Rodney Terry identifies underrated aspect of Max Abmas

Since taking his talents to Austin, Max Abmas has done nothing but endear himself to the Texas Longhorns.

He’s been everything Rodney Terry expected when Abmas transferred to the team since joining the squad. On the court, Abmas has been exciting as anyone, but it’s his impact off the court that Terry focused on earlier this week.

Speaking with the media, Terry was asked about an underrated aspect of Abmas’ game, to which he responded by explaining what an awesome teammate the guard is, and the immense impact he’s had on the Longhorns’ locker room.

“Max is a great teammate. Incredible teammate,” Terry stated. “Always say to our guys, ‘If we have a room full of great teammates, then we’re going to probably have a great team.’ But he’s an ultimate teammate, man.

“I’ll tell you what, there’s not one guy in that locker room that’s not pulling for Max, whether he’s on the court or off the court, because he’s such a likable guy.”

Abmas has evidently become a leader for Texas, while also being an offensive star for the Longhorns. During his first season with the program, Abmas is averaging 17.7 points, 4.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game.

Moving forward, he’ll be looking to continue being a shining light for the Longhorns. Texas is currently 16-8 on the season, and looking to move ahead and compete in the NCAA Tournament in a couple of weeks.

Rodney Terry shares key to remaining focused through outside noise

Moreover, the Texas basketball team has gone through a heck of a lot this season, some courtesy of an absolutely brutal Big 12 schedule and some manufactured outside noise.

More pointedly, the Longhorns got caught up in a whole back-and-forth over the ‘Horns Down’ gesture that players and coaches alike are probably tired of hearing about at this point earlier this season. So how does coach Rodney Terry keep his team focused?

“I think I was asked that earlier today by the media group doing the game today, and I think a lot of it is predicated on your leadership,” Terry said, following a 76-72 loss to No. 4 Houston earlier this year. “I think if I come in and I’m moping around and ‘poor me’ and feeling sorry for myself or where we are right now we’re not going to be the team that I think we have a chance to be by the end of this year.”

Texas does appear to be one of the nation’s more dangerous teams. That much was evident when Terry’s guys pulled off back-to-back wins over No. 9 Baylor and No. 11 Oklahoma.

But the consistency hasn’t quite been there. The two games preceding those two major wins were losses at West Virginia and to UCF. Both were close, but those are the kinds of games Texas needs to be winning to maximize its NCAA Tournament seeding.