Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: The top 25 Red Raiders in the Big 12 era

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates the play against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates the play against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 25
Next
OKLAHOMA CITY – MARCH 11: Forward Mike Singletary #32 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts in the final minute of a 88-83 win against the Texas A&M Aggies during the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship at the Ford Center March 11, 2009 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Singletary scored 43 points for a Big 12 tournament record. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – MARCH 11: Forward Mike Singletary #32 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts in the final minute of a 88-83 win against the Texas A&M Aggies during the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship at the Ford Center March 11, 2009 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Singletary scored 43 points for a Big 12 tournament record. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

No. 16: Mike Singletary

Another player whose exploits as a Red Raider go largely unmentioned because of the era in which he played is Mike Singletary.  A 6-foot-5 small forward, he played the game almost like a power forward as he made a living in the paint while averaging just 1.1 attempts per game from beyond the 3-point line.

Using his crafty game to score in bunches, he was Tech’s scoring leader in 2009-10 (his junior year) when he put up 15 points per game.  In all, his 1,536 career points rank 15th in school history.

But Singletary was supposed to be part of a recruiting class that turned around the fortunes of Tech hoops.  Coming in with point guard John Roberson and forward Dwalyn Roberts, Singletary was part of a trio that many expected to be the foundation of a Texas Tech basketball renaissance.

That didn’t happen though as Tech never made the NCAA Tournament during his career.  However, he did give us one unforgettable postseason moment.

In a Big 12 Tournament game that saw his team trail Texas A&M by as many as 21 points, Singletary went off for 43 points (a Big 12 Tournament record) with 29 of those points coming consecutively for the Red Raiders in the second half as Tech pulled off the upset.

Taking down the Aggies in any sport is the quickest way to become a Red Raider hero and that’s what Singletary did.  But because of how bad the program was from 2007-08 to 2010-11, he’s not as big of a program legend as he could have been had he played in a different era.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball