Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders interested in another VA Tech transfer

It is being reported that the Texas Tech basketball team has shown interest in undergraduate transfer Landers Nolley II from Virginia Tech.

In the days since the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament, the focus of fans around the nation has turned to how their teams will improve their roster. One target that Texas Tech has reportedly contacted is Landers Nolley II from Virginia Tech.

A redshirt freshman this year, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound wing averaged 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 2019-20. He was a 31.6% shooter from 3-point range averaging 2.1 made threes per contest. Now, he’s looking to transfer out of Blacksburg after leading the Hokies in scoring.

"“These past two years flew by in the blink of an eye. We made so many memories and I can’t thank you all enough,” he said on Instagram. “With that being said, my recruitment is officially open and I will be exploring my options.”"

Those options reportedly already include such schools as Memphis, Cincinnati, UCONN, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Wichita State, Florida, and Minnesota. What’s more, he’s a Georgia native so it would seem likely that Georgia might also come calling at some point.

According to national college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman, Tech has also thrown its hat in the ring.

Landers Nolley II has already heard from Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Miss St., Alabama, Wichita State, Florida and Minnesota, source told @Stadium. https://t.co/911vw6rGSr
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 16, 2020

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Keep in mind that Nolley is not a grad transfer meaning that he will either have to sit out the upcoming season or petition the NCAA for immediate eligibility. Given Tech’s lack of success in receiving an eligibility waiver for UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe this season, we shouldn’t be holding our breath for the likelihood of seeing Nolley on the court next year even if he does decide to come to Lubbock.

What makes Nolley such an appealing target is his size and versatility, which would be natural fits in Beard’s system on both ends of the floor. This year, he earned Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman team honors and was named honorable mention All-ACC.

But he was not playing for Buzz Williams, the coach that recruited him to Virginia Tech, who left Blacksburg last offseason for Texas A&M and now he’s looking for a new home. Thus, it is fair to wonder if he might be interested in joining the Aggies and reuniting with Williams.

Should Beard bring Nolley into the mix, it would be the second-straight year that he landed a Virginia Tech transfer. Prior to this year, he signed former Hokie Chris Clarke as a grad transfer and the 6-foot-6 forward led the Red Raiders in rebounds (6.6) and assists (4.6) while averaging 5.6 points per game.

Clarke and Nolley are vastly different players in the way that they approach the game. While Clarke is a facilitator first who only shoots when he has to, Nolley is never shy when it comes to putting up shots. Averaging 14.4 field goal attempts per game, he took nearly more than double the number of shots of any of his teammates with the next most frequent shooter on the Va Tech roster averaging just 7.4.

This is not the only transfer Beard has already been in contact with and despite the national shutdown of all athletics, the Red Raider head coach is not shying away from trying to improve his roster. So while we wait out this sports hiatus, keep an eye on the moves Beard makes and remember the name of Landers Nolley II because he could be the next player to jump from Tech to Tech.