Big 12 Basketball: Top 5 rising sophomores for 2018-19

4. Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech

Another somewhat unheralded player out of high school, Jarrett Culver was rated as a three-star recruit and ranked at No. 312 in the nation. A local kid from Lubbock, TX, Culver seemed to be a perfect fit for Texas Tech, especially considering he had plenty of game. As a high school senior, Culver averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds per game. In college, though, not many expected him to play such a vital role right away. Just a true freshman this past season, Culver really emerged as an excellent player early in his career.

Still, as one of two spectacular freshmen last season for Texas Tech, Culver often flew under-the-radar. Even though he brings plenty of excitement himself, Culver was not a walking highlight reel like Zhaire Smith. Nonetheless, Culver had an awesome first-year campaign. For the year, he averaged 11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 26.4 minutes per game. In addition, he was highly efficient as a scorer, shooting 38.2% from distance while connecting on 51.4% of his shots inside the arc. However, it is reasonable to question his shooting considering his poor 64.8% shooting from the free throw line. Will his FG/3P percentages dip or will his FT percentage increase? I’m going with the latter, especially considering he knows what his role will be in 2018-19.

To put things simply, Texas Tech is Culver’s team now. Keenan Evans, Zhaire Smith, Niem Stevenson, and Tommy Hamilton are all gone now, leaving Culver as the only returner to average more than 20 minutes per game last season. Now with full reign on the offensive end, we could see an explosion from Culver as a sophomore. Someone needs to pour in some buckets for this team and it will likely be from this man.