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Texas Tech basketball: Nimari Burnett’s commitment continues recruiting revolution

By Matthew Conner

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: The Texas Tech Red Raiders huddle ahead of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: The Texas Tech Red Raiders huddle ahead of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Texas Tech is now recruiting nationally not just in Texas

The biggest difference between college basketball and football recruiting is that basketball players are much more likely to play far from home.  Whereas football recruiting is based on geography as much as anything, the top high school basketball players are willing to play anywhere that they feel gives them the best shot at getting to the professional ranks.

But until recently, the vast majority of the stars that the Texas Tech program has built itself on have still been local prospects.  For instance, look at the last two years.

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In the two most successful years in the history of Red Raider basketball, Tech has been led by Texans like Keenan Evans (Richardson), Culver (Lubbock), Zhaire Smith (Garland), Zach Smith (Plano), Norense Odiase (Ft. Worth), and Kyler Edwards (Arlington).  If there has been an impact player over that time who has not been a Texan, he’s almost certainly been a transfer like Matt Mooney (Illinois), Tariq Owens (Maryland), Brandone Francis (Dominican Republic), or Tommy Hamilton (Illinois).

Take this even further through the history of the modern era of Tech hoops and you’ll find that in a sport dominated by national recruiting, Tech has been content to play the local game.  Most of the stars of the program since 1999 have been Texans or Eastern New Mexicans.  Andy Ellis (Lamesa), Ronald Ross (Hobbs, NM), Andre Emmett (Dallas), John Roberson (Plano), Jordan Tolbert (Dallas), Rayford Young (Pampa), Jaye Crocket (Clovis, NM), Alan Voskuil (Hurst)…all were recent stalwarts of the program from Texas or the immediate Lubbock recruiting area.

Furthermore, of the 42 1,000-point scorers in program history, 32 have come from Texas or Eastern New Mexico.  While it’s fine to target the best players in the state, such as true freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey and 2020 commit Micah Peavy, for Tech to compete on a national scale, it had to start recruiting the best players in the country.  After all, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, nor Kansas recruit 80% of their stars only from their home states so why should Tech if it wants to eat at the adult table as well?

In the 2017-19 classes, Beard signed a total of 15 high school players with eight being from outside of Texas.  Now, in 2020 it appears that Peavy will be the only Texan to sign with the Red Raiders as both of the other commits in the class, Burnett and guard Chibuzo Agbo Jr., are from Illinois and California respectively.

There was a time when the only way Texas Tech could even get in front of a top 100 high school basketball recruit was if he was from Texas.  But now, the program is starting to welcome star players from all over the country such as Terrence Shannon (Chicago), and even overseas (Moretti, Andre Savrasov, Clarence Nadolny).

Next. What Micah Peavy's commitment means for Tech. dark

It’s a sign of just how much the profile of Texas Tech basketball has grown.  Now having landed a potential McDonald’s All-American in Burnett, Beard and his program will continue to rub elbows with the most well-known faces in the game just a few short years after being a small fish in the ocean of college hoops recruiting.

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