Texas Tech basketball: Potential starting lineups without Davide Moretti

With Davide Moretti now headed back to Italy to play professionally, let’s take a look at some possible 2020-21 starting lineups for the Texas Tech basketball program.

For the third-straight offseason, the Texas Tech basketball program has lost a starter to the professional ranks before the expiration of his eligibility.  But while virtually everyone saw the departures of Zharie Smith and Jarrett Culver in each of the last two summers coming from months away, this year’s defection of Davide Moretti hit fast and took us by surprise.

In fact, as recently as the first week of April, Moretti said that he was leaning towards returning.  But last month, he received an offer from a team in his native Italy that was obviously too good to pass up.

In the end, this is a bittersweet loss for the Red Raiders.  Of course, the impact of his absence on the floor will be significant as the Red Raiders are now woefully short on proven 3-point shooters.

But don’t underestimate the impact that this move can have on the recruiting trail for Chris Beard.  While putting Moretti in the European leagues ahead of schedule is not as sexy as selling the two first-round NBA Draft picks from the last two offseasons, it is yet another data point that the Red Raider head coach can use when illustrating his ability to help recruits make a living by playing basketball.

Of course, this could be the offseason that Beard’s program puts two players in the professional ranks.  Guard Jahmi’us Ramsey, last season’s leading scorer at 15 p.p.g., is also considering his pro options.

After a stellar freshman season, the Duncanville, Texas native has entered the NBA Draft but has not signed with an agent thus retaining the right to return to school.  This week, we learned that he will have to make his decision by early August at the latest as the NBA set its new NBA Draft dates.

It is expected that Ramsey will stay in the draft but most have him as just a borderline first-round pick meaning that it could be in his best interest to return for another year and improve his draft stock.  Still, Moretti’s departure has guaranteed that Beard will have another professional player to point to as an example of what he can help players become.

However, we are now left wondering what will become of next year’s roster given that Moretti is now gone.  That means Tech could potentially lose three starters this offseason as forward T.J. Holyfield has exhausted his eligibility.

The good news is that there is plenty of talent coming back and there will be no shortage of options for Beard when it comes to assembling his starting lineup.  Of course, the more important aspect of the game is the lineup on the floor in the closing minutes, a time when the 2019-20 team repeatedly spit the bit.

But fans seem to be more interested in who will comprise the starting lineup.  Maybe it is the allure of the pregame festivities or just the mindset that we all grew up with playing basketball as kids when the starting lineup was the confirmation of the five best players on the team.

For whatever reason, we all love to think about the possible starters for next year’s team so let’s look at the options Beard may have at his disposal.  Here are the most likely starting lineups that we could see when November rolls around.