Damion James (Texas)

I just got off the phone with Texas coach Rick Barnes, who was at his beach house on the Carolina coast (it’s a hard-knock life) in between recruiting trips. During the call, I asked Coach Barnes about the Longhorns’ much-hyped 2009 recruiting class, ranked #2 in the country by most publications (after Kentucky), as well as other UT-related stuff for the upcoming season.

Dime: From what you’ve seen this summer, how will the incoming group of freshmen perform on this level?
Rick Barnes: Well, the group coming in is obviously a very talented group of players, but there’s gonna be some growing pains. They’ll struggle a bit, like most freshmen do. When it comes to the grind of bringing it every day, it’s that consistency factor. Can they get it done every single day? You know what you have to do; now can you bring it every day?

Dime: Individually, what do the freshmen bring to the table?
Barnes: Like I’ve said before, Avery Bradley is as good a high school defender as I’ve ever seen. He’s a scorer, too. Great worker, tremendous intensity … He’s spent a lot of time with Kevin (Durant) this summer picking up things from him. He’s got great passion for the game. He wants to be around it, he lives for it, he can’t get enough of it. Jordan Hamilton can really put the ball in the basket, but the more you’re around him you see how he’s highly competitive. He wants to get better. Offensively he’s extremely talented, but that competitiveness sticks out. And then Shawn Williams, he’s a guy that has a really great feel for the game. Excellent offensive rebounder. When it’s all said and done, he’s gonna have a phenomenal college career.

Dime: How will this year’s Texas team look from the one we last saw in the Tournament?
Barnes: We have more depth than we’ve ever had before. Our skill set is better; we struggled shooting the ball some last year, but we’ve got some guys that can really shoot. We got a couple guys that transferred in who will be eligible at the end of first semester that can really help the team. I always say the improvement of a team from one year to the next is more about the current players in your program, and the players we have returning have made a big leap.

Dime: Given that, what kind of impact does Damion James have coming back after entering the Draft?
Barnes: Experience. He’s got three years of experience; he’s been through it. When you look at what he’s done, while he’s had excellent numbers in the book, he needs to get back to where he does the things he’s really good at and stop worrying about what everyone thinks he should be. I think he’s a darn good basketball player, and this year people will finally appreciate what he does.