Texas Tech basketball: Why 2021-22 season was a rousing success

Adams showed he can build a program in a modern way

In many ways, Mark Adams is old school.  He is a tried-and-true disciple of defensive basketball.  He isn’t flashy.  He is not that far from being 70 years old.  Thus, many wondered if he could survive in the fast-paced modern era of college hoops, an era where player movement and roster turnover happens in the blink of an eye.

But to many people’s surprise, Adams proved to be with the times this year when it came to building a successful roster.  In fact, perhaps no team in the nation had more success when it came to putting together a team using all the modern-day tricks of the trade.

Don’t forget that Adams inherited a roster that had only five holdovers from last season.  That meant he had to put together a team on the fly.

But the question was whether or not this unassuming native of West Texas could convince high-end transfers to play for him.  Of course, we now know that the answer was a resounding “Yes”.

Bringing in seven transfers, Adams build a team almost from scratch in what was one of the school’s greatest chemistry experiments ever.  And he was able to find players who were not only talented enough to raise Tech to the level of a national contender but players who were also humble enough to buy into Tech’s team-first culture.

In doing so, Adams proved something of critical importance – that he can thrive in the modern way of doing business in his sport.  Therefore, the future remains as bright as it ever has been for Texas Tech basketball.