Davide Moretti, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Kevin McCullar, Joel Ntambwe, Marcus Santos-Silva
What if Jahmi’us Ramsey returns to Texas Tech for his sophomore year after testing the NBA waters? That would bring the team’s leading scorer back into the fray and make the Red Raiders the Big 12 favorites.
Seem unlikely? Perhaps not.
Just this week, highly-respected NCAA basketball expert Jeff Goodman released his one-round mock draft and Ramsey was nowhere to be found. Goodman said on Twitter that he had spoken to numerous NBA executives before compiling his list so one has to wonder if he gathered some information that might suggest Ramsey’s stock is slipping a bit.
After talking to numerous NBA execs, my Updated Mock Draft: https://t.co/sVta1Wgist
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 6, 2020
What still makes most believe that Ramsey will be a late first-round pick is the fact that his best skill, the 3-point shot, is what NBA teams covet most these days. But if the draft nears and he gets an indication that he’s not likely to be one of the first 30 selections, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that he might come back to Tech for another year.
Should that happen, Beard could put him in the starting lineup in place of Burnett and team him with Moretti, McCullar, Ntambwe, and Santos-Silva. Imagine a world where Texas Tech would bring both Kyler Edwards and Nimari Burnett off the bench. Try to go back in time a decade and tell yourself that in 2020-21, the Red Raiders would have an 11.4 point-per-game scorer and a McDonald’s All-American on the roster but neither would start, and see how hard you would laugh.
The drawback to such a starting five though would be the lack of a true ball-handler. Thus, Moretti would have to assume that role early in games, which he’s capable of doing but which also makes him less effective as a spot-up shooter as we saw this year when his 3-point percentage fell seven points from his sophomore season.
Still, if Ramsey returns, he’s going to start. Thus, either Edwards or McCullar (or Shannon) would have to come off the bench. But while that lineup would be potent, it would be lacking a true penetrate-and-pitch type of guard meaning that Burnett would likely be Beard’s first sub of the game.