Andrew Jones, Marcus Carr address future with Texas

A once-promising season for Texas ended in abrupt fashion on Sunday, as the No. 6-seeded Longhorns lost to the No. 3-seeded Purdue Boilermakers by an 81-71 final, leading to questions about Andrew Jones and Marcus Carr‘s futures in Austin.

Jones and Carr, two of Texas’ starting guards and workhorses throughout the season, did all they could to help Texas have a fighting chance against Purdue. With a ticket to the Sweet 16 on the line, both took their game up a notch, and while it ultimately wasn’t enough, they certainly impressed with their play.

Carr, who averaged 11.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, poured in 23 points on 8-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and even dished out seven assists. Meanwhile, Jones, who averaged 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, scored 17 points of his own on 6-of-13 shooting, while notching two rebounds, an assist and two steals.

Jones committed to Texas back in 2016, as the Irving, Texas, native was ranked as a four-star recruit, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. But believe it or not, the sixth-year guard has a seventh year of eligibility available — a cancer survivor, Jones was forced to take a medical redshirt, on top of a separate redshirt season, and he got another extra year from the COVID-19 blanket waiver. But much like Carr, Jones remained completely non-committal on his future with the Texas Longhorns following a heartbreaking loss in the Round of 32.

“Day at a time,” Jones said, declining to provide further insight when asked if he has a timeline for his decision to potentially return to Texas.

Carr was a heavily-recruited guard in his own right, emerging from Montverde Academy in Florida as a three-star recruit, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Last season, Carr tested the waters for the NBA Draft, but he ultimately withdrew his name, purposefully entering the draft process without an agent to maintain eligibility. Similar to Jones, he has a big decision ahead, as Carr must decide whether he returns to Texas.

“Not even thinking about that right now,” Carr said, immediately after Texas’ loss. “I haven’t even wrapped my head around what just happened.”