Texas Tech basketball lands Va. Tech grad transfer Chris Clarke

Coming out of high school, Clarke was a top-65 talent

The fact that Chris Beard has begun to bring in top-100 talent with regularity has Red Raider fans buzzing.  And had Chris Clarke signed with the Red Raiders out of high school in 2015, he would have been one of the highest-ranked recruits to ever come to Lubbock.

The native of Virginia Beach, Virginia was rated the No. 62 player in the nation and the No. 18 shooting guard when he came out of Cape Henry Collegiate School.  He held offers from such schools as UCONN, Florida, Creighton, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas State, Maryland, Minnesota and UNLV.

The 4-star prospect was originally committed to Tennessee before backing out and landing with the Hokies.  He took official visits to UCONN, Creighton and of course the Volunteers and Hokies in addition to taking unofficial visits to Maryland and Minnesota.

As the No. 62 player in the nation in his class, Clarke was ranked higher as a recruit than any player to have signed with Texas Tech outside of Jahmius Ramsey (No. 31 in 2019) and Khavon Moore (No. 54 in 2018).  Former Tech signee Dior Lowhorn was also the No. 62 player in the nation in the class of 2005.

Interestingly, of the ten highest-ranked high school players to ever sign with Texas Tech, five have been Chris Beard recruits.  Though Chris Clarke will not be added to that group, he was once a recruit as highly-touted as almost any to ever come to Lubbock and thus far, he’s turned that ranking into a solid collegiate career.