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Texas Tech basketball: What Chris Beard’s new deal means for the program

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 04: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the 2019 NCAA Tournament Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 4, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 04: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the 2019 NCAA Tournament Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 4, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech will recruit at an elite level

Chris Beard is proving to be one of the best recruiters in the game.  Not only has be landed two overlooked 3-star prospects who turned into first-round NBA draft picks in Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver (the second of which will almost certainly be a lottery pick this summer), but he has signed a handful of top-100 recruits such as 2018 signee Khavon Moore (who has left the program) and 2019 signees Jhamius Ramsey, Terrence Shannon and Kevin McCullar.

But if there was one piece of ammunition that rival coaches used against Beard on the recruiting trail, it was the notion that his departure for supposed greener pastures was imminent.  Now, that fallacy has been put to rest and we are already beginning to see the results on the recruiting trail.

The biggest development on the recruiting front came on Tuesday when it was reported by a number of media outlets that 5-star guard R.J. Hampton has included Texas Tech in his top four schools along with Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis.  The Little Elm, Texas product was a junior in 2018-19 but is reclassifying and will play college basketball next fall.  He is rated the No. 7 player in the nation by 247Sports.com and he has plans to visit Lubbock in the upcoming weeks.

That news comes just one day after highly-coveted 3-star point guard Clarence Nadolny committed to the Red Raiders.  The 6-foot-3 native of France picked Tech over West Virginia and Iowa State making this win even more critical for Beard and his staff.

This brings Tech’s 2019 class to six total members.  Ranked No. 16 overall and No. 2 in the Big 12, this is by far the best class in program history.  And that does not take into account possible grad transfers that may also join the program this summer.

Already this month, Tech has hosted Stephen F. Austin forward T.J. Holyfield (12.9 p.p.g. last season) and Texas A&M guard Admon Gilder (12.3 p.p.g. in 2017-18, he was injured and did not play this season) as well as 6-foot-10 Yanni Wetzel from Vanderbilt (5.9 p.p.g. in 2018-19).

Also keep an eye on 2020 forward Greg Brown from Austin.  The No. 5 player in his class recently included Tech in his top-10 schools.

Beard has already shown a tremendous ability to lure top talent to Lubbock, where it was once believed blue-chip prospects would never want to play.  Now that his future with the Red Raiders is secure, there is reason to believe that Texas Tech will remain a premium destination for some of the nation’s best recruits.

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