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Texas Tech basketball: Signee Elijah Fisher plays well in international event

By Matthew Conner

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 24: The mascot and cheerleaders of the Texas Tech Red Raiders perform during the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Chase Center on March 24, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 24: The mascot and cheerleaders of the Texas Tech Red Raiders perform during the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Chase Center on March 24, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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There’s no doubt that Texas Tech basketball fans are excited to see 2022 high school signee Elijah Fisher in scarlet and black.  After all, the 6-foot-7 forward/guard is one of the highest-ranked players to ever sign with the Red Raiders (how high depends on which recruiting service you look at).  But of course, we will have to wait until November to see Fisher don the Double T.

However, recently, Red Raider fans had an opportunity to see Fisher in action as he suited up for his native Canada in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship.  And what the highly-touted freshman-to-be put forth in that event gave Red Raider fans reason to be optimistic.

In five games against international competition, Fisher averaged 13.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists while playing 29.3 minutes per contest.  That’s not too shabby for a player who only recently reclassified to the class of 2022 thus skipping his senior year of high school.

Overall, the athletic slasher shot 40.4% from the floor.  That included a mark of 50% from two-point range.

After opening with 11 points in 24 minutes of action against Mexico, he would then have his best game of the tournament against Argentina.  Putting up 22 points on 7-12 shooting in 34 minutes, Fisher showed what he is capable of on the court.  In the final three games of the event, he had more modest showings of 11, 14, and 10 points against Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Brazil again as Canada was eliminated in the semifinals.

One aspect of Fisher’s performance that stood out was his ability to get to the free-throw line.  In three of the games, he managed to amass at least eight attempts on his way to averaging 6.6 foul shots per contest.  Most importantly, he hit 75.8% of those shots.

But on the other hand, Fisher showed that he has work to do as a 3-point shooter.  In fact, he made just one of 12 shots from beyond the arc in the event.

It will be interesting to see how Fisher performs as a true freshman in 2022-23.  That’s because the results from the highest-ranked players to sign with Tech have been mixed in recent years.

Keep in mind that the top five high school recruits to ever ink with the Texas Tech basketball program have done so since 2018.  But only one, Jahmi’us Ramsey, ever proved to be a productive Red Raider.

Playing only one season at Tech before heading to the NBA Draft, Ramsey set a Texas Tech record for points per game by a true freshman by putting up 15.0.  Along the way, he shot a sizzling 42.6% from 3-point range. That was good enough to earn him a second-round draft selection by the Sacramento Kings.

But aside from Ramsey (who 247Sports has as the highest-ranked Red Raider signee ever), the other top-5 Texas Tech all-time recruits (prior to Fisher) have been a disappointment.

No. 2 all-time Tech recruit, Nimari Burnett, appeared in only 12 games as a Red Raider averaging 5.3 points per game in 17.7 minutes per outing.  And being unhappy with his role on the 2020-21 Red Raiders, he decided to leave the program prior to the start of Big 12 play eventually transferring to Alabama.

Next on the list is Micah Peavy, who also spent only one season on the South Plains.  Averaging just 5.7 points per game as a true freshman, Peavy was merely a solid role player for the 2020-21 Red Raiders.  Though he did start 25 of 29 games that season, he was never a difference-maker proving instead to be just a solid defender and rebounder and not an impact freshman.  After that season, with the Texas Tech coaching change, Peavy would transfer to TCU where he averaged 6.1 p.p.g. this past season.

Tech’s No. 5 all-time recruit, Khavon Moore, had an odd time in Lubbock.  After suffering a gruesome leg injury that required surgery as a senior in high school, he faced a year-long rehab process before appearing in one game for the Red Raiders, playing only one minute and registering no statistics.

But after that cameo appearance, he wanted more opportunities, opportunities that were not granted by then Tech head coach Chris Beard.  That discord eventually led to Moore transferring to Clemson after the 2018-19 season.  As a Tiger, Moore played one season averaging just 1.8 p.p.g. before entering the transfer portal again.

So one can clearly see that if Fisher steps on campus and makes an instant splash as a Red Raider, he will be in rare company.  But based on what we saw from him in this year’s FIBA Americas tournament, he has the talent to help this year’s Red Raiders.  Unfortunately, we will have to wait almost half a year to see what he can do.

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