Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: What to watch for from Red Raiders in the Bahamas

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

How smoothly will the grad transfers transition into Beard’s system?

No program has done more to incite the graduate transfer craze in college basketball than Texas Tech.  After riding Matt Mooney and Tariq Owen’s to the Final Four, Tech has become the poster child for the movement that is redefining how teams acquire talent.

This year, Beard is going to rely on two more grad transfers to help carry his team.  T.J. Holyfield from Stephen F. Austin and Chris Clarke from Virginia Tech both missed last season and will be stepping back onto the court in a competitive situation for the first time in a year and a half when Wednesday’s game tips off.

Holyfield was sidelined all of last year with a shoulder injury but the 6-foot-8 inside presence put up 12.9 points. 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from 3-point land, and 75% from the free-throw line in 2017-18.   The last time he saw game action was against the Red Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, Clarke was suspended for unspecified reasons last season at Virginia Tech.  Two years ago, he averaged 8.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game and this year he will factor heavily in Tech’s success.

We need to keep an eye on how well these two players mesh with Beard’s systems on both ends of the court.  Offensively, let’s see whether Clarke assumes the role of primary scorer or takes on more of a facilitator’s mentality.  It will also be interesting to see how aggressive Holyfield is with his outside shot.  Coming off a shoulder injury, can he hit his jumper with enough consistency to draw his defenders away from the rim and open up driving lanes?

Defensively, look for Clarke to be a lock-down on-ball defender who will hopefully be able to fill the void left by Mooney’s departure.  While Holyfield needs to be a rebounding presence inside similar to what Norense Odiase was during his time in Lubbock. How these players integrate into Tech’s system will be crucial and hopefully, we get to see the beginnings of that this week.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball