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Texas Tech basketball: Mac McClung will not return to college

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 27: Guard Mac McClung #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders sticks his tongue out after making a three-pointer during the first half of the college basketball game against the Texas Longhorns at United Supermarkets Arena on February 27, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 27: Guard Mac McClung #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders sticks his tongue out after making a three-pointer during the first half of the college basketball game against the Texas Longhorns at United Supermarkets Arena on February 27, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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The Texas Tech basketball program’s offseason of change continued in a huge way on Monday when 2020-21 leading scorer Mac McClung announced that he has decided to remain in the NBA Draft and that he will not be returning to the collegiate ranks.  The news is a disappointment considering that the junior guard had previously given Red Raider fans hopes that he would return when he took his name out of the transfer portal.

But now it appears that McClung’s goal all along was to get to the professional ranks as soon as he could.  And apparently, he believes that the time is right to fully pursue his NBA dreams.

There’s just one problem with that plan.  Most mock drafts do not have him being picked in either round of this year’s Draft and if any do include him in their projections, it is late in the second round.

For example, you will not find McClung’s name in this mock by NBADraft.net, this mock by Tankathon.com, nor this mock by BleacherReport.com.  In other words, McClung has an uphill battle over the course of the NBA Draft evaluation process.

https://twitter.com/McclungMac/status/1394301948539645953?s=20

There are two problems with McClung’s game.  First of all, he lacks the ideal size to play guard at the NBA level.  Generously listed at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, he might be a defensive liability at the next level as well as being in danger of being overpowered by larger defenders when he has the basketball in his hands. We saw that happen at times this past year at the collegiate level so assuming that he would struggle with that in the NBA is not a stretch.

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The second issue he faces is that he’s not a great 3-point shooter and given his lack of size, he will need to make quite a bit of his living in the pro ranks from deep similar to the way smaller guards like Portland’s Damien Lillard and Golden State’s Steph Curry have.  This year, McClung did increase his 3-point shooting from 32.3% to 34.3% however, he did not prove to be a knockdown long-range marksman and that aspect of his game will need continued development as he pursues professional opportunities.

But regardless of McClung’s shortcomings, his absence will leave a massive hole to fill for next year’s Red Raiders.  After all, he led Tech with 15.5 points per game and was the team’s primary ball-handler.

Thus far, Tech has yet to find a suitable replacement to play the point guard role for next year’s team as almost all of the additions Mark Adams has made in his time as head coach are players who will be either shooting guards or wings.  Thus, we should expect Tech to try to mine the transfer portal for a ball-dominant guard who can create offense off the dribble as McClung was able to do so well.

In the end, it’s a shame that Tech fans only got to enjoy one season of Mac McClung and that season was one in which most of us did not get to see him in person.  He was already well on his way to being a modern-day fan favorite and had he remained, he would have likely given us more unforgettable moments to add to those he supplied in his brief Texas Tech basketball tenure.

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