Texas Tech basketball: Potential starting lineups for 2020-21

Davide Moretti, Nimari Burnett, Terrence Shannon, Joel Ntambwe, Marcus Santos-Silva

Though McCullar ended the year playing as well as any Red Raider on the team (he averaged 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game over Tech’s last four games, it isn’t out of the question to think that Terrence Shannon Jr. could win back the starting spot that he lost to McCullar in February.

Shannon and McCullar do many of the same things on the court.  But where Shannon has an edge is that he’s much more athletic and he’s also at least an inch taller and 15-pounds heavier.  In fact, he might be even closer to 6-foot-8 if rumors of a growth spurt turn out to be true.

Thus, it isn’t hard to envision the sophomore becoming a force in his second season.  And he’s recently admitted to having some huge aspirations for the upcoming season.

This week, Jake Adkins of CollegeHoopsConnection.com said that Shannon told him that he aspires to win Big 12 Player of the Year honors in addition to a conference and national title.  That’s the type of motivation that we want to see from a player who appeared to lack some intensity down the stretch this season.

Consider what Shannon could be if he does make a huge jump as a sophomore.  He’s arguably the best athlete on the roster and despite some lulls this year, he still managed to average 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Putting him in the starting five with Ntambwe, Santos-Silva, Burnett, and Moretti would make Tech especially athletic and versatile, especially on defense (provided that Shannon commits more fully to that end of the floor).  However, it would require Shannon to be more of a threat with his outside jumper with Edwards not on the court (as would be the case with McCullar should he start as his shot needs even more work than Shannon’s).

I would love to see this lineup together at some point, and even if it isn’t how Beard starts games, it will likely be a combination we see from time to time.  With Shannon and Ntambwe playing together, the Red Raiders would be a potential nightmare matchup for any team to have to guard given the size and explosiveness of both players.