hoops should be strong again: Some are already forecasting next season as a rebuild and even a big makeover. I disagree. I fully expect coach Rodney Terry to dip heavily into the transfer portal for a big and a point guard. But I can’t help but think Texas basketball will come back strong, assuming it hangs onto a strong nucleus built around incoming 6-foot-8 forward Ron Holland, point guard Tyrese Hunter, shooting guard Arterio Morris, glue guy Brock Cunningham and. hopefully, stretch four Dylan Disu if he chooses to return. Disu, the hit of the NCAA Tournament with 45 points and 20 rebounds in Texas' first two games, is clearly an NBA ’tweener and could use an extra year in college to beef up, work on his overall game and improve as a perimeter shooter. It’s not too big a stretch to suggest Disu could be a preseason first- or second-team All-American, given his surge in the NCAAs. … When I asked big man Dillon Mitchell and Hunter at Tuesday’s press conference if they were coming back next year, they both shrugged and put their palms up. Texas is hoping the entire coaching staff returns, and Bob Donewald said he plans to. … Terry said he really looked up to Tubby Smith when he was a young head coach at Fresno State. “He was a guy I always modeled myself after,” Terry said of the coach who won a national title at Kentucky and then coached at Texas Tech. “He was such a class act. I coached against him once at Texas Tech.” … A good source said Texas had strongly considered former Utah Jazz and Missouri coach Quin Snyder before he became the head coach for the Atlanta Hawks. Have zero issue with athletic director Chris Del Conte looking for absolutely the best man for the job before deciding that person was Terry.

2. Texas' $15.3 million birthday gift

Big, but not biggest, bucks: It’s very good that Texas gave Terry a five-year deal. Anything less would have suggested Texas didn’t really have faith in him, and the Longhorns would have gotten killed on the recruiting trail. That said, haggling over his money was “arduous,” one source said. Terry got just over $3 million a year, not close to predecessor Chris Beard’s $5.2 million before he was fired. Will be interesting when the Longhorns and Rebels meet for the first time in the SEC. … It’s clearly apparent that Terry’s players genuinely love and respect him. If you spend any time at all around this team, it’s obvious. Longhorns great LaMarcus Aldridge, who attended Terry’s press conference, said he loved Terry’s “energy, his positive energy, his vibe. He doesn’t beat you down verbally. He definitely relates to the younger generation. He’s more of a positive influence.” … Texas played so much more relaxed under Terry than it did under Beard. Was it a coincidence?

Golden: Hoops and Horn football with "On Second Thought"

3. Is Texas football turning the corner?

Big progress for Sark: Steve Sarkisian seems very impressed with the advances his Texas football team is making this spring after eight practices and specifically mentioned four players as ones who are pushing for either starting positions or more playing time than they got last fall. He called on senior-to-be safety Kitan Crawford, sophomore offensive tackles D.J. Campbell and Cam Williams, and junior defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. I think with the 12 offensive linemen Texas has signed the past two years, it will have the best O-line in the Big 12. He also cited the progress of Bastrop junior-to-be Alfred Collins and said he’s “ready to take the next step.” Sarkisian likes Crawford so much, he said, “I thought he was the Big 12 special teams player of the year. This guy was fantastic. He’s one guy who stands out to me right now. He’s communicating at a high level. He’s making plays on the ball. He’s playing fast. He’s definitely maturing.” … As for Murphy, who had a sack against Oklahoma and 26 tackles last fall and should be a major disrupter, Sarkisian said, “He wasn’t a front-line starter a year ago but is kind of assuming that role. He’s been a force early on in spring that you feel his presence, and he’s tough to block. He creates a lot of negative plays and is really strong at the point of attack.”

