Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: Who should be first inductees in Ring of Honor?

By Matthew Conner

DALLAS - MARCH 13: Andre Emmett #14 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts on the court against the Baylor Bears during the Phillips 66 Big XII Championships at American Airlines Center on March 13, 2003 in Dallas, Texas. The Red Raiders won 68-65. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
DALLAS - MARCH 13: Andre Emmett #14 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts on the court against the Baylor Bears during the Phillips 66 Big XII Championships at American Airlines Center on March 13, 2003 in Dallas, Texas. The Red Raiders won 68-65. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next

Gerald Myers: Player 1956-59, head coach 1971-1991

Perhaps no individual has had a greater impact on the Texas Tech basketball program than Gerald Myers.  The Borger, Texas native played for the Red Raiders from 1956-59 becoming the fist Texas Tech athlete to earn All-Southwest Conference honors in any sport.

In 1970, he returned to Tech as an assistant coach before taking over the program in 1971.  Over the next 20 seasons, he would amass a 326-261 record and he remains the winningest coach in program history.

He was named the SWC coach of the year five times while leading Tech to two regular season SWC titles (1973, 1985) and three SWC Tournament titles (1976, 1985, 1986).  His 1976 team was the first in program history to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

In all, he took Tech to the NCAA Tournament four times, which may not seem like much in today’s world but we must remember that the tournament did not expand to 64 teams until 1985.  In Myers’ day, it was far more difficult to earn a bid that it is today.

But Myers’ influence on Red Raider basketball did not stop when he left the bench in 1991.  As athletic director, a position he assumed in 1996, he was responsible for hiring one of the most successful head coaches in program history, Bob Knight.   What’s more, Myers was influential in helping secure the funding required to build United Supermarkets Arena, which opened in 1999.

In 2014, he was inducted into the SWC Hall of Fame.  Certainly, the story of Texas Tech basketball can’t be told without Gerald Myers being part of the narrative which makes him a logical ring of honor inductee.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball