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Texas Tech basketball offers 2020 center Gethro Muscadin

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: A view of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shorts prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: A view of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shorts prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Gethro Muscadin, a 3-star center from Kentucky has picked up a scholarship offer from the Texas Tech basketball program.

We all saw how great of an impact Tariq Owens made in his one year with the Texas Tech basketball program.  Having a 6-foot-10, rangy athlete to anchor the defense and protect the rim took Chris Beard’s defense to an unbelievable level.

With Owens now off to the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, the Red Raiders are trying to find the next long-armed big man with the athleticism to guard multiple positions on the floor as Owens did so effectively.  Though it would be unfair to compare him directly to the man who set Tech’s single-season blocks record, 2020 center Gethro Muscadin at least looks the part.

The 6-foot-10, 215-pound 3-star prospect (according to Rivals.com) received a scholarship offer from the Red Raiders this week.  Unrated by 247Sports, Muscadin appears to be a bit of an under the radar target.  But his physical resemblance to Owens is hard not to notice and is likely what caught the attention of the Red Raider coaching staff.

https://twitter.com/gethromuscadin/status/1160026494711844864?s=20

His current offer list includes Kansas State, Houston, SMU, Wichita State, UCONN, Colorado State, New Mexico, and UNLV among others.  247Sports reports that he has also taken an unofficial visit to TCU and has been in contact with Mississippi State and Kansas.

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Stats for Muscadin are tough to find but Exposure Sports News shows that he averaged 8.7 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game in seven AAU games earlier this year.  Meanwhile, Prep Circut shows that he averaged 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in just a handful of games for Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas last year (I have not been able to find why he did not play the full season.)

Interestingly, one of the games he did partake in was against Duncanville, the eventual Texas 6-A champions, which featured Texas Tech signee Jahmius Ramsey and the Red Raiders’ top 2020 target Micah Peavy.  In the 73-57 Sunrise win, Muscadin had four points while Ramsey had 21 and Peavy added 12.

Muscadin is a native of Haiti who is still in the early stages of his basketball career.  He told Grant Flanders of KStateOnline that he grew up playing soccer and did not start playing basketball until he was 15.

Now entering his fourth year in the United States, he is seeing his stock begin to rise and that could only increase as he heads to Aspire Academy in Louisville, KY where he expects to see more playing time.

https://twitter.com/aspireacademyky/status/1155957805200756737?s=20

Finding more size will be important for Texas Tech in the 2020 recruiting cycle.  After losing Owens and Norense Odiase to graduation and sophomore forward Malik Ondigo to the transfer portal this offseason, Tech brought in Stephen F. Austin grad transfer T.J. Holyfield to help reinforce the program’s post presence. But when he departs after the upcoming season, Tech will be left with just 7-foot-1 Russell Tchewa and 6-foot-8 Tyreek Smith, both of whom are true freshmen in 2019-20, as their only true big men capable of competing in the paint.

In this brief video, you can see Muscadin in action.  It is difficult to glean too much from these highlights but he does appear to be an active big man who is an explosive leaper and who moves well for his size.  Almost all of his points in the clip come off of dunks but he does have a nice layup in which he has to finish with his left hand in traffic.  There are no highlights of him shooting the ball and given that the two sites that have stats for him show that he only attempted (and made) one 3-pointer this year, he appears to be more of a traditional big man (at least on offense).

Next. What the showdown with Kentucky means for the Texas Tech basketball program. dark

Honestly, what stood out most is his resemblance to Tariq Owens in his build and he even threw down the same flex that became Owens’ trademark after big plays.  Muscadin has a long way to go to even begin putting his name in the same conversation as Owens in regards to their game and we will likely never see a player with Owens’ combination of length and athleticism again.  But this is a big man to keep an eye on because he could be another key piece in the low post for the Red Raiders.

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