Texas Tech basketball signs Russian forward Andrei Savrasov

Monday, the Texas Tech basketball team added 6-foot-9 Russian forward Andrei Savrasov to the roster.

The Texas Tech basketball team continues to add talent for the 2019-2020 season. Monday, 6-foot-9 Russian forward Andrei Savrasov not only committed to the Red Raiders, he signed his letter of intent and enrolled in classes according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.

Thus, he will be on the roster as a redshirt player, just like guard Kevin McCullar from San Antonio who joined the team ahead of the spring semester foregoing his senior season of high school basketball. But unlike McCullar, not much is known about Savrasov.

Because he has spent his entire basketball career on the other side of the world, there is no star rating or positional ranking for the newest Red Raider on any of the national scouting services. The website Scoutbasketball.com does give us some decent information, however.

6'9 Russian national team forward Andrei Savrasov has committed to Texas Tech, a source tells ESPN. Already in Lubbock, will enroll for spring semester. Potentially redshirts with four years of eligibility starting in 2019-20. Was putting up solid numbers in Russian 2nd division.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) January 28, 2019

They report that last season he averaged 16.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists,1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks for the VTB Youth League. There is no way to know the quality of the competition that he faced in accruing those stats but that line is impressive none-the-less.

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And it appears that Savrasov has spent considerable time playing in semi-pro leagues having put up 8.9 p.p.g. in seven games in an under-18 tournament in 2017 and 8.7 p.p.g. in three games of an Adidas event in 2016-17. In that respect, he has taken a path similar to current Texas Tech guard Davide Moretti who played in professional leagues in Italy prior to coming to Lubbock and who starred for the Italian under twenty national team last summer.

Next year’s Texas Tech basketball team is certain to be full of new faces. With four seniors (Tariq Owens, Matt Mooney, Brandone Francis and Norense Odiase) set to exhaust their eligibility and Jarrett Culver likely headed for the NBA after this season, the Red Raiders will have plenty of roster spots to fill.

Tech has already signed four players in the 2019 signing class and with Savrasov and McCullar redshirting this year, Tech will welcome six newcomers for certain. But there may be room for more.

The Red Raiders currently have an open scholarship. (Though, that may or may not be going to Savrasov. It is hard to tell because the college basketball scholarship shell game is tough to follow.) Do not be surprised to see Tech bring in at least one graduate transfer as the current roster does not have any juniors and Beard prioritizes senior leadership.

Every year it seems like a player at the end of the bench leaves for opportunities elsewhere as was the case with Josh Webster who left Texas Tech for Missouri State after last season. Could a player like Josh Mballa, a true freshman from, France who has not seen the court since December 28th and has only seen the floor in ten games this year, follow suit?

Or what if Davide Moretti receives an offer to play professionally in Europe where is father is a head coach? There’s been no indication that Moretti is considering that option but he certainly would have an opportunity should he decide to begin his professional basketball career after raising his stock with a solid sophomore year in Lubbock.

But we do know that with Savrasov now joining 6-foot-9 JUCO signee Khalid Thomas and a healthy Khavon Moore, the Red Raiders should be set at the forward spot next year. How all of the new pieces fit together is yet to be seen but if there is anyone we trust to figure that out, it has to be Chris Beard.