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Texas Tech basketball: Jahmi’us Ramsey stays in the NBA Draft

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 29: Guard Jahmi'us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts after making a three-pointer during the second half of the college basketball game against the West Virginia Mountaineers on January 29, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 29: Guard Jahmi'us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts after making a three-pointer during the second half of the college basketball game against the West Virginia Mountaineers on January 29, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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As expected, the Texas Tech basketball program’s leading scorer from last year, Jahmi’us Ramsey, has decided to remain in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Another domino in the Texas Tech basketball offseason has fallen.  But this one was far from unexpected.

Monday, the deadline for NCAA players to return to school passed and Jahmi’us Ramsey is one of the players who has decided to test his luck in the draft.  That was expected since the moment Ramsey announced this spring that he was going to wade into the draft waters but retain the right to return to school.

You could make the case that the Duncanville native had the best freshman season in Red Raider history.  Averaging 15 points per game, he set a program record for scoring average by a freshman and had the season not been cut short, he likely would have set the Tech record for total points by a freshman, a mark currently held by Martin Zeon who had 413 in 2004-05.  Ramsey was just seven points shy of that when the season was canceled.

What’s more, Ramsey had three of the top nine scoring games by a freshman in Tech history by putting up 26 points against Kansas and 25 against both Houston Baptist and Iowa State.   Also, he was just the second freshman in Tech history to lead the team in scoring.  The only other player on that list is Jordan Tolbert, who averaged 11.5 points per game in 2011-12.

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But while the news that Ramsey was remaining in the NBA Draft was not a surprise, it was compounded by more bad news for Texas Tech basketball and Big 12 fans as two key Baylor Bears decided to return to Waco.  Both guards Jared Butler and Macio Teague are going to return for the 2020-21 season which might propel Scott Drew’s team to a preseason No. 1 ranking.

In fact, Stadium’s Jeff Goodman now has Baylor atop his preseason top-50 ranking.  Goodman also had Kansas at No. 5, Tech at No. 10, West Virginia at No. 16, Texas at No. 22, Oklahoma State at No. 26, and Oklahoma at No. 40.  In other words, he expects the Big 12 to be brutal again this season.

As for Big 12 players staying in the draft, the most notable is Kansas point guard Devon Dotson, the 2020 Big 12 Player of the Year.  Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton is expected to the first Big 12 player taken this year, somewhere near the middle to the end of the lottery.  They are the only two early entrants from the Big 12 aside from Ramsey.

Ramsey’s decision confirms that Tech will have to replace its two top scorers in Ramsey and Davide Moretti as well as last season’s fifth-leading scorer T.J. Holyfield.  That trio combined to average 36.9 of the 71.9 points the Red Raiders scored last season.

Related Story. Ramsey's best games as a Red Raider. light

The good news for Beard though is that this will make three-straight years that he has put a player in the NBA Draft (assuming Ramsey is selected, which seems a virtual certainty).  That is a key selling point to recruits who have already seen Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver become Lottery picks in each of the last two seasons.  While Ramsey isn’t projected to go as high, he appears satisfied enough with his draft status to remain in the draft this year.

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