Texas has two former players making noise in Las Vegas, and both are turning heads for very different reasons.
Tre Johnson’s summer league run was so sharp that the Washington Wizards shut him down after one game. In his 2026 debut, Johnson dropped 26 points, a performance that still ranks as the second-highest individual scoring average so far. He looked like he was operating on a different level from the rest of the floor, and Washington wasted no time pulling him from further action.
That kind of showing only strengthens the case that the 2025 sixth overall pick is ready to matter for the Wizards this season. And for Texas, it gives the program another shiny example to point to when recruits start asking what the Longhorns can do for NBA-bound talent.
Arthur Kaluma is making his own argument, and it may be even more interesting from a roster-building standpoint. Through three games, he’s putting up 22.3 points per game, which ties Milwaukee Bucks 10th overall selection Brayden Burries and sits just behind AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson.
Kaluma has already stacked up a pair of eye-catching outings. He scored 18 points while going 5-of-5 in a 96-84 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, then followed that with a 34-point explosion in a 21-point rout of the Dallas Mavericks, knocking down 6-of-10 from three.
That kind of production should put him squarely in the mix for a two-way opportunity with the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that will be trying to replace the production left by LeBron James.
And for Sean Miller, the summer league surge from Johnson and Kaluma is more than just good publicity. It gives Texas a stronger sales pitch to future recruits, including 2027 No. 1 overall prospect Beckham Black, who is scheduled to visit Austin this fall.
In Other News...
New Manning QB Twist Could Catch Ole Miss Fans Attention
The Manning quarterback pipeline is adding another layer, and this one starts at Baylor School in Tennessee, where Marshall Manning is set to begin his high school career in a familiar family spotlight. Baylor coach Erik Kimrey has already confirmed the arrangement for the upcoming season, and it puts Marshall in a program with a quarterback room that already has a clear front-runner.
Ahead of him is Keegan Croucher, a highly regarded 2027 recruit and Ole Miss commit, which gives the Rebels another reason to keep an eye on what happens in Chattanooga. For Texas fans, the Manning name always carries extra weight, and this latest twist is a reminder that the familys next chapter may unfold a little differently than some expected. [Read more 🡒]
Urban Meyer Weighs In As Arch Manning Debate Heats Up
Urban Meyer stepped into the Arch Manning conversation this week, and his point was less about the quarterback himself than the environment around him. After Texas opened the season with a loss to Ohio State, Manning drew plenty of criticism, but Meyer pushed back by stressing that quarterback play is tied closely to the talent and support around it. He pointed to the broader reality that the best seasons at the position usually come when a passer has strong teammates helping to make the offense work.
For Texas, that matters because the opener quickly became a referendum on Manning instead of a full look at what went wrong. Meyer noted that the Longhorns receivers struggled in the game, which helped shape the harsh reaction to the quarterback, and his comments served as a reminder that one player rarely carries the whole story. The debate around Manning is not going away anytime soon, but the larger question for Texas is how much of the early criticism belongs to him and how much belongs to the offense around him. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Miller Has Texas Back In The Top 10 Conversation
Sean Miller has already put Texas back into the kind of preseason conversation the program expects to occupy, and the roster-building has matched the buzz. A Sweet 16 run gave the Longhorns a springboard, and the follow-up work has been strong enough to keep them in the national picture even before a game is played, with an early SportsCenter NEXT ranking showing just how high the ceiling looks.
Jon Rothsteins preseason top 45 for 2026-27 had Texas sitting ninth, a spot that keeps the Longhorns in the upper tier of the sport and right in the mix among the SECs best. The schedule will offer an early test of whether that respect holds up, with the Rady Childrens Invitational on the front end and the SEC-ACC Challenge waiting later in the season against Louisville and Memphis. [Read more 🡒]