On Thursday, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame named Texas Longhorns junior Tre Mitchell to the preseason 2022 Karl Malone award watch list.

Mitchell is one of seven highly sought-after players coming to Austin from the transfer portal after a big off-season turnaround. New head coach Chris Beard seems to have built a strong relationship with Mitchell from the start:

“I just sort of knew from my first phone call with coach Beard. There was just a different energy to the phone call.”

Mitchell continued, “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.”

Previously, Mitchell played a significant role at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, averaging 18.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals in his two years.

Mitchell did quite well shooting the ball, posting numbers of 49% from the field and 34.2% from deep.

Since joining the team, Mitchell has sung his praises for the few remaining Longhorn veterans including Andrew Jones, Brock Cunningham, Jase Febres, Courtney Ramey.

“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.”

The date when the 2022 Karl Malone Award recipient will be announced has not yet been determined. Here are the other candidates:

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