Texas' Marcus Spears Jr. makes immediate impact in debut - and he has plenty of freshman company

Marcus Spears Jr. had 11 points and four blocks in Texas' 109-59 win over Chicago State on Monday and fellow freshmen Austin Goosby and Joe Sterling also impressed. (Scott Wachter/Getty Images) AUSTIN - As college debuts go, Marcus Spears Jr.'s first basketball game at Texas was, well, noticeable.Even before the first tip.Of course, it isn't every day that a college freshman's walk from the practice facility to the Moody Center arena for the season opener is videotaped so his famous father by the same name could see the live-action cut-in while appearing on ESPN's "NFL Live" before a Monday Night Football game in Seattle.Unlike his talented son, the elder Marcus Spears was overwhelmed."Let's go, bugga. I'm about to cry, bro," the emotionally affected dad said. "That's crazy, bro. He worked his (expletive) off to get here, man. Damn, that's amazing. You all got me with this one."Sign up for Kirk Bohls' newsletterSign up for Kirk Bohls' new newsletter for news, exclusive analysis and insights on University of Texas sports.Fortunately for his 17-year-old son, he was not nearly as frazzled. Never mind that he was playing in front of 10,892 fans including his mother, Aiysha, and sisters Cari and 13-year-old volleyball prodigy Miko. Aiysha's the real basketball star of the family, having played for LSU and for the Washington Mystics for two years before retiring to start a family.Spears, in fact, wears the same No. 31 jersey she did. He lives on campus with Cari, who was instrumental in helping the 14th-ranked Texas volleyball team sweep Texas A&M the day before in Gregory Gym.It's Aiysha that Texas fans can really thank. After all, it was she who came up with the idea of her son reclassifying for the 2026 class instead of 2027. As such, Spears Jr. became immediately eligible in June and enrolled early.Moreover, because he is only 17, he doesn't reach the age requirement of 19 for next year's NBA draft and should be available for the Longhorns for two seasons."He has an abundance of talent," second-year Texas head coach Sean Miller said. "There's not just one thing he does well. He had 5 rebounds, 11 points, and 4 blocks. A couple of shots he blocked are layups, and a year ago we didn't have a way to erase a mistake like that. He's got a lot confidence and plays with high effort. You want him to be in the game."If not immediately, soon.Spears Jr. didn't start for the No. 7 ranked Longhorns on Monday night, but the 6-foot-9 forward from Frisco with the graceful game and a 7-2 wingspan sure made his presence felt quickly, coming off the bench and scoring 11 points in Texas' 109-59 rout of Chicago State."It was super cool," Spears said of his family's presence. "We've been through a lot of hard days, long days, but it's starting to show. I've got a lot of stuff I've got to fix." Texas Longhorns center Lewis Obiorah (14) dunks the ball over defense from Chicago State Cougars guard Najee Graham (4) in the first half of the Longhorns' game against the Chicago State Cougars at the Moody Center in Austin, Nov. 2, 2026. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman) When he did get in Monday, he impacted the game quickly, blocking four shots to match Mo Bamba's output in his debut and come within one of James Banks' debut-record five."Marcus was outstanding with his quickness, his athleticism," Miller said. "He had a couple of mistakes defensively and found out if you pressure your guy far from the basket, you also have the responsibility for keeping him in front of you. Once time he fouled the guy, the other the guy drove around him."OK, he's only 17 - and a young 17 at that with a birthday in April - so we'll cut him some slack.He probably wasn't even the best freshman on his own team Monday.That honor belonged to Austin Goosby, the versatile combo guard and younger brother of injured Longhorn offensive tackle Trevor Goosby, who really filled up the boxscore. He had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in 28 minutes. Johnson calls him the team's "Swiss army knife."Or the star rookie might have been Joe Sterling, the freshman