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Texas Tech basketball: Other seasons that didn’t live up to the hype

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 05: The Texas Tech Red Raiders play against the Eastern Illinois Panthers during the second half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on November 05, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 05: The Texas Tech Red Raiders play against the Eastern Illinois Panthers during the second half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on November 05, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Pat Knight’s best team can’t reach NCAA Tournament in 2010

Back in 2007, the Texas Tech basketball program signed the best recruiting class in the memory of most Red Raider fans.  But that group, which was rated No. 48 in the nation and included two four-star prospects, John Roberson and Mike Singletary, never reached the NCAA Tournament again after losing in the first round as freshmen.

Many thought that their best shot to do so was in 2009-10.  Coming off a disappointing 14-19 season, it was expected that the program would rebound in Pat Knight’s second full season in charge.

That didn’t happen quite to the level that was hoped.  Tech did finish the year with a 19-16 overall record but that was good for just an NIT birth, which ended in a quarterfinal loss to Ole Miss.

Again, there appeared to be plenty of talent on that roster.  Roberston is arguably one of the best point guards in program history.  He is Tech’s all-time leader in assists and he sits at No. 7 on the Red Raider all-time scoring list.

Singletary also proved to be a prolific scorer who would end up as Tech’s No. 15 all-time leading scorer.  That team also featured the athletic D’walyn Roberts, a 6-foot-7 forward who was at times an explosive rebounder and shot-blocker.

That team had some size as well.  6-foot-9 Darko Cohadarevic was a senior on that team averaging 6.9 points and 5 rebounds per game.  Additionally, 6-foot-10 sophomore Robert Lewandowski was part of that team after arriving as one of the most heralded high school centers to sign with Texas Tech in the modern era of the program.

JUCO guard Nick Okorie was a senior that season and he averaged a solid 10.7 points per game to be the team’s third-leading scorer behind Robertson and Singletary.  Still, this team has to go down as a disappointment, especially after picking up a big win early in the year.

In the eighth game of the season, Tech knocked off No. 12 Washington 99-92 in overtime inside the U.S.A.  That propelled Tech to a No. 23 ranking and eventually the Red Raiders would climb to No. 16 a week later.

But once Big 12 play arrived, that team couldn’t keep up as has so often been the case for Red Raider teams over the years.  In fact, going just 4-12 in league games, Tech had its second-fewest conference wins since 2001-02, the first year of the Bob Knight era.  That came on the heels of winning just three Big 12 games the season prior.

After toppling the Huskies, Tech finished the year by losing eight-straight games to ranked opponents.  That’s similar to this year’s Red Raider team, which went just 1-6 against top 25 foes after taking down No. 1 Louisville in December.

A year later, that class of 2007 would end Pat Knight’s tenure by managing to go just 13-19 overall and 5-11 in Big 12 play.  That would signal the end of the Knight family era and usher in the chaos that was the Billy Gillespie, Chris Walker fiasco.  One has to wonder how different it might have been had the 2009-10 team actually reached its full potential and found a way to get to the NCAA Tournament.

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