Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders in the mix for several top 2020 transfers

Tech makes the cut for the nation’s top grad transfer, Carlik Jones

If immediate help is what Beard is looking for, Radford’s Carlik Jones could be the answer.  After averaging 20 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game this past season to earn Big South Conference Player of the Year honors, the 6-foot-1 guard is in the transfer portal and has cut his list to eight schools and Tech remains in the mix.

Also still in the running for Jones, according to Jeff Goodman, are Louisville, West Virginia, Gonzaga, Maryland, Michigan State, and Radford.  Keep in mind that he is an Ohio native so the schools such as Maryland, WVU, Louisville, and Michigan State may have a geographic advantage.

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"“I think he just wants to consider the options available,” Carlik’s mother, Felicia Roseman, told Mike Niziolek of The Roanoke Times. “He wants to look at other opportunities that are possible, I don’t think he’s finalized anything. He certainly wants to put in and consider all options available to him in that last year of eligibility.”"

Just the second player in Big South history with 1,500 career points, 450 rebounds and 450 assists, Jones had 17 games of 20 or more points in 2019-20.  Against Northwestern of the Big 10, he scored 20 points and against the SEC’s Mississippi State, he added 15 in the only two games against major conference opponents of his season.

What took his game to a new level this year was the fact that his three-point shooting percentage jumped over 16 points to 40.9%, the best of his career.  He made 47 3s on the season, 25 more than a year ago.

Beard has been in the mix for several ball-dominant guards to help diversify his team’s offensive attack, which was often stagnant in the clutch this past season given that the team’s three primary guards, Davide Moretti, Jahmi’us Ramsey, and Kyler Edwards are all better spot-up shooters than penetrators.

Creating for others is something that Jones does extremely well, which is rare for a 20-point scorer.  This year, he had 175 assists, which was 38 more than any Red Raider.  But what’s amazing is the fact that he had six more than that in 2018-19 as a sophomore. So it’s easy to see why Carlik Jones is a hot commodity and Red Raider fans should closely follow his recruitment because he’s the type of player that this roster is currently missing and one that could potentially make Tech next year’s Big 12 favorite.