sharpshooter from Los Angeles who hit all three of his pure, 3-point attempts and figures to be a cold-blooded, dead-eye killer in SEC play. He scored 14 points in 15 minutes and had three rebounds and three assists as well.OK, so Spears has company. And plenty of it on this gifted team.TEXAS 109, CHICAGO STATE 59FGFTRebCHICAGO STATEMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTSDjiya101-21-20-1043Loury143-70-01-2128Lovings-Watts244-94-51-31113Price285-120-20-05212Robinson210-31-30-2311Akanmu223-60-00-1046Olafioye202-90-02-3004Foman192-20-02-3224Graham161-30-00-1012Carraway121-50-00-0012Kalonji80-00-00-0020Stanton62-30-00-1004Totals20024-616-126-17122059Percentages: FG .393, FT .500.3-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Price 2-5, Loury 2-6, Lovings-Watts 1-2, Olafioye 0-1, Carraway 0-2).Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 5.Blocked Shots: None.Turnovers: 10 (Price 3, Carraway 2, Akanmu, Djiya, Lovings-Watts, Olafioye, Stanton).Steals: 5 (Robinson 2, Akanmu, Lovings-Watts, Price).Technical Fouls: None.FGFTRebTEXASMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTSPunch244-61-21-3339Vokietaitis259-94-73-61122Goosby272-52-21-7827Johnson255-85-60-35118Freeman172-70-02-4035Evans214-50-03-70211Spears204-73-62-51211Sterling155-70-00-33314Ogden133-71-12-2118Obiorah92-30-01-1004McDermott20-00-00-1000Elkins10-00-00-0000Laurencikas10-00-00-0000Totals20040-6416-2415-422218109Percentages: FG .625, FT .667.3-Point Goals: 13-26, .500 (Sterling 4-6, Evans 3-3, Johnson 3-5, Goosby 1-3, Ogden 1-3, Freeman 1-5, Spears 0-1).Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: None.Blocked Shots: 6 (Spears 4, Punch, Vokietaitis).Turnovers: 10 (Goosby 2, Johnson 2, Spears 2, Evans, Freeman, Ogden, Sterling).Steals: 8 (Freeman 2, Johnson 2, Ogden 2, Sterling, Vokietaitis).Technical Fouls: None.Chicago State3029-59Texas5653-109A_10,892 (15,000).None of his teammates on this roster are star-struck, however. A few weeks ago, then even hung with former Longhorn Kevin Durant, who was in town for a Rockets win over the Spurs.But there's plenty of star power around.Point guard Isaiah Johnson, who transferred from Colorado to spearhead a transfer portal class that ranked third nationally, made his Longhorn debut as well with his godfather courtside at Moody Center.Dwyane Wade, a Basketball Hall of Famer with the Miami Heat who trained with Isaiah's father Chris Johnson and been close to the family forever, took in Monday's game along with Chris as he did Isaiah's first collegiate game with the Buffaloes last season."It's great seeing him support me," Johnson said of Wade. "It means the world for me."The rest of the basketball world might also drop in someday soon for what promises to be one of the most anticipated seasons in Longhorn history.Even though Miller has just one returning starter in center Matas Vokietaitis off a surprise Sweet 16 team that won a First Four game with North Carolina State before knocking off both BYU and Gonzaga and then lost by two to Purdue, Texas enters this season as a serious Final Four contender.Never mind the Longhorns' roster includes 11 newcomers, six of them freshmen, expectations are soaring for a team picked second behind top-ranked Florida in the SEC preseason poll."I think this Texas team is really good," Cougars coach Landon Bussie said after watching the home team shoot 62.5%, hit half of its 26 3-point attempts and outrebound Chicago State 44-22. "They've got some really good pieces. They could have a huge run toward the Final Four."That's clearly very premature, but the Longhorns are deeper than maybe they've ever been and will get even stronger when backup point guard Mikey Lewis returns from his fractured foot in late December. Assuming he can break into this deep lineup.Bussie is a believer."They have a really good team," he said. "Spears is a really good freshman and is hard to deal with in transition and in the pant. I didn't know it was Marcus Spears' son."The rest of the world will know soon enough.SubscribeThere’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Texas' Marcus Spears Jr. makes immediate impact in debut - and he has plenty of freshman company.