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Texas Tech basketball: What we learned in 2019-20

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 19: A banner bearing an image of head coach Chris Beard is unfurled before the college basketball game against the Kansas State Wildcats on February 19, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 19: A banner bearing an image of head coach Chris Beard is unfurled before the college basketball game against the Kansas State Wildcats on February 19, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Guard Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is introduced and chest bumps with guard Chris Clarke #44 (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Guard Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is introduced and chest bumps with guard Chris Clarke #44 (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech isn’t going away

If there was ever a season when Texas Tech basketball was going to take a step back to irrelevance under Chris Beard, it would have been 2019-20.  But by remaining nationally relevant and being competitive again in the Big 12 during a season that is going to be looked back on as a reset given the team’s massive roster turnover, Beard showed that he is going to keep the Red Raiders in the national picture for the foreseeable future.

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This was a strange year in that everything had to fall just right (or wrong) for Tech to have to bring in nine new players over the course of the offseason.  Both Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver, the pillars of the 2017 signing class, had to develop into first-round NBA picks, something Tech had not had in over two decades, in order for this year’s team to have only one junior, Moretti.

Additionally, unprecedented defections in the last year (most of which were initiated by Beard and Co.) meant that the Red Raiders had to bring in a huge seven-player signing class this season.  Had 2018 signees such as Josh Mballa and Kahvon Moore proven to be contributors in Lubbock, this year’s team would have been better equipped in the post than it ultimately was.

All of that left Tech with one of the more strange rosters in which seven of the 13 players on scholarship were in their first full year in the program.  That’s a recipe that most teams would not be able to even win 18 games with as Tech did this season.

Sure, some programs that bring in four McDonald’s All-Americans each year can stay relevant with such a young roster but Tech did so with a roster comprised of players that were very good but not blue-chip talents coming out of high school.

However, that’s about to change in a big way.  Next year, Tech will welcome its first McDonald’s All-Ameican, Nimari Burnett, along with two other top-150 players, Micah Peavy and Chibuzo Agbo.  What’s more, Tech is in the hunt for some of the biggest fish in the 2021 class including the No. 1 player in the nation, Jonathan Kuminga, who is Ntambwe’s brother.

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It all equates to a long stay in the national conversation for the Red Raiders. This year, with a roster that averaged just 1.3 years of experience, Tech was ranked for 12 of the season’s 19 weeks, which is nothing to be ashamed of.  As we stated earlier, staying atop the Big 12 is going to be a yearly challenge but as long as Chris Beard is at the helm, there’s no reason to believe that Texas Tech basketball is going anywhere but up.

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