The Real Reason Sean Miller Let Jordan Pope Play in the Sweet 16 With a Broken Foot

The Texas Longhorns were one of the hottest teams in the country during their Cinderella NCAA Tournament run, finding themselves playing in the Sweet 16 against the Purdue Boilermakers. Unfortunately for them, though, that run ended in heartbreak.

For Jordan Pope, though, that wasn't the only pain he was feeling as he played the game with a complete break in his foot, an injury he suffered during the Longhorns' round of 32 win against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The injury wasn't revealed until after the loss to the Boilermakers, but for head coach Sean Miller, the decision to play him wasn't easy, only being ok with it after being assured Pope wouldn't injure it any more.

Laying it All Out There

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Sean Miller in the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a second-round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Longhorns were one of the most volatile teams this season, using their offensive prowess to keep teams on their toes and pressuring them with their ability to score at a high rate. What the team didn't have, though, was a deep bench. With Miller guiding an eight-man rotation, it was always all-hands on deck when his team took the court, meaning health was a priority.

“Well No. 1, I’ll just start with this,” Miller said about how his program will handle injuries. “There’s no player at the University of Texas that would be put at further risk. It doesn’t sound right when an injury like that happens, but that’s the first thing to rule out. If there would have been a chance of that happening then he wouldn’t have had the choice to play.”

Pope was a critical part of the Longhorns' success, and was one of only four players on the team to average more than 10 points per game, with 13.1 on the season. Outside of that, though, he also averaged the second-most minutes per game, averaging 29 per game, only behind Dailyn Swain, who had 32.8. Ensuring he could not only play but also be effective was paramount for Miller.

“Then secondly, it really comes down to Jordan and his family, making sure that they have all the correct information from our doctors and medical staff and then really leave it up to him,” Miller said about his decision to allow Pope to play. “Then once that happens, really work together and as a team of doctors and us and just try to make him and prepare him as best he can so that if he’s able to play that he can be effective.”

Ironically, Pope played more minutes in the contest than his season average, finishing the game with 33 and turning in a great performance with 12 points and two rebounds. Showing incredible heart and toughness, to gut out that performance is a great sign of the program being built in Austin, and also that it was the correct call from Miller as well.

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