More: Terry a great fit for Texas

4. Dell Match Play was un-fore-gettable

Fond farewell, PGA: It's sad that the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play has left the Austin Country Club. It’s amazing how many golf fans told me how bad they feel that the Dell tournament is leaving, and a few kept telling me maybe it could return someday, maybe even in a different format. One volunteer from Nashville, Tenn., who was following the Scottie Scheffler-Sam Burns semifinal had a great suggestion: What if ACC staged a match play event pitting PGA Tour players against LIV golfers? “Kind of like an American League-National League All-Star Game,” he said. Throw in a rowdy Ryder Cup atmosphere, and television’s got an incredible blockbuster. Now, I understand that would be elevating the LIV's stature, but even the NFL eventually merged with the renegade AFL. I understand that may be (spoiled) apples and oranges, but I bet television viewers would tune in to see Scheffler go against Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy take on Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth versus Patrick Reed. Sounds like a fun event. … Barring that innovative idea, someone else said ACC should just invite LIV golf to stage a tournament here. Not in favor of that, and I’m sure Tom Kite would give up his membership in 20 seconds.

Bohls: Rodney Terry checks every box

5. Hard to argue against 15 straight wins

Texas is on the ball: Kudos to David Pierce for righting the Longhorns baseball team’s ship. A home sweep of Texas Tech validates a Texas team that has now won 15 straight games, including Tuesday's 5-2 win over Texas A&M, and is 3-0 in league play. It would have been very easy for this team to veer off course and crash after a 4-7 start, but that’s not the mettle of this program. This week Texas will travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State (20-6, 4-2), and that should be telling. The Cowboys are 16-1 at home and scored 39 runs in a three-game sweep of Baylor after losing two of three at Texas Tech. OSU has three players with eight home runs each. … Pierce and pitching coach Woody Williams still need to stabilize the rotation after Lucas Gordon to make a serious run at a Big 12 title, but it’s coming along, and the offense has come around, especially the top of the lineup. Eric Kennedy is a flat-out stud, and Peyton Powell and Porter Brown have been big-time.

6. Longhorns on the links

Texas star power: It was cool seeing Bijan Robinson follow Dell Match Play two days last weekend. I’d be hard-pressed to determine whether the gallery was more interested in Scheffler or Robinson, who got shoutouts both days. One man on the 18th hole yelled, “Are you coming to the Patriots?” Bijan just flashed a grin. A minute later, a fan said, “New York’s a nice city.” Robinson did say he thinks the Eagles and Cowboys are in play as a possibility and keeps hearing he might get picked in the No. 8 to No. 15 range. Dallas makes so much sense because Robinson is so versatile as a runner, pass receiver and blocker and the ultimate team guy. … Quarterback Arch Manning and defensive back Michael Taaffe also followed Scheffler’s pairing Saturday. Arch said he definitely roots for Scottie. “I have to. I’m here now,” he said.

7. 'If I was in charge, things would be different'

Definiely anti-Big Ten: Count Bill Walton among those who hate the move of his alma mater UCLA and USC to the Big Ten. “I’m not in favor of it,” college basketball’s all-time best big man told me during the premiere of his ESPN "30 for 30" series at South by Southwest. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think it’s in the best interests of people of California. USC is a private school and can do what it wants. But UCLA is a public school that represents the best interests of the state of California. If I was in charge, things would be different.” … Walton talks about his late Bruins coach, John Wooden, being such a great influence on his life. He said in the "30 for 30" series that he put the nuggets from Wooden’s pyramid of success in his boys’ lunch boxes. “Hey, I would even take my children to Coach Wooden’s house, and he’d show them how to put their shoes and socks on. All the things we thought were ludicrous back then.”

8. Where have you gone, Fran?

Scattershooting: While wondering whatever happened to former Texas A&M and Texas State football coach Dennis Franchione.

9. Meanwhile, from the greatest seat on the planet

On the couch: Watched a very entertaining movie about con games called “Sharper” with Julianne Moore and excellent villain Sebastian Stan. Gave it 7 ducks.

Don't sleep on the Rangers

Crazy prediction: I’m taking the Rangers to make the playoffs and picking the Blue Jays over the Padres in the World Series.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: A rebuild next year for Rodney Terry? Not so fast, let's wait and see