Texas Tech basketball lands fantastic transfer to fill Chance McMillian's shoes

One of the biggest departures from the Texas Tech basketball program this offseason is the graduating Chance McMillian, who was the Red Raiders' best guard in 2024-25. Fortunately, on Wednesday, the Red Raiders landed a transfer who should be able to help replace him.

Santa Clara guard Tyeree Bryan, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior-to-be, has committed to the Red Raiders. He made that announcement on social media just hours after posting that he had narrowed his choices to eight schools (Michigan State, Michigan, West Virginia, DePaul, Miami, Clemson, Virginia, and Tech). What's more, he decided to become a Red Raider before even taking an official visit to Lubbock

This past season, while playing the competitive West Coast Conference, Bryan averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. He started 25 of the 32 games he appeared in.

Overall, he had 17 double-digit scoring efforts in 2024-25. Most notable among them was a 35-point outburst against Gonzaga to help his team win a massive road game 103-99.

However, Bryan was somewhat unpredictable as an offensive weapon. That's because he had ten games in which he put up five points or less.

Still, this is a player who fills a need for Texas Tech, especially given his ability to hit shots from beyond the arc. A career 41.6% shooter from 3-point range, he connected on 42.9% of his long-range attempts this past season.

To put that in perspective, McMillian made 43.3% of his 3-pointers this season. McMillian averaged 5.3 attempts per game from deep while Bryan put up 4.8 per game. In other words, Bryan is in the same category as a shooter as McMillian was during his Red Raider tenure.

Where Bryan might be better than McMillian is on the defensive end of the floor. He is three inches taller than McMillian and that extra size makes him a menace for opposing guards.

This season, Bryan averaged 1.1 steals per game. That's more than half a steal more per game than McMillian came up with.

Additionally, Bryan's 2024-25 defensive rating (an estimate of how many points a player surrenders per 100 possessions) of 105.0 was better than the 106.4 rating that McMillian had.

We often glossed over the work McMillian did on the defensive end of the court during his time at Texas Tech because his offensive exploits were so fun to watch. However, for most of this season, he was asked to check the opposition's top guard, and he did so at a high level. Now, it is fair to wonder if Bryan will be Tech's best perimeter defender next season.

Bryan is the type of under-the-radar player from a mid-major conference that shrewd teams look to add. Unranked by 247Sports when he came out of high school, he is now considered a 4-star transfer, but because he isn't coming from a name-brand program and because he didn't post gaudy numbers at Santa Clara, he might be a bargain for the Red Raiders.

This is the first of what we expect to be many additions from the portal for Texas Tech in the coming days and weeks. Several other portal targets are expected to climb the Caprock this weekend to check out what the Red Raiders have to offer, so Bryan will soon be joined by other transfers who will call the Hub City home.