AUSTIN — Texas men’s basketball signed four star top-50 prospect John Clark on National Signing Day.

Houston native Clark is a 6 ft 9 in forward who plays at Link Academy in Missouri, previously playing at Klein Cain High School from his freshman to junior season. Clark is ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 37 overall prospect by 247 Sports Composite, No. 38 by On3, No. 40 by ESPN, and No. 42 by Rivals.

“John Clark brings a unique blend of finesse and power to the court and the kind of versatility that’s crucial to succeed in the SEC,” said recruiting analyst Blue Zertuche of Great American Shoot-Out, per media release. “He can score with touch around the rim but isn’t afraid to use his physicality when needed. John’s skill set has shown consistent growth over the past few years. Playing against top-tier, athletic competition in the SEC will only accelerate his development, helping him refine his game even further.”

This is the second consecutive year the Longhorns recruit out of Link Academy, the latest being star forward Tre Johnson. The boarding school in Branson, Mo. is known for its sports teams, specifically its basketball program, which won the National Championship in 2023.

As a junior at Klein Cain, Clark averaged 17.8 points and 13.1 rebounds per game while converting 61 percent from the floor, leading all 6A players in Texas in rebounds per game and double-doubles with 22.

His list of honors includes an All-Adidas Performer recognition on the 2024 Adidas 3SSB circuit this past summer while competing for T.J. Ford Elite and a spot on the All-Greater Houston Boys Basketball second team by the Houston Chronicle.

Clark is the first signing for the Longhorns in this recruiting cycle.

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AUSTIN, Texas — True to tradition, Democratic Sen. Judith Zaffirini, dean of the Texas Senate, this week filed the first Senate bill ahead of the 89th Texas legislative session.

“Before a session is over, we’re already working for the next session,” Zaffirini said.

The first 40 bills in the Senate are reserved for the lieutenant governor’s priorities. Zaffirini’s Senate Bills 41 to 74 have a large focus on education. She reintroduced a bill that would allocate state funds to provide free pre-kindergarten to families.

“The reason I keep filing is that I believe so strongly in it and that times change, people change, situations change,” Zaffirini said.

Education is a priority for many Democrats in the lower chamber. Rep. Mary González introduced multiple bills that focus on providing quality education from early childhood through higher education.

“I really think of all my bills as a birth through career type of agenda. So we have everything from inclusive child care to exploring the ways in which special education is addressed in higher education,” González said.

Education is a large priority for both parties, though many Republicans support the idea of school vouchers to allocate taxpayer dollars towards private schools.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that private school vouchers are his priority. His preferred bill has not been filed but is expected to be debated in the first 60 days of the session during which only his priorities are taken up.

This year, college students across the state spoke out against the law that removed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices from their campuses. Democratic Rep. John Bucy filed a bill to repeal the ban while Republican Rep. Carl Tepper wants to take it one step further.

“We just want to put everyone on a level playing field,” Tepper said.

He filed a bill to ban DEI offices and initiatives from government entities. He expects this bill to be successful.

“The offices of diversity, equity and inclusion, which I think is a misnomer, they were really weaponized to be sort of a reverse discrimination against Asians or white people and others, and showing favoritism of some races over others and certainly sexual orientation as well,” Tepper said.

Republican lawmakers are also focused on a number of bills involving border security.

Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson filed a bill in the House to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state tuition by requiring a university to notify law enforcement of undocumented students.

She was unavailable for an interview but said in a statement: “This legislation is a top priority of the Texas GOP, and it honors the message Texas voters delivered when they elected me and other like-minded conservatives to the Texas House.”

Lawmakers will gavel in January. Zaffirini — who has never missed a vote during her tenure — is looking forward to the first debate.

AUSTIN — Texas Longhorns men’s basketball picked up its second win of the season in dominant fashion at the Moody Center Tuesday, smothering the Chicago State Cougars from start to finish for a 105-58 victory.

True freshman guard Tre Johnson once again led the way with 19 points, marking the third straight games he’s paced the team in scoring. He was one of five Longhorns in double figures, joining Arthur Kaluma (15 points, eight rebounds), Kadin Shedrick (12 points), Julian Larry (10 points, four assists) and Ze’Rik Onyema (18 points, six rebounds).

Texas held Chicago State to 30 percent shooting while finishing with 19 points off turnovers. The Longhorns also went 24 of 33 from the foul line and had a 50-18 edge for points in the paint.

“I definitely like our mindset,” Texas head coach Rodney Terry said after the game. “We’ve worked really hard the last couple days on our man-to-man defense … We placed a heavy emphasis on that. I want to see us come out and get lost playing really hard on defense.”

For the Cougars, guards Jalen Forrest and Matthew Robinson both led the way with 14 points rebounds. Saxby Sunderland added 10 points of his own.

Texas jumped out to a 12-0 behind four early points from Shedrick and triples from both Chendall Weaver (seven points, nine rebounds) and Johnson.

This was a sign of things to come. The Longhorns continued to have hounding defense in the paint and had a clear emphasis on pushing the ball quickly down the floor, which led to a flurry of dunks and easy buckets as Chicago State’s defense was unable to set up in the halfcourt.

Texas then had a 13-0 run that was highlighted by a alley-opp off the glass from Jordan Pope to Johnson, who then made a triple on the next possession to extend the lead to 47-11 with 4:11 left in the half.

Shedrick nearly put a bow on a dominant first half with a putback dunk at the buzzer, but officials overturned it upon review. Still, Texas headed into halftime with a 50-18 lead over the Cougars.

At the half, Johnson led the way with 10 points while Shedrick had nine points. Kaluma had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. The Longhorns had 12 fastbreak points in the first half and 13 points off eight Chicago State turnovers.

The dominance continued to start the second half. Weaver hit a triple on Texas’ first possession before the Longhorns continued adding to the lead with constant trips to the foul line.

Johnson then hit back-to-back triples to extend the league to 79-31 with 11 minutes to play. At this point, the Longhorns were just playing pick-up out there before continuing to cruise their way to the finish line. Onyema got extensive action late in the game and had arguably his best performance as a Longhorn.

The Longhorns will host Mississippi Valley State on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.

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