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Texas Tech basketball: Two Tech signees rise, one tumbles in new Rivals 150

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot poses for a photo with fans prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders 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 mascot poses for a photo with fans prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Rivals.com has updated its high school basketball prospect rankings and all three Texas Tech basketball signees saw their standings change.

Though the current Texas Tech basketball season is right in the heat of conference play, Texas Tech basketball fans remain thrilled about the future.  That’s because the Red Raiders have already signed three of the nation’s top prospects in the class of 2020 and they will give the program its best recruiting class in history (at least on paper).

This week, Rivals.com updated its National 150 list and all three Red Raider signees saw their rankings change.  That’s good news for two of the players but not so much for the top signee in school history, Nimari Burnett.

Just a few days after being selected as a McDonald’s All-American, making him the first Red Raider recruit to ever earn that honor, the Chicago-area native fell from No. 23 to No. 31 on Rivals’ list.  That makes him the second-lowest rated 5-star player on their board ahead of only Kentucky signee Lance Ware.

Of course, Rivals doesn’t give us any reason for the adjustments for each individual player so there’s no way to know why Burnett took such a tumble.  For what it’s worth, he remains rated much higher by 247Sports, which has him at No. 24 in the nation.

Now just two spots below Burnette is Duncanville, Texas product and fellow Texas Tech signee Micah Peavy.  Up two spots in the newest Rivals rankings, the 6-foot-7 forward is now the highest-ranked 4-star player in that nation according to Rivals.

A teammate of current Red Raider Jahmi’us Ramsey during last year’s run to the Texas 6-A State Title, the coach’s son is a versatile player on both ends of the floor who is drawing comparisons to 2019 Big 12 Player of the Year, Jarrett Culver.

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Of course, when Culver signed in 2017, he was just the No. 312 player in the nation.  What’s more, Peavy already has a couple of inches on Culver compared to when the former Coronado High School star was finishing up his senior year.

Interestingly, 247Sports has Peavy ranked much lower than Rivals does.  At just No. 62 in the nation on their rankings, he’s basically 30 spots lower than he is on either the Rivals or ESPN lists.

Meanwhile, Tech’s third 2020 signee is one of the nation’s fastest-rising players.  Up a whopping seven spots in the new Rivals150, Chibuzo Agbo is up to No. 81 overall, a sizeable jump for as late in the current recruiting cycle as we are.

The San Diego native was just No. 139 overall in November of 2018 as he was often overshadowed by a host of 5-star players on his own team.  But after a breakout summer in 2019, he began to turn heads.

Another 6-foot-7 forward, Agbo is drawing some comparisons to current Red Raider Chris Clarke because of his ability to use his strength to guard larger players and because he has an all-around offensive game.  But where he’s already more polished than the senior is when it comes to shooting the ball, something Agbo does well from the outside.

Looking at the rest of the Rivals150 for some Big 12 flavor, you have to only go so far as the No. 1 spot.  There you will find Cade Cunningham, a 6-foot-7 forward from Florida who is headed to Oklahoma State.

At No. 19 is shooting guard Bryce Thompson, a Kansas signee.  Those are the only two players ahead of Burnett and Peavy who are headed to other Big 12 rivals at this time.

In all, there are only 19 players on the Rivals150 currently set to arrive in the Big 12 next year.  Texas Tech has three of them.  That’s why Tech has the No. 12 class in America and No. 2 class in the Big 12 according to Rivals.  These are indeed great days in Raiderland.

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