Texas Tech basketball: Where Kyler Edwards has to improve in 2020-21

Edwards has to get back to being an asset from 3-point range

The most obvious area in which Kyler Edwards can help his team next season is by getting back to being an above-average 3-point shooter.  After all, he regressed rather significantly in that area as a sophomore.

In 2018-19, he came off the bench to shoot a fantastic 44.9% from beyond the arc.  But this past season, his 3-point shooting fell to just 32.2%.  That’s not going to cut it in 2020-21.

You might be correct in assuming that Edwards’ outside shooting might be the single most important skill that an individual player can provide next season.  That’s because he is essentially the only player on the current roster who has ever proven to be a knockdown 3-point shooter.

We saw this season that neither Terrence Shannon Jr. nor Kevin McCullar is going to threaten anyone from deep.  Meanwhile, Georgetown transfer Mac McClung has never shot over 32.3% from deep in his two year NCAA career.   As for true freshman signee Nimari Burnett, he too is known more as a dribble-penetrator and a facilitator rather than as an outside shooter.

The reason to believe Edwards is destined to be a greater asset from deep in his third season is that he will be surrounded by a more complete and diverse group of teammates.  This past season, all three of Tech’s primary guards, Edwards, Davide Moretti, and Jahmi’us Ramsey, were most comfortable shooting from deep.

That meant that someone had to step up and take over other aspects of the game such as handling the ball and creating for others.  Those were burdens that Edwards often had to shoulder but those are not necessarily areas that his game is best suited for.  Thus, the increased workload seemed to take a toll on his legs which obviously hurt his ability to hit 3-pointers the way he did as a freshman when that was his primary task.

But with players like McClung, Burnett, Joel Ntambwe, Micah Peavy, and Shannon all capable of being slashers this year, Edwards can go back to being a true shooting guard and that will likely make his 3-point shot more effective.  If that happens, he will be invaluable for the Red Raiders in 2020-21.