Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Make The 2018 NCAA Tournament
Today, the NCAA Tournament begins in earnest. Unfortunately, the Texas Tech basketball team is not part of the proceedings but here are five reasons that the Red Raiders will return to the big dance in 2018.
After making an improbable run to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, expectations were high for this year’s Texas Tech basketball team. Despite a coaching change that saw Chris Beard take over for Tubby Smith (who departed to take the head coaching position at Memphis), most Texas Tech fans fully expected their team to be dancing again this March.
A veteran roster, talented graduate and JUCO transfers and a tireless and enthusiastic head coach gave the program an air of confidence heading into the season. But, after a strong start to the season the Red Raiders struggled to win a handful of close conference games and fell short of its goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
So, while the nation turns its focus to the 68 teams bringing the madness this March, Texas Tech fans are looking forward to year two of the Chris Beard era. Fortunately, there are several reasons to believe that Texas Tech will be part of the madness next year.
No 1. Senior Leadership
The resurrection of the Texas Tech basketball program began in 2014 with the arrival of a talented group of high school recruits. Justin Gray, Zach Smith, Keenan Evans and Norense Odiase were the foundation upon which former head coach Tubby Smith planned to build his roster.
Though Smith is gone, that core remains intact and provided the bulk of the scoring for this year’s squad. Odiase sat out this season with a foot injury so he retains two years of eligibility.
Meanwhile, Evans, Gray and Smith will be joined by JUCO transfers Niem Stevenson and Shadell Millinghaus as seniors next season. These players combined to average 48.9 points per game in 2016-17. That was 66.9% of the team’s 73 points per game total.
Furthermore, this year’s juniors amassed 21.3 rebounds (64% of the team total) 8.5 assists (61% of the team total) per contest. To say that this group carried the team would be an understatement.
What’s more exciting is that over the final stretch of the season, many of the juniors began to take huge strides forward.
Evans averaged 17.5 points per game in February and March including a four-game run of 20-point outbursts in February. Likewise, Stevenson had a February streak of four games in which he averaged 19.2 points per game and it appeared that he began to feel more comfortable in the Texas Tech system.
Justin Gray put up 10.8 points per game over the final five contests. He is the Red Raiders’ best on-ball defender so if he continues to assert himself on the offensive end of the floor he will be a huge asset next season.
The 2017-18 senior class looks to be the best group to come through the Texas Tech basketball program in recent memory. Their improvement and leadership next year should be the driving force behind a NCAA Tournament run.