Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders land verbal from 4-star guard

Wednesday, the Texas Tech basketball program picked up a verbal commitment from Drew Steffe, a 4-star guard from Frisco, Texas as Mark Adams continues to bring some of the nation’s top talent to West Texas.

The 2023 prospect is rated by 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 124 player in the nation and the No. 12 player in Texas for his class.  He’s also rated the nation’s No. 27 shooting guard.

A 6-foot-5, 175-pounder, Steffe visited the Red Raiders this past weekend to take in the West Virginia game, and apparently, that sealed the deal for this talented offensive player.  In addition to Tech, he holds offers from the likes of Arizona State, Auburn, Georiga Tech, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, TCU, Xavier, Colorado, and others.

"Brandon Jenkins, a recruiting analyst for 247Sports, has the following scouting report on Steffe from Steffe’s 247Sports profile page.  “Steffe is a confident long-range shooter who can stick the three-point shot, especially of the catch. Although he is more of a floor spacer than a true playmaker, Steffe will be effective in offensive structure because he cuts well away from the ball and is also an instinctive ball-mover and passer off the dribble when playing within the flow of an offense. His confidence and dedication in improving his foot speed and lateral quickness will enhance his defensive abilities and determine his labeling as either a shooter or a scorer.”"

What’s intriguing about Steffe is his ability to shoot the 3-ball.  That’s something that Tech has struggled with this season.

But what’s interesting is that Adams appears to be loading up on players that are known for their ability to hit from the outside with regularity.  He’s already added Jaylon Tyson, a transfer from Texas who was originally a Texas Tech signee before last April’s coaching change, as well as 2022 guards Richard “Pop” Isaacs, and Lamar Washington, both of whom are high-scoring players that are more than capable of hitting deep jumpers.

However, no player in the upcoming Red Raider pipeline has more of a reputation for shooting the 3-ball than Steffe.  In fact, ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla Tweeted that Steffe could remind Texas Tech fans of former Red Raider 3-point sniper Alan Voskuil.

This is the first Red Raider commit in the class of 2023 but it certainly won’t be the last.  And as we continue to see Mark Adams collect talent on the recruiting trail, it is becoming evident that his ability to recruit was vastly underrated by almost everyone when he took over the program this past offseason.  Now, he’s landed one of the nation’s best shooters in Drew Steffe and that should be just the start of another strong class for the Texas Tech basketball program.