Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Make The 2018 NCAA Tournament
No. 4 Exciting Recruits
If the 2017-18 senior class is the best to pass through Texas Tech in the past decade, the same might be said of the 2017 signing class. With a mix of high-profile JUCO signees and athletic high school recruits, this class could be both an immediate boon and a foundation upon which the program can build.
The Texas Tech offense should get a boost from two JUCO stars from just down the road at South Plains Junior College in Levelland. Guards Jordan Brangers and Josh Webster have led the Texans to a 29-1 record and the No. 2 National Seed in the NJCAA National Tournament.
Brangers is the star of the South Plains team. The Kentucky native set the South Plains record for three-point shots made in a season with 130. The 6-foot-2 guard has put up 21.2 points per game while shooting 50.8% from the field and a fantastic 47.9% from beyond the arc.
Webster is a strong candidate to be next year’s starting point guard. He has dished out 7.5 assists per game this year while adding just under 10 points per contest.
Two other exciting new faces come from the high school ranks. One of them is a Lubbock native.
Lubbock Coronado High School senior Jarrett Culver is a three-star recruit whose brother is on the Texas Tech track team. He is an explosive 6-foot-5 inch forward that was one of the top recruits in the state. In a first-round playoff game against Amarillo Caprock, he put up 42-points displaying the skills that made him the top high school target of Chris Beard and his staff.
Another exciting high school signee is forward Daniel Mading. The 6-foot-9 forward is as polished of an offensive player as Tech has recruited out of high school in years.
He brings a diverse offensive game with the ability to handle the basketball and hit mid-range and deep jump shots. He will need to add weight to his 175-pound frame in order to be effective on defense and the glass but he should bring immediate scoring punch to a team that needs to be more efficient on the offensive end.
Look for Brangers and Webster to play big role for Texas Tech next season. Meanwhile, Culver and Mading will add athleticism and offensive firepower off the bench as the Red Raiders reload in 2017-18.
These new players are exciting and should enhance the Red Raiders under the tutelage of Chris Beard, who looks to build upon his first year in the Big 12.