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Texas Tech basketball: Twitter reacts to Red Raiders’ Sweet 16 win

ByMatthew Conner|
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 28: The Texas Tech Red Raiders huddle during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional game against the Michigan Wolverines at Honda Center on March 28, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 28: The Texas Tech Red Raiders huddle during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional game against the Michigan Wolverines at Honda Center on March 28, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Thursday, after Texas Tech took apart the Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16, the Twitter universe was on fire with people praising Chris Beard and the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech is back in the Elite 8 for the second-consecutive season.  After having never won three games in the NCAA Tournament prior to last season, the Red Raiders have staked their claim among the elite of the college basketball universe.

Making the Red Raiders accomplishment so impressive is the fact that Chris Beard has taken two rosters devoid of blue-chip prospects and turned them into teams that can compete with any in the nation.  Building his teams on the strength of 3-star players like Keenan Evans, Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver, that developed into stars and key graduate transfers such as Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens and Tommy Hamilton, that filled important roles, Chris Beard has take a new approach to building a national title contender.

That will change next season when Tech welcomes a top-15 recruiting class that will feature two top-75 players in the nation (Jahmius Ramsey and Terrence Shannon Jr.) as well as the JUCO preseason player of the year (Khalid Thomas).  Certainly, most expect Beard to bring in at least one grad transfer because there are no juniors on the current team potentially creating a leadership void.

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But now, it is obvious that the entire nation is realizing how special Beard is.  Last year’s run introduced the third-year Texas Tech head coach to the nation as he charmed everyone with his love of Whataburger and his down-home humility.

This year’s run has not only legitimized the program that Beard has build in Lubbock but it has elevated him to the highest ranks of his profession.  Now, it is hard to imagine any of Beard’s future teams ever being ranked as low in the preseason poll as this year’s team was when it was pegged to finish seventh in the Big 12.

As we will see by looking at some Twitter reactions to the Red Raiders’ Sweet 16 victory over the Wolverines, Beard and the Red Raiders are one of the toasts of the game.

What’s more, it has been great to see one of Beard’s top assistants, Mark Adams start to get his due.  Credited with being the Red Raiders’ pseudo defensive coordinator, the long-time assistant is the mastermind of the nation’s top defense.  And keeping in mind that last offseason, Beard lost two top assistants in Chris Ogden (now the head coach as UT-Arlington) and Al Pinkins (who returned to his native Florida to coach for the Gators) and it puts into perspective just how critical Adams’ presence has been for Beard this season.

Meanwhile, Jarrett Culver is also starting to get the national attention that he has deserved all season.  After scoring 22 points against the Wolverines, Culver is now the Red Raiders’ all-time leading NCAA Tournament scorer with 97 points.  And people around the nation are now starting to take notice of him just like they did with Zharie Smith who also had a breakout tournament in last year’s Elite 8 run.

Another player that the nation ins starting to learn about is sophomore guard Davide Moretti who had 15 huge points Thursday night.  His back-to-back 3-pointers just after halftime seemed to ignite the Red Raider offense and put Michigan in a hole they would never climb out of.   But a pregame surprise organized by his coaching staff may very well be the best Texas Tech story of the tournament.

https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/1111273634016956416

For years, Texas Tech fans have justifiably felt ignored and overlooked, especially on a national level.  Isolated in a corner of the world where the media rarely dares to venture and at least six hours away from the major media hubs of even their own state, it has always been far more difficult for the Red Raiders to receive as much coverage as other programs.

In fact, Tech has usually has to rely on the quirkiness or uniqueness of their head coaches to draw the eyes of the nation.  Coaches like Bob Knight, Mike Leach and Kliff Kingsbury all seemed to be national stories because of their personalities more than their team’s accomplishments.

But thanks to back-to-back Elite 8 runs, the world now knows about Texas Tech basketball and views what Chris Beard has built in Lubbock as one of the best stories of the year.  The fact that he also has one of the most likable and engaging personalities in the nation is just an added bonus.

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