Texas Tech basketball: These six newcomers will be critical in 2018-19

Kyler Edwards: Guard 6-foot-3, 200-pounds

With Keenan Evans and Niem Stevenson no longer in the program, Texas Tech must find new guards to handle the ball and initiate the offense.  Though Beard’s motion offense does not have a designated point guard, at crucial times, when the game hit crunch time or against heavy pressing teams like West Virginia, Evans and Stevenson shouldered the brunt of the ball-handling duties.

This year, expect Jarrett Culver, Davide Moretti and Brandone Francis to get cracks at being key ball-handlers to start the year.  But do not be shocked to see freshman guard Kyler Edwards grow into that role as the season progresses.

Originally from Arlington, Texas, Edwards played high school ball in Las Vegas Nevada where he averaged 16.4 points per game as a senior.  As a junior in Arlington, he was one of the top players in the state scoring 22.4 points per game en route to being named district 4-6A player of the year.

A three-star prospect with offers from SMU, Boise State, Georgetown and Butler in addition to Tech, Edwards was rated the No. 32 shooting guard in the nation last year.  Now, that talent must translate to the Big 12.

The key for Edwards will be to prove he is able to do more than score.  He must prove to be a willing defender who will put as much emphasis on that side of the floor as on the offensive end.

With players like Culver, Moretti, Mooney and Francis already penciled in as scoring options, Edwards does not have to be a primary scorer as a freshman.  But if he can prove to be steady with the basketball and buy in to Beard’s defensive philosophy, there will be a role for Kyler Edwards on this year’s team.