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

Bubba Jennings: 1980-1985

Playing in a time before the 3-point shot was introduced into the college game, Brooks “Bubba” Jennings was ahead of his time.  Perhaps the greatest pure shooter to ever don the Doube-T, the Clovis, NM native ranks ninth in program history with 1,760 points.  But those that saw him play swear that he would be atop that list if he would have had the benefit of the 3-point shot.

The 5-foot-10 guard was named to the All-SWC team four times in his career despite playing in an era that included some of the most legendary players in the history of the conference including the “Phi Slamma Jamma” Houston Cougars.

As a senior, he averaged 19.5 points per game and was named the SWC Player of the Year leading Tech to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years.  What may be even more impressive is that he was also named the conference defensive player of the year, despite his slight stature, and he earned the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award which was an award given annually to the best player in the nation under 6-feet-tall.

That season, he also received honorable mention All-American honors and was the SWC Athlete of the Year, regardless of sport.  Starting all 117 games of his career, Jennings was one of the most popular players in program history because of his feisty demeanor and ability to shoot from anywhere on the court.

Long before Steph Curry, Trae Young, Jimmer Ferdette and today’s modern undersized guards began to take the game by storm, Bubba Jennings was the one of the first long-range shooters to revolutionize college basketball.  All that kept his legend from growing even larger than it eventually did was the lack of a 3-point line.