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Texas Tech Basketball: How Chris Beard keeps his teams “old” each season

By Jacob Zinkula

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 05: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on during practice prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 5, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 05: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on during practice prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 5, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – MARCH 25: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders talks with Zhaire Smith #2 during the first half against the Villanova Wildcats in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 25, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 25: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders talks with Zhaire Smith #2 during the first half against the Villanova Wildcats in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 25, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Roster 2:  Texas Tech 2016-17

Following the one season at Little-Rock, Beard took the job at Texas Tech. It looks like he tried to use a similar formula to the prior season, again bringing in five transfers. Niem Stevenson, Matthew Temple, and Devon Thomas were junior college transfers, and Anthony Livingston and Shadell Millinghaus transferred from Arkansas St. and Southern Mississippi respectively.

All the transfers were upperclassmen, which helped contribute to the team’s ranking of 12th in experience (no underclassmen on entire roster). But even with the transfers, Texas Tech actually managed a minutes continuity ranking of 98th, as three of the team’s top five contributors returned from the prior season: Keenan Evans, Zach Smith, and Justin Gray. Relative to the Little-Rock season, the transfers didn’t play as large of a role. Even so, it was the same theme of using transfers to make the team experienced. This didn’t translate to the same level of success, however, as the 2016-17 Red Raiders didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.

Roster 3:  Texas Tech 2017-18

In his second season at Texas Tech, Beard didn’t stray too far from the formula. He brought in three upperclassmen transfers: Tommy Hamilton from DePaul, Brandone Francis from Florida, and Josh Webster from a junior college. Hamilton and Francis in particular became significant contributors.

With one season under his belt, Beard was able to do some recruiting, bringing in four freshmen: Jarrett Culver, Zhaire Smith, Davide Moretti, and Malik Ondigo. None were top 100 recruits per ESPN’s top 100, but Beard hit home runs on at least three of them. Smith was picked 16th overall after his freshmen season, Culver is in position to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft, and Moretti has been a stellar role player. Ondigo hasn’t played much his first few seasons, so time will tell on him.

The incorporation of more freshmen dropped the team’s experience ranking to 142nd, and this, along with the influx of transfers, dropped the team’s continuity ranking to 243rd (“gap” of “101“). Even though this gap wasn’t near the “254” of the Little-Rock team, it was still quite unique. In the last 12 tournaments, only 48 teams, an average of four 4 per tournament have had a gap greater than or equal to “100.”

The formula worked this season, as the Red Raiders went on a surprising Elite 8 run. It’s worth noting, however, that Beard was fortunate to inherit Keenan Evans when he took the job, as the senior was the team’s best player all season.

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