In college sports, there's no substitute for experience. That's often what separates evenly matched teams. This year, the Texas Tech basketball team is confident that its veteran core will be able to rely on significant NCAA Tournament experience to help propel the Red Raiders to a deep March Madness run.
Of the eight players in Grant McCasland's regular rotation, seven have played in the NCAA Tournament at least once. The only exception is true freshman guard Christian Anderson who is making his first swim through a college basketball season.
"If you look across the board," McCasland said, "we actually have some good experience in the NCAA Tournament. You start with Kerwin [Walton], I think he's played the most games and [Federiko Federiko], even though he's a transfer, has played in the NCAA Tournament. Kevin Overton played in the tournament. JT Toppin played in the tournament. Obviously, Elijah Hawkins didn't play in it last year, but he played in it two years ago. And then, all the guys we have returning on our team.
"These guys know what it takes to play in the tournament. Now, I know they want to win in the NCAA Tournament and there's a difference, as we both know."
How Texas Tech's current players have performed in the NCAA Tournament
With so many Texas Tech players having already experienced an NCAA Tournament, there is reason to believe that this year's team is set up well to make some noise. However, there isn't a player on the roster who has been part of a deep run in the Big Dance.
Last season, Toppin played in the first round with the New Mexico Lobos. However, his team was eliminated by Clemson 77-56. In that game, Toppin was quiet with only six points in 32 minutes of action. However, he did pull down ten rebounds in the losing effort.
McMillian will be appearing in the tournament for the third year in a row. However, he's yet to win a game in the event. In 2023, while playing for Grand Canyon, he scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds while handing out four assists in an 82-70 loss to Gonzaga in the first round. Last season, when Tech lost to N.C. State in the first round, he had only eight points, two rebounds, and two assists in the 80-67 defeat.
Darrion Williams has only one NCAA Tournament game on his resume thus far and it was last year's first-round defeat at the hands of the Wolfpack. In that game, he scored ten points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Also part of a first-round loss in last year's tournament was Kevin Overton. Playing for Drake, he scored six points and collected four rebounds in a 66-61 loss to Washington State. Interestingly, Tech and Drake could meet this year in the second round if both teams win their opening game on Thursday.
Senior point guard Elijah Hawkins has one NCAA Tournament game under his belt as well. While playing for Howard in 2022-23, he scored twelve points, handed out eight assists, and came up with a pair of steals in a 96-68 loss to Kansas.
As for the players on the roster who have made it past the first round of the tournament, Federiko has been to the second round when he played for Pitt in 2022-23. However, he wasn't a huge part of getting the Panthers to that point. In a 59-41 round-one win over Iowa State, he played just 11 minutes scoring one point, grabbing one rebound, and blocking one shot. Then, in an 84-73 second-round loss to Xavier, he played just one minute while registering no stats.
Meanwhile, Walton is Tech's most experienced player in the NCAA tournament. He's played in four tournament games with his team going 2-2 in those contests.
His first appearance came in 2021 when he had eight points and a rebound in 26 minutes as North Carolina lost to Wisconsin 85-62. Then, in 2022, he saw action in the first round and the Elite Eight with the Tar Heels. In the first game, he played only three minutes scoring two points in a 95-63 win over Marquette. Then, in the Elite Eight, he played one minute grabbing one rebound in a 69-49 win over St. Peters. Last season, in Tech's loss to NC State, he scored nine points in 21 minutes.
As you can see, Tech has plenty of early tournament experience however, the roster is short on players who have been integral parts of deep March Madness runs. While Walton was on a team that reached the National Championship Game in 2022, he didn't play during that run outside of garbage time.
Hopefully, this Red Raider team can use its experience to drive its way deep into the 2025 tournament. The novelty of playing in the NCAA Tournament should be gone for everyone but Anderson and that may help Tech get ready to compete at its best. Still, if the team is going to go as far as fans hope, the players with tournament experience are going to have to step up their March Madness performances over what they have done in the past.