Though most Red Raiders are still reveling in the football program’s 38-21 win over Houston while gearing up for Saturday night’s home opener against Stephen F. Austin, it’s worth keeping a close eye on what Mark Adams and the Texas Tech basketball program is up to. That’s because Adams and Co. are hard at work on the recruiting trail and they may be close to landing one of the top high school prospects in the nation.
This past weekend, point guard Richard “Pop” Isaacs was in Lubbock for an official visit. And in the days since, three forecasters from Rivals.com have placed Futurecast projections for the Red Raiders in this recruiting battle.
That’s certainly reason for Texas Tech basketball fans to be excited. The 6-foot-1 product of Henderson, Nevada who grew up in Los Angeles is rated by Rivals as the No. 99 overall player and the No. 23 point guard in the nation while 247Sports lists him as the No. 57 overall player and No. 7 point guard in his class.
In addition to Tech, Isaacs has offers from the likes of Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Arkansas, Boston College, Cal, Florida State, Gonzaga, Iowa, Kansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, TCU, UNLV, A&M, and a host of other programs. And back in late August, he announced a top four of Tech, Oklahoma State, UNLV, and Arizona State.
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Another name for Red Raider fans to keep track of is Brenden Hausen. The Amarillo native is reportedly set to host the Tech coaching staff in his home on Thursday and is currently slated for an official visit to Lubbock in October (according to FanSided’s Texas Tech Hoops Insider).
One of the top recruits to come out of West Texas in recent memory, Hausen is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who is rated by 247Sports as a 4-star prospect and the No. 118 player in the nation. Long considered Tech’s top target in the class of 2022, Hausen is also considering offers from Villanova, Oregon, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Arizona State.
Meanwhile, Zach Keller, the No. 84 player in the nation and No. 15 power forward in the class of 2022 will be on campus this weekend according to Jacob Polacheck of Zagsblog.com. A 6-foot-9 native of Littleton, Colorado, Keller also holds offers from the likes of Arizona State, Colorado, Illinois, TCU, Utah, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech.
The class of 2022 will be a critical one for Adams and Co. as they try to restock the talent pool for a roster that will have five seniors and five juniors this season. Thus, Adams had best find some players who can come in and step up right away given what his program stands to lose after this season.
Of course, Adams will almost certainly dabble in the transfer portal again next offseason, but not to the degree that he did this year when he brought in seven players through the portal. And to sustain the long-term health of his program, he’s going to have to prove that he can recruit the high school ranks as well as he can recruit the transfer ranks. It appears that’s what he’s set out to do and he’s reportedly making some serious headway with some of the nation’s top prospects. Now, it is time for him to start closing some of these recruiting battles.