Texas Tech basketball: Chris Beard lands his top 2020 target

Monday, the Texas Tech basketball program picked up a verbal commitment from Micah Peavy, a 4-star prospect who has long been considered Chris Beard’s top 2020 target.

Just one day prior to the start of the 2019-20 Texas Tech basketball season, the future of Red Raider hoops grew even brighter when 4-star guard Micah Peavy verbally committed.  The Duncanville, Texas product and former high school teammate of current Texas Tech true freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey has long been the apple Chris Beard’s eye and now, he’s set to join the nation’s fastest-rising coach in Lubbock.

Unlike with other recruiting battles, Beard himself took the lead on Peavy’s recruitment and he’s been fostering a relationship with the 6-foot-7 do-it-all floor general for close to two years.  Thus, it’s safe to say that Beard views Peavy as a cornerstone of the program’s future.

"“I felt most comfortable with the coaching staff and the players,” Peavy told ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello. “I felt that coach Beard and I shared the same goals for my future. I feel like Tech will prepare me for what I want to do, which is to play in the NBA.”"

Rated by 247Sports as the No. 2 player in Texas and the No. 43 player in the country, Peavy also held offers from Texas, TCU, LSU, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M and others.  He took official visits to Austin and Ft. Worth in recent weeks but eventually he decided that Lubbock was where he wanted to be.

The No. 34 player in the nation and the No. 8 small forward in his class according to Rivals.com, Peavy becomes the second player in Tech’s 2020 class joining San Diego native Chibuzo Agbo Jr., a 3-star guard who picked Tech over his hometown school San Diego State back in August.  Right now, the Red Raiders have only one available scholarship for next season, which they are hoping to fill with 5-star guard Nimari Burnett who Beard and assistant Ulrich Malagi have targeted heavily in recent months and who visited Lubbock in August.

Many believe that Peavy and his former high school running mate Ramsey, who teamed up to bring the 6-A state title to Duncanville this spring, will remind fans in Lubbock of another dynamic duo that recently called the South Plains home.  With off the charts athleticism and a relentless attitude for attacking the rim, Ramsey, himself a top 40 recruit in 2019, reminds some of Zhaire Smith, who played only one year for Tech before entering the 2018 NBA Draft.

Meanwhile, Peavy might remind many of Jarrett Culver, who spent the last two years in Lubbock before taking his talents to the NBA this summer.  Like Culver, Peavy is a polished player who has an all-around game that lacks too many holes but he is not an eye-popping or freakish athlete the likes of Smith or Ramsey.

Peavy, averaged 20.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game on the prestigious Nike EYBL circuit this spring and summer to boost his stock.  He’s considered a player that will be the next elite talent to come to Tech joining Ramsey, 2019 freshman Terrence Shannon Jr., and 2018 signee Khavon Moore, all of whom were top 100 players in their respective classes.

If there is a difference in the duo of Smith and Culver vs. Ramsey and Peavy, it is that the latter tandem is comprised of nationally-regarded stars who were hot names on the recruiting trail rather than under-the-radar 3-star prospects as was the case with Smith and Culver.  Thus, the hype and expectations for the Duncanville duo is going to be off the charts.  But we’ve already seen them team up to win one title and now, we can dream of them doing to same for the Red Raiders.