Texas Tech basketball: No. 1 JUCO player interested in Red Raiders

Jay Scrubb, the No. 1 college basketball JUCO recruit in the nation has trimmed his list and the Texas Tech basketball program is still in the mix.

Less than a week after hosting Duncanville, Texas guard Micah Peavy, a top 40 player in the nation, the Texas Tech basketball program appears to be making inroads with another one of the most coveted targets in the class of 2020.  That’s because Jay Scrubb, the No. 1 JUCO player in the nation has trimmed his list to ten schools and Tech has made the cut.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder is rated a 4-star prospect by 247Sports.  He is still considering Tech, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Memphis, Alabama, Missouri, Texas, Oregon, Xavier, and Louisville.

A native of Louisville, Scrubb put up 19.5 points and 8.6 rebounds last year.  What’s more, he shot an impressive 46.4 percent from three-point range at John A. Logan College in Illinois.

According to 247Sports, Scrubb has taken two unofficial visits to Louisville this summer and it appears like his hometown team might have the inside edge.  And given that the majority of the schools in his top 10 are relatively close to his hometown, it’s fair to wonder if geography will play a greater role in his recruitment than it typically does in most high-profile college basketball recruiting battles.

This summer, the versatile forward participated in the USA Basketball under-19 World Cup training camp where he competed with some of the top prospects in the nation for the right to represent the United States in August.  He was one of 34 players trying to earn a spot on the roster that was coached by Kansas State’s Bruce Weber and though he did not make that roster, his inclusion in the process shows just how talented of a player Scrubb is.

"“It’s definitely going to help going into next season, give me and my teammates the utmost confidence in what we’re trying to do” he told ABC affiliate WSIL channel 3."

Scrubb could be the type of player that Tech will need to land in the upcoming recruiting class given that the Red Raiders will be losing grad transfer forward Chris Clarke after this season.  It will be imperative that Chris Beard and his coaches find or develop another playmaker capable of facilitating the offense and guarding multiple positions on defense and adding Scrubb to the mix could give an already talented roster one more possible option.

In other Texas Tech basketball recruiting news, current 2020 verbal commit Chibuzo Agbo has seen his rating skyrocket since giving his verbal pledge to the Red Raiders three weeks ago.  At the time, he was a three-star prospect and the No. 191 overall recruit in his class according to 247Sports.

But now, he sits at No. 68 overall according to 247 and he has earned his fourth-star.  Additionally, Agbo has also been elevated to 4-star status by Rivals.com, which has him as the No. 87 player in the class of 2020 following his extremely strong showing on the summer club team circuit.

The San Diego native is the only player committed to the Red Raiders in the current recruiting cycle but with Peavy taking his official visit and Scrubb keeping Tech in the mix, Beard’s next class could begin to come more into focus soon.  And given the way the program has been soaring during the Beard era, what develops could be another exciting picture.