Today, let’s take a look at what the all-time Dallas/Fort Worth Texas Tech basketball team would look like.
In the state of Texas, the Dallas/Fort Worth area has dominated the high school basketball scene for decades. So it’s no wonder that an all-time Texas Tech basketball team made up of players from the Metroplex would be absolutely stacked.
To understand just how dominant the DFW area has been in hoops, consider the results of a recent study by MaxPreps.com. Author Jordan Divens ranked the ten most dominant programs in the last decade of Texas high school basketball using a scoring system that took into account top-25 finishes both in the state and nationally as well as state championships and title game appearances.
Amazingly, nine of the ten teams on his list come from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. What’s more, three of the next five programs are also from the Metroplex.
Topping the list is DeSoto, which won the 6A 2016 state title and has seven top-10 finishes in the state over the last decade as well as five top-25 national rankings. The highest the Eagles finished nationally was No. 4 in 2016, one of two top-10 finishes that the program has had in the last ten years.
Second is Lancaster, the 2015 and 2016 5A state champs. In addition, they have six top-25 finishes in Texas and three top-25 national rankings.
At No. 3 is Dallas Kimball, which captured the 2011, 2012, and 2014 4A crowns. The Knights also reached the 2013 state championship game while finishing in the top 25 in Texas four times and nationally three times.
Flower Mound Marcus is No. 4 thanks to 5A titles in 2011 and 2012 and three top-25 rankings in the state and two nationally. After that comes the only team from outside of DFW, Fort Bend Travis from Richmond.
The rest of the list is Mansfield Timberview, Allen, South Grand Prairie, Duncanville, and Denton Guyer. In the next five, you will find Dallas Madison, Plano West, and Cedar Hill.
Thus, it is no shock to see that Texas Tech, which has mined DFW talent for decades regardless of the sport, has used the area as one of the pillars of its basketball program. In fact, seven of the 42 1,000-point scorers in program history came from the Metroplex, more than any other geographic region.
Also, the only two one-and-done players to ever play for Tech, Zhaire Smith and Jahmi’us Ramsey are also from North Texas. In addition, the three highest-rated players to ever sign with the Red Raiders, Nimari Burnett, Ramsey, and Micah Peavy also call the Metroplex home.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what the all-time DFW Texas Tech basketball team would look like. As we do, we will have the pleasure of remembering the careers of some of the greatest names in program history.