It's the first game week for the 2020-21 NCAA college basketball season, including No. 14-ranked Texas Tech and head coach Chris Beard who are ready to begin the 96th season in program history and get back to competition through all the challenges that the coronavirus pandemic has caused. Tech will open the season against Northwestern State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday (Big 12 Now on ESPN+) before also hosting Sam Houston State at 1 p.m. on Friday (ESPNU) in a pair of home games at the United Supermarkets Arena.
Despite challenges and disruptions that have been associated with COVID-19, social issues, not having a secret scrimmage, and no exhibition game, the Red Raiders have been focused throughout the extended offseason to be prepared for what's on the schedule and also what is not. Texas Tech, which advanced to the 2018 Elite 8 and 2019 NCAA Championship Final, was poised to make the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season for the first time in program history last season before it was canceled due to COVID-19. It's been an offseason unlike any other, assembling a team through Zoom recruiting and making adjustments on a daily basis, but the team is now ready to step up to the starting line and begin the 2020-21 season – fully expecting and embracing that there will be hurdles and other obstacles on the track.
"I have a lot of respect for the 14 players, coaches, and staff on this year's team," Beard said. "We talk a lot about 'Tough Times Pass, Tough People Last' and mental toughness every year, but this year is different. It's really something none of us could have prepared for with COVID 19. From our year being shut down last year, through recruiting a team without in-person visits to workouts being shut down from time to time, the amount of adversity we've already gone through has been challenging. Our guys have really executed what our plan has been through all this and have stayed focused through all the unknowns. We're living where our feet are and that's really all we can do right now."
THE RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech's roster is made of 14 players this season with seven returners and seven newcomers. Marcus Santos-Silva is the team's lone senior while the junior class is made up of Kyler Edwards, Avery Benson, Mac McClung, and Jamarius Burton. The sophomore class includes Kevin McCullar, Terrence Shannon, Jr., Clarence Nadolny, and Joel Ntambwe. Tyreek Smith is a redshirt freshman in a class that welcomes Chibuzo Agbo, Nimari Burnett, Micah Peavy, and Vladislav Goldin. Each player introduced themselves through the video series,
DEFINE YOURSELF.
"We like our balance this season," Beard said. "It's as many returners as we've ever had with guys who were in our rotation. To have seven guys on our roster from last year is something we're hoping pays dividends this year. With the new players, we still stayed old with our transfers who can impact games from the first day."
The program returns two starters in Edwards and Shannon from last season, while McCullar started six games in Big 12 play. Off last year's team, starters Davide Moretti, TJ Holyfield, and Jahmi'us Ramsey left and are currently beginning professional careers. Ramsey led the team with 15.0 points per game and Moretti was second at 13.0 ppg., leaving the Red Raiders with 38.9 percent of their scoring back off last year's roster led by Edwards who averaged 11.4 per game.
SENIOR (1): Santos-Silva enters his first season at Texas Tech after playing his first three at VCU. Named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, Santos-Silva graduated from VCU this summer and arrived in Lubbock having already accumulated 828 points, 620 rebounds and 92 blocked shots through 97 games in his career. Beard said of Santos-Silva: "He's a guy that wants to get better and is working hard to get better. He's mature, experienced, and has thick skin to want the truth. He doesn't live in La-La Land. He understands what his strengths are and what he needs to improve on. I think it's our job to make sure he has his best year ever. He's a guy who holds himself accountable, wants his coaches to hold him accountable and his teammates accountable. He is respected enough already to hold other players accountable on our team. He's got the looks of a great leader and we have high expectations for him. It's hard being a leader and best player guy. He wants that responsibility."
JUNIORS (4): Benson is the only player on this year's team that was on the 2018 Elite 8 team and 2019 NCAA Championship finals team. A fourth-year player from Arkansas, Benson scored a career-high 10 points to help lead the Red Raiders to a win over No. 1-ranked Louisville in last year's Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Edwards is back for his third season after playing a reserve role in all 38 games as a freshman during the Final Four run and starting all games last year as a freshman. An Arlington native, Edwards averaged 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game to go along with 95 assists. He's scored 562 points and has made 79 3-pointers through 69 career games. Edward said: "It's a competition every day with our team. No one is going to take a day off." The junior class includes Burton and McClung who both transferred in and both received NCAA waivers to play this season. Burton arrives after two years at Wichita State where he averaged 10.3 points and added 102 assists last season. A Charlotte, North Carolina native, he has racked up 228 assists and scored 530 points through 67 games in his career. McClung transferred to Texas Tech after he averaged 14.2 points, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.8 rebounds in 50 career games at Georgetown University. He was a two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week last season and is the all-time leading scorer in Virginia High School League history where he scored 2,801 points in his prep career. McClung averaged 15.7 points per game as a sophomore for the Hoyas. Edwards and McClung were both named Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selections.
SOPHOMORES (4): Shannon and McCullar highlight the sophomore class with both players returning from strong 2019-20 seasons. A Chicago native, Shannon averaged 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds as a true freshman where he made 21 starts and played in 29 games. He scored a career-high 24 points at DePaul and secured a career-best 11 rebounds at Kansas. Shannon is on the Julius Erving Award Watch List for the top forwards in college basketball. McCullar is in his third season with the Red Raiders following a redshirt season during the historic 2018-19 season and then playing an important role last season on the court. He would finish his first season on the court by averaging 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, including scoring a career-high 15 points at Oklahoma State and grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds at Iowa State. McCullar started six games and played in 29 as a redshirt freshman. McCullar said: "I feel like it was just getting out there and getting experience and playing some. I just tried to build on every game. Being out there you grow more and more. Now I'm looking forward to this year because I can see the film I have from last year. Learn from those mistakes and things that I did good and build on that." Nadolny played in 24 games as a true freshman in a reserve role where he scored a career-high nine points against Houston Baptist. He averaged 2.0 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. Ntambwe transferred to TTU from UNLV and sat out last season. He averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a freshman at UNLV with a career-high 31-point performance against Wyoming. He started all 31 during the 2018-19 season and made 44 3-pointers with a 38.6 percentage. Ntambwe practiced with the Red Raiders last season.
FRESHMEN (5): There's a lot of optimism in this year's freshman class with Smith returning for his second season after redshirting last year along with a four-player true freshman class. Smith suffered an injury during the 2018-19 season that forced him to miss the season after he had averaged 17.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game as a senior at Trinity Christian. A Louisiana native, Smith moved to the Dallas area in high school where he was named the TAAPS 5A Player of the Year as a junior and all-state honor as a senior. Burnett is the first McDonald's All-American to play at Texas Tech and the highest-ranked recruit in program history. A Chicago native, he played at Prolific Prep in California and he was also named to the 2020 Jordan Brand Classic, played for the USA in the 2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup, and participated in the USA Basketball Junior National Team Minicamp. Peavy earned TABC Class 6A Player of the Year honors as a senior at Duncanville High School where he averaged 19 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He was named to the Jordan Brand Classic roster and was ranked second in Texas in the recruiting class. Peavy, who played for his father at Duncanville, helped lead his team to the 2019 Class 6A State Championship as a junior along with former Red Raider Jahmi'us Ramsey who was a senior on that team. Peavy was named the MVP of the State Championship game. Agbo is a sharpshooter from California who is coming off a senior season where he averaged 22 points per game at Saint Augustine High School in San Diego. He was a 4-star recruit who was his league's top player as a junior and the 2019-20 San Diego Preseason Player of the Year. Goldin is the tallest player on the roster this season, coming in at 7-foot-1 in his freshman season. The Russian forward played a season of prep basketball at Putnam Science before signing with the Red Raiders in the summer.
HEAD COACH: Chris Beard enters his fifth season as the Texas Tech head coach where he has led the program to a 94-44 record, including an 8-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament. Beard was named the 2018-19 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and earned Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. An assistant coach at Texas Tech under Bob and Pat Knight, Beard has amassed an impressive 124-49 record as a Division I head coach that started with one season at Little Rock where he was 30-5. He also has head coaching stops at Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State, McMurry, and Angelo State in his collegiate career. Beard is the 17th head coach in Texas Tech history.
THE STAFF: Beard is assisted this season by associate head coach Mark Adams, assistant coaches Ulric Maligi and Bob Donewald, Casey Perrin (Chief of Staff), Sean Sutton (AdvisoPlayer Development), John Reilly (Strength & Conditioning), and associate athletic trainer Mike Neal. Adams is entering his fifth season on Beard's staff and also assisted him at Little Rock. A 1979 graduate of Texas Tech, Adams is a former head coach at Clarendon College, Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Texas-Pan American, and Howard College. He earned 2019 TABC Assistant Coach of the Year and is a member of multiple halls of fame, most recently being inducted into the NJCAA's Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class for 2020. Donewald is in his second season on the staff, but his first as an assistant. He has extensive experience in professional basketball and worked last season as the program's director of player development. Maligi is also in his second season on the staff and is widely respected as one of the top emerging assistants in the nation. He led the charge in the recruitment of this year's signing class which was the highest-ranked in program history. Reilly, a Killeen, Texas native who competed on the BYU Track & Field team, is also in his fifth season having led the strength and conditioning each year for Beard. Neal is in his second season, coming over from Little Rock where he played basketball and was the team's athletic trainer during Beard's year leading the program.
THE SCHEDULE: Along with the 18-round fight of home-and-away games against each Big 12 team, the Red Raiders will play nine non-conference games with shortened COVID guidelines. The Red Raiders open the year with a two-game home stand by hosting Northwestern State and Sam Houston State from the Southland Conference before meeting up with No. 17-ranked Houston on Sunday, Nov. 29 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Tech will then host St. John's in the Big 12/BIG EAST Alliance followed by games against Grambling, Abilene Christian, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tech opens Big 12 play by hosting No. 6 Kansas on Thursday, Dec. 17, and traveling to Oklahoma on Dec. 22. The team goes back into non-conference play with a game against Incarnate Word (Dec. 29) and plays its final non-conference game against LSU on Jan. 30 in Baton Rouge in the middle of the Big 12 schedule. The regular-season finale is scheduled to have Texas play at the USA on Saturday, Feb. 27 before the start of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships on March 10-13 in Kansas City.
EARLY TEST: The