Texas Tech basketball: Mark Adams proving he can recruit top HS talent
Sure, he’s soft-spoken, he’s in his mid-60s, and he lacks any type of national name recognition. But none of those factors are preventing first-year Texas Tech basketball head coach Mark Adams from putting together a fantastic 2022 recruiting class and disproving the notion that he would not be able to recruit blue-chip players to West Texas the way his predecessor did, a belief that many held when he was promoted to head coach in April.
It was one thing for Adams to be able to recruit via the transfer portal as he did when he brought seven offseason transfers into his program. But for many to believe that Adams would be able to keep Texas Tech relevant in the Big 12, he was always going to have to prove that he could bring some of the nation’s top high school players into the fold.
After all, Red Raider fans have become a bit spoiled in regard to high school recruiting in recent years. Since 2018, Tech has signed three classes ranked in the top 33 in the nation with the 2019 and 2020 classes being rated top-20 classes.
Also, six of the ten highest-rated high school recruits to ever sign with Texas Tech have done so in the past five classes. That includes the four top-ranked signees in program history, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Nimari Burnett, Micah Peavy, and Khavon Moore.
But while Adams was a member of the coaching staff that brought those players to Lubbock, he was not given the benefit of the doubt as a recruiter when he took the reins of the program. However, he’s quickly proven to be more than capable in that aspect of his job. In fact, he’s on the verge of putting together the best class Texas Tech has ever assembled.
Despite only having three players in it, Tech’s signing class sits at No. 27 in the nation and No. 4 in the Big 12 according to 247Sports. That’s because each of those players has an individual score of at least 0.8891 (1.0000 is a perfect score).
Prior to Thursday, Adams and his staff had already signed 4-star point guard Richard “Pop” Isaacs, the No. 68 player in the country, and 3-star forward Robert Jennings, the No. 207 player in the class of 2022.
Then, on Thursday, it was announced that Tech had signed guard Lamar Washington. Named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Oregon, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound native of Portland is the No. 169 player in his class and the No. 20 shooting guard in the high school ranks.
Also holding Power 5 scholarship offers for football, Washington picked Tech over offers from the likes of Texas, Auburn, Oregon State, Washington State, and others. Now, he’s a Red Raider and he could combine with Isaacs to form the backcourt of the future for the Red Raiders.
However, there are two much bigger fish on Mark Adam’s radar and both are legitimately interested in the Red Raiders.
6-foot-10 center Yohan Traore has already taken two visits to Texas Tech and is seriously considering the Red Raiders as a potential landing spot. He also is reportedly down to Memphis, Michigan, and Kansas.
An AAU teammate of Washington’s, Traore is the No. 9 player in the nation and the No. 3 center in the class of 2022. Should he pick Tech, he would be by far the highest-rated player to ever don the Double T.
Adding Traore would give Texas Tech its greatest signing class ever. And it could be a class that means to Adams what the 2017 class, which included Davide Moretti, Jarrett Culver, and Zhaire Smith, meant to Adam’s predecessor or what the 2014 class, which included Keenan Evans, Norense Odiase, Josh Gray, and Zach Smith meant for the Red Raiders.
But don’t think that the current class is all Adams is focused on. Rather, keep in mind that on January 1st, one of the top players in the 2023 class is set to be in Lubbock for an official visit as Tech takes on Oklahoma State in the Big 12 opener.
El Paso’s KJ Lewis, a 6-foot-4, 5-star shooting guard will be checking out Texas Tech and all it has to offer that weekend. Rated the No. 28 player and the No. 4 shooting guard in the nation, he’s got offers from the likes of Baylor, Alabama, Arkansas, Houston, Kansas, Texas, and UCLA among others.
The point is that Adams is proving to be more than a mild-mannered Xs and Os wizard. He’s put together a top-notch staff that has connections around the nation and which is capable of opening some massive doors for the Red Raiders. So though he isn’t as fiery as his predecessor or as flashy as some of his contemporaries, don’t overlook Adams’ ability to build a program because if the 2022 recruiting class is any indication, that’s something else that he can do extremely well.