Wednesday Texas Longhorns assistant coach search updates

The first Texas Longhorns coaching staff under Shaka Smart won't feature former associate head coach Rob Lanier, who was announced as an addition to Rick Barnes' Tennessee Volunteers staff on Wednesday.

One report from 247Sports on Monday had Lanier staying in Austin to continue coaching with Texas, but he visited Knoxville on Monday night before officially re-joining Barnes. It's not clear whether Smart ever seriously considered adding Lanier to his staff after they worked together at Florida.

Another Barnes assistant who won't be back with the program is strength and conditioning coach Todd Wright, who spent 17 years at Texas after working with Barnes for four years at Clemson. The news on Wright makes it much more likely that Smart will bring VCU strength and conditioning coach Daniel Roose with him from Richmond.

There could be one important holdover, though -- special assistant Jai Lucas, who is reportedly still working with current players in hopes of remaining on staff. He's still listed in the school's directory and provides those important recruiting ties to Houston and his father, John Lucas.

There are already two assistant coaches all but officially announced.

On Monday, Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman confirmed earlier reports that former South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn will become one of three assistants under Smart. The two share a similar philosophy in playing an aggressive style of basketball featuring press defenses and well-conditioned teams capable of coming at opponents for 40 minutes straight.

The addition of former VCU assistant Mike Morrell also received confirmation from Davis after Scout's Evan Daniels first reported that Morrell would follow Smart from Richmond. Morrell quickly cleaned out his desk last Thursday night, when he was spotted leaving the Siegel Center not long after Smart's team meeting to announce his attentions of taking the Texas job. Morrell has ties to Smart dating back to their days at Clemson under Oliver Purnell, where he was the director of basketball operations. Two years in the same position at VCU helped Morrell land a spot as one of Smart's assistants in 2013.

Although Texas hasn't made any official announcements about those two assistants joining the staff, both Horn and Morrell are listed in the school's directory already (h/t Orangebloods), so an announcement regarding them looks like a formality.

That leaves one open spot on Smart's bench. Two potential candidates are the other two members of Smart's staff at VCU -- Jeremy Ballard and David Cason. Ballard was a contender to take over for Smart until the school hired former Smart assistant Will Wade, who recently let Tennessee-Chattanooga to two winning seasons, while Cason is a candidate for the VMI job.

There hasn't been a lot of buzz about Ballard and Texas yet, though one site that follows high school basketball recruiting think he's a possibility to remain with Smart. As for Cason, if he doesn't land that VMI job, he's also a candidate at Texas.