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Texas Tech basketball: Wildcards on the 2019-20 Red Raider roster

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Texas Tech Red Raiders stand for the national anthem prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Texas Tech Red Raiders stand for the national anthem prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Forward T.J. Holyfield has to prove he’s healthy and ready to fill some big shoes

It isn’t fair to simply compare rosters on a player-by-player basis each year.  As teams change and evolve from season to season, so to will the style of play that coaches utilize.

That’s why we shouldn’t look at grad transfer T.J. Holyfield as the replacement for either of the two big men the Red Raiders lost last year.  He isn’t as tall or athletic as Owens nor is he as physical or strong as Odiase (though he is the same height).

Holyfield is going to be critical for this team as one of just two seniors on the roster.  What’s more, he will be the only post player to be an upperclassman.

When he’s healthy, he is a versatile player who rebounds extremely well.  He gets a significant number of his points off of offensive rebounds and hustle plays.

But he also had a decent outside shot.  He’s a career 37.6% shooter from 3-point range.

What makes him a wildcard are questions about whether he is recovered from a shoulder injury that cost him all of last year and whether his style of play will translate to the Big 12.

The injury is the far greater concern.  After a year of recovery and rehab, it should be structurally sound but shoulders can be tricky.

In the 3-game exhibition tour of the Bahamas in August, his first competitive basketball since March of 2018, he looked rusty and off his game.  He shot a combined 5/16 and scored just 10 total points but in the final game, he looked more like the player we expect to see with eight points and 11 rebounds.

It is also unclear just how well he will perform in the post against larger players in the Big 12.  The competition he saw while starring at Stephen F. Austin was much easier for him to physically dominate but this year he will have to play bigger than his height suggests he should because he will draw the primary defensive assignments on the opposing team’s biggest players.

Holyfield isn’t as broad-shouldered and strong as Norense Odiase.  Nor is he as bouncy and dynamic athletically as Tariq Owens.  But he is a better offensive player than either.

This year, he has to provide some of the defense and rebounding that Tech lost with Odiase’s departure and the scoring that Owens provided.  If he returns to the form that he showed two years ago when averaged 12.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while proving solid enough to play post defense in the Big 12, this Red Raider team will be a load to handle.

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