Texas Tech Basketball: Mac McClung pickup “risk vs reward” for Red Raiders
What else to consider with Mac McClung joining Texas Tech Basketball?
There are plenty of immediate reactions of McClung joining the team, whether for one or two seasons. But there are also implications of this move that’ll impact things going forward, potentially good and bad as well.
Making more offseason noise
When college programs are in the news in the offseason, it’s either good or bad. Usually, it involves losing or gaining a high-profile transfer or high school recruit, or some kind of trouble with the NCAA. For Texas Tech, this is the second year in a row they’ve been in the picture for the top available player in the offseason, also involved with five-star guard prospect RJ Hampton. He ended up overseas but it was still a recruiting boost for the program, still new to the battles for five-star and top transfer players. Getting McClung could help boost their efforts to land Kuminga down the road as well.
Biggest loser of McClung’s arrival
The hope for Texas Tech Basketball is that the former Georgetown guard can simply slide in for Moretti on the perimeter. But there’s a major difference between the two when it comes to usage so there’s a good chance that the other guards will have the ball less in their hands. The one player who’ll have to really adjust his game is rising junior Kyler Edwards, who averaged 11.4 ppg and 3.1 apg last season.
Between McClung’s arrival, another five-star recruit coming in with Burnett and Texas Tech having a true frontcourt to use between Santos-Silva and UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe, it could be Edwards who numbers suffer overall. That doesn’t even include the chance of Kuminga joining the team. The good news is that he’s an all-around talent, capable of doing just about everything. That skill set will keep Edwards on the court no matter what but his potential impact could be dampened a bit.
What about the other transfer?
While both McClung and Santos-Silva got a ton of fanfare, Texas Tech got a transfer earlier in the offseason in Jamarius Burton, who averaged 10.3 ppg and 3.4 apg as a sophomore for Wichita State. The two-year starter for the Shockers was part of a major exodus once the season was over and he picked the Red Raiders as a point guard of the future. With McClung coming in, there’s little chance Burton will try for a waiver and will be sitting out the 2020-21 season.
As long as the current reported plan stays in place (McClung stays around for just one season while Burton sits), there shouldn’t be any roster issues. But what happens if he doesn’t get the waiver and has to sit? Would Burton be okay knowing that a starting spot would be far from certain in 2021-22? I have no inside info on this but transfers have the right to change their mind once others join the team later in the offseason. A recent example is Ehab Amin, a high-profile grad transfer who picked Nevada in 2018 before going to Oregon instead after the Wolf Pack added other players to the roster.
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Considering that Texas Tech Basketball is currently over the scholarship limit, someone will have to leave the team or become a walk-on. That’s a whole other subject in the transfer debate when you consider how coaches treat rosters but in this case, you can’t argue that Coach Beard had the Red Raiders in a great position to compete next season. We’ll see how this move plays out for both the player and the team and whether or not it was a success.