Texas Tech basketball: A transfer point guard Red Raider fans should watch

It’s transfer portal season in college hoops and the Texas Tech basketball team is believed to be in the market for a true point guard.  And in that pursuit, one name appears to be rising to the top of the list, Tyreke Key.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound native of Tennessee has played four seasons at Indiana State averaging 14.5 points and 1.7 assists per game for his career.  However, he did not play this past season due to shoulder surgery.

Still, despite his injury, he’s become one of the most coveted names in the portal and most of that is due to his stellar 2020-21 campaign.  That season, Key put up 17.2 points and 2.0 assists per game, the second time in his career that he’s averaged at least 17 points per game.

That year, he hung 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists on Purdue, the only Power 5 program he faced.  It was one of 20 games in double digits out of the 23 he played that season.

Texas Tech could certainly use some help at the point guard spot heading into the offseason.  With Adonis Arms out of eligibility and Kevin McCullar Jr.’s future with the program cloudy at best, Tech could lose both of its two pseudo point guards from 2021-22 leaving only the feisty Clarence Nadolny and incoming freshman Pop Isaacs as the point guard options for next season at the moment.

While Nadolny has shown flashes of being a solid player (he had 17 points against Kansas in Lubbock for instance) he’s far too unreliable when it comes to ball security for Tech to turn the primary point guard role over to him on a full-time basis.  Meanwhile, though Isaacs is one of the top point guards in the nation, entrusting a first-year collegiate to run your team is always a risky proposition.

Of course, some may say that the point guard position isn’t one that Tech necessarily needs to address in a traditional way given that the Red Raiders have had the best run in program history without a true point guard.  For instance, the Red Raiders have reached the last three NCAA Tournaments, including the 2019 National Title Game, without having a player considered to be a pure point guard.

But this program continues to struggle in tight late-game situations as well experiencing crippling scoring droughts.  And the belief is that a pure point guard would help in both instances.

Now, it appears that Tech is in agreement with that sentiment given that Key is becoming a top priority.  In fact, according to Austin Massey of 247Sports, Tech was set to have an in-home visit with Key on Thursday afternoon.

This could be only the first of a number of developments in the transfer portal for the Red Raiders who learned Thursday that Terrence Shannon Jr. would not return to the program for another season.  That brings the number of potential departures for the Red Raiders to seven players if guys such as Kevin Obanor and McCullar decide not to return as well.  Therefore, expect developments on the portal front to come fast and come often over the next two months.  And keep a close eye on Tyreke Key because there is a lot of smoke surrounding his relationship with the Red Raiders.