A sobering reminder of what Texas Tech recruiting used to look like
To fully grasp what Beard is doing, we must understand how tough it has historically been for basketball coaches to recruit to Lubbock. Far from any major population centers and with legitimate NCAA talent coming from its own back yard only once or twice in every decade, this is a program that had been built on polishing diamonds in the rough.
247Sports’ yearly class rankings date back to 2003. From that year until the year prior to the arrival of Chris Beard, Tech’s average class ranked No. 84.6 in the nation and 8th in the Big 12. What’s more, during those 13 seasons, the program signed only five 4-star recruits.
The best of those classes was the 2003 class. Ranked 37th in the country and fifth in the conference, Tech signed eight players, including 4-star forward Reshaun Bryant from Georgia, who never played for the Red Raiders. In fact, in that class, the lowest-rated player, 2-star signee Darryl Dora, proved to be the most impactful player at Tech.
What does Nimari Burnett bring to @TexasTechMBB?
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) November 12, 2019
1. High level scoring skills. Including touch & accuracy behind the arc.
2. A knack to score inside by way of basket cuts & post-up toughness.
3. Star quality along with a 5 star attitude.
➡️@WhosNextHS pic.twitter.com/1KQ25tlhip
The worst class was the next one to sign with Tech. In 2004, the only player Tech signed was 2-star forward Phil Harbaugh from Oregon. That’s it…one 2-star recruit. Is it any wonder that with recruiting like that from Bob Knight, his son Pat was set up to fail when he took over for his father in 2008? That class ranked No. 253 in the nation and 10th in the Big 12 leads one to wonder if the two conference programs below Tech’s that year were comprised of nothing but walk-ons.
In 2007, Tech signed a promising class of four players which was ranked 48th in the nation and 6th in the conference. It featured 4-star players D’Walyn Roberts and John Roberson in addition to 3-star Mike Singletary and JUCO transfer Ricardo De Bem.
Though that class never got to the NCAA Tournament, it did reach the third round of the NIT in 2010. However, that would be the last time that Tech would sign a 4-star player until inking Davide Moretti in 2017, who was the most unheralded 4-star signee in program history.
We could go on and on about how this program failed to finish in the top half of the conference standings on the recruiting trail from 2004-2016 or how many of the players that Tech signed during that time never even played for the program but the point is clear. This was as poorly stocked of a program in terms of recruiting as there was in the Big 12. Thankfully, that changed.