Texas Basketball to Face Syracuse in Non-Conference Play

AUSTIN — Texas Longhorns men’s basketball has reportedly secured its matchup for the first game of the 2024 Legends Classic this upcoming season.

According to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, the Longhorns will play the Syracuse Orange in the first game of the 2024 Legends Classic at the Barclays Center this fall. The Texas Tech Red Raiders will face off against St. Joe’s in the other matchup, meaning Texas and Texas Tech could be set for a rivalry reunion as non-conference foes should thet both win their first game.

The 2024 Legends Classic will begin on Thursday, Nov. 21 in Brooklyn. Despite Rothstein’s report, matchups and game times have not yet been made official.

Per Texas Athletics,the Longhornswill make their fourth appearance in the Legends Classic. The team played in the inaugural event in 2007 and competed in the tournament during the 2011 and 2016 seasons. Texas won the Legends Classic in 2007 after taking down the Tennessee Volunteers in the championship game.

Texas has played Syracuse just once all-time, and it happened on one of the biggest stages in sports.

The Orange took down the burnt orange 95-84 in the 2003 Final Four in New Orleans, as Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 33 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead Syracuse to the National Championship, where they won it all two days later.

Legendary Texas guard T.J. Ford scored 12 points and dished out a game-high 13 assists in the loss. Longhorns great Royal Ivey had four points and four assists while Brandon Mouton led Texas with 25 points.

Texas head coach Rodney Terry was an assistant under Rick Barnes during that Final Four run, and he’ll get a chance at some slight revenge over 20 years later.

Syracuse is coming off of its first year without legendary coach Jim Boeheim, who had been at the helm since the start of the 1976-77 season. The Orange put together a solid 20-12 campaign in the first year under head coach Adrian Autry, but missed the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.

This offseason, Texas changed up the roster with multiple transfer additions, as Oregon State’s Jordan Pope, Arkansas’s Tramon Mark, Kansas State’s Arthur Kaluma, Vanderbilt’s Malike Presley and Indiana State duo Julian Larry and Jayson Kent all head into their first year with the team. Chendall Weaver and Kadin Shedrick are the notable key returners while Devon Pryor will look to take a step forward as a sophomore. Ze’Rik Onyema, Cole Bott and Preston Clark will fill out the bottom of the roster.

The Longhorns begin the regular season in Las Vegas against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Hall of Fame Series on Monday, Nov. 4