Texas Tech Basketball: What’s in store for the Red Raiders in 2018-19?
Last year was one of the school’s best season performances in program history. What might 2018-19 have in store for Texas Tech Basketball?
2018 was a banner year for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Head coach Chris Beard and his crew finished 2nd in the Big 12, won 27 games and advanced to their first-ever Elite Eight where they fell to eventual champion Villanova. So, what does the team from Lubbock do for an encore?
Beard will certainly have some work to do as five of his top six scorers have departed. Four of them graduated and surprising freshman shooting guard Zhaire Smith headed to the NBA after a year where he averaged 11 points and five rebounds, Smith was drafted in the lottery and will play for the Philadelphia 76ers. The only top scorer that will return for the Red Raiders is sophomore guard Jarrett Culver, the 6-5 native of Lubbock averaged 11 points and nearly five rebounds last season.
Coach Beard may have to rebuild his roster a bit, but the one aspect of his style of play that he can always rely on is defense. Last season Texas Tech allowed just 64.8 points per game. They were also top 40 in the nation in field goal defense (40.1%), three-point field-goal defense (32.3%), free throws attempted (823) and made (579), steals (262) and turnovers forced (14.97). While there is serious offensive production to replace, the Red Raiders play a prototypical Big 12 physical defensive style, and that always transfers from year-to-year no matter the make-up of the roster.
With so many holes to fill on offense Beard is going to have to rely on inexperience. Besides Culver, Beard does return three guys who played a full season averaging at least 12 minutes per game. Guards Brandone Francis and Norense Odiase will be seniors and Davide Moretti returns for his sophomore campaign.
Beard will likely rely on a couple of key graduate transfers he landed this summer. Tariq Owens arrives from St. John’s, the 6-11 forward averaged 8.4 points and over five rebounds last season for the Red Storm, those numbers jumped to 10.9 points and 7.1 rebounds when he faced off against Big East opponents. The big get for Beard was Matt Mooney who landed in Lubbock after a couple of seasons at South Dakota. The 6-3 guard averaged over 18 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Coyotes.
The Red Raiders recruiting class is headlined by a couple of small forwards. Khavon Moore is an athletic 6-7 four-star recruit that is ranked 53rd by 247 Sports.com and Deshawn Corprew comes by way of South Plains College and the 6-5 forward is the No. 8 Junior College prospect in the country. The class is rounded out by shooting guard Kyler Edwards who should be able to compete for minutes in the backcourt almost immediately.
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Coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history Beard will have some work to do in order to pull off a repeat performance. With so much of his roster gutted by graduation, a return to the Elite Eight seems very unlikely without some returnees making a major jump and the recruiting class making an immediate impact. A return to the NCAA Tournament seems likely and with Texas Tech’s ability to play defense, a trip to the second weekend is not totally out of the question.