Texas Longhorns Hiring Former UConn Assistant Coach

AUSTIN -- Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller continues to fill out his staff as he gets set for the 2025-26 season.

Per reports Friday from college basketball insider Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68, the Longhorns are hiring Indiana assistant coach Kenya Hunter, who spent the past five years with the Hoosiers. He previously worked on staff with Miller from 2004 through 2007 during his first stint at Xavier. After that, Hunter spent six years at Georgetown and five at Nebraska before taking an assistant job at UConn (2018-20) under head coach Dan Hurley.

Along with the hiring of Hunter, Miller has also retained Chris Ogden as Texas' General Manager along with bringing in Xavier assistant coaches David Miller, Adam Cohen and Ryan Anderson along with Kansas State and former Texas assistant Ulric Maligi.

The University of Texas announces Sean Miller as their new men's basketball coach Tuesday, March 25, 2025. | Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hunter has ample experience working with NBA-level players in college before they went off to the pros. During his time at Georgetown, he coached future first-round draft picks like Roy Hibbert, Greg Monroe, and Otto Porter Jr. Under Mike Woodson at Indiana, Hunter also aided in the development of big men like Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kel'el Ware, Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo.

The Longhorns have put together an interesting roster that still has room for a few more new faces. Since Miller's hiring, Texas has landed three portal commitments from Xavier wing Dailyn Swain, Purdue forward Camden Heide and Florida Atlantic center Matas Vokietaitis. Miller has also secured some key roster retentions, as guards Chendall Weaver, Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope along with forward Nic Codie will all return next season. Sophomore reserve center Jaime Vinson and incoming four-star freshman forward John Clark are also expected to stay with the team.

Miller said during his introductory press conference that the team intends to play with a faster pace while also emphasizing the defensive end. He's now got the makings of a coaching staff that will ideally share that same vision.

"Certainly recognize there's a number of programs in the SEC that are playing a style that is unique, using the three point shot more than ever before, playing at a pace that maybe the great teams of the past didn't necessarily play as fast, but that's what I believe in," Miller said. "But I do want to say this, there's no way you can do it by scoring and out scoring people in college basketball, the defense is so much a part of the talent that you have when you think of basketball, people think of talent on the offensive end, I can make the case, talent, size, quickness, shot blocking, positional height, that right there impacts the defensive side of the ball, perhaps even more here you have to be great at both."