Texas Tech basketball: The all-time Gerald Myers era team
The starters
G Bubba Jennings
F Rick Bullock
F Mike Russell
PG Sean Gay
SF Jeff Taylor
As you will quickly see, the strength of the Gerald Myers all-time team would be the guards. In his starting lineup, you’ll find three that were among the most legendary players in program history.
We begin with Bubba Jennings, the pride of Clovis, New Mexico. It’s a shame that he played before the advent of the 3-point line in the college game because if he would have had that luxury, he would likely be the program’s all-time leading scorer.
Arguably the best shooter to ever play for Texas Tech, he averaged 15 points per game from 1980-85 including 19.5 during his senior year when he shot 54.8% from the floor, which is astounding given that almost all of the 5-foot-10 dynamo’s offense came from the perimeter.
When he left school, he was second in Red Raider history with 1,762 points, which still has him ninth all-time. What’s more, he was awarded the 1984-85 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the best player in the nation under 6-feet.
Starting with him in the backcourt would be point guard Sean Gay. A true combo guard from Houston, he is No. 3 in program history with 432 career assists and No. 12 in scoring with 1,597 points.
A three-time All-Southwest Conference selection, including first-team honors in 1988-89, the 6-foot-3 guard was the first player in program history to amass at least 1,500 points, 350 rebounds, 325 assists, and 125 steals during his career. To this day, only three other players have reached those totals. For his career, he averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists from 1985-89.
At the small forward position would be another eastern New Mexico product, Jeff Taylor. A Red Raider from 1978-82, the Hobbs native averaged 12.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
The 6-foot-4 human pogo stick was one of the most dynamic and athletically gifted players to play for Myers and his leaping ability and defensive acumen (he was a two-time SWC Defensive Player of the Year) would be much needed on this team when trying to shut down other elite wings. In 1982, he became the 14th player in program history to be taken in the NBA Draft when he was a second-round pick of the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, he passed away just last month at the age of 60.
In the post, Myers would have the benefit of going to Ring of Honor member Rick Bullock, who many believe is the best player to ever represent the Double-T. Bullock was a two-time SWC Player of the Year and he recorded 50 double-doubles, 2,118 points (a Tech record at the time and still third-most in program history) and 1,057 rebounds as a Red Raider from 1973-76.
A San Antonio product, he averaged 19.8 points and 9.88 rebounds per game and also had 142 blocks and ranks third in Tech history in both rebounds and blocks. The 6-foot-9 forward was an Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection as both a junior and senior.
Rounding out the starting five would be a player that I was not too familiar with until beginning this exercise, Mike Russell. The Buffalo, NY native was a Red Raider from 1975-79 when he averaged 17.3 points per game including 22.2 as a junior and 19.6 as a senior. The 6-foot-7 forward also grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game.
This starting five would be as gritty and hard-nosed any five you could throw together. But it would also be undersized at almost every position. Still, with Bullock doing work in the paint and Jennings finally getting to bomb away from 3-point range, it would be a group that would be tough to handle, just like its head coach.