Texas Tech Basketball Target Makes Unconventional Decision

Kevin McCullar, a top high school target of the Texas Tech basketball team, has made an interesting decision that could have an unexpected impact on the school he commits to.

In the past two decades, high school basketball players with the potential to earn college scholarships have shifted their priorities. No longer is the high school season the primary focus of these players. Rather, they place far more importance on the club (or AAU) portion of the year because it is during that season that they travel the country to play in front of scouts from every part of the nation.

That shift helps explain the unconventional decision Texas Tech’s top basketball target, Kevin McCullar has made. The 4-star San Antonio product has decided to enroll in college for the spring 2019 semester effectively making him a member of the 2018 signing class.

The practice of leaving high school early is common among football recruits because it allows them to go through spring football workouts with their new school and compete for playing time during their first year on campus.

However, since the spring semester begins in the middle of basketball season, it is virtually unheard of for a high school hoops prospect to graduate in December because it means he would miss the meat of the high school basketball season and join his collegiate team in the middle of the conference season.

But now that the high school season has become an afterthought and appears to be nothing more than a nuisance for top prospects, McCullar could become the first of many college signees to leave early. The advantages for the player are many.

First, he will have an opportunity to work with the coaching staff of his collegiate program and begin to learn the system and culture while not having the pressure of having to play immediately. Second, he can begin training with the college strength and conditioning staff who will be able to spend six extra months preparing his body for the college game.

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Finally, there are academic advantages as well. A player enrolling earlier could take a heavy load of classes in the spring semester (and possibly in the summer as well) to allow him to lighten the load in the fall or even the next spring when his first college basketball season is at its most demanding.

However, the school that lands McCullar will have to figure out how to manage the scholarship numbers on the roster. NCAA teams are allowed to hand out 13 scholarships at a time and giving one to a player for a semester in which he will not play could complicate the musical chairs of the scholarship game.

For example, should McCullar pick Texas Tech, he would have a scholarship beginning in the spring semester of 2019 which would count against the number of scholarships Tech could hand out in 2018. That could force some roster attrition to accommodate McCullar (something any program would gladly do for such a talented recruit).

Texas Tech has long been considered the favorite to land McCullar but there are plenty of other suitors. Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Louisville, Xavier, TCU, Virginia Tech and Minnesota are all still in the mix.

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247Sports.com lists the 6-foot-6, 180-pounder as a 4-star prospect. He is the No. 9 player in Texas and the No. 68 player in the nation, at least when placing him in the 2019 class. If he moves to the 2018 class, those numbers will change but what will not change is the fact that McCullar is a fantastic player. He will be welcome with open arms at any program he choses, even though his timing might be a little bit different.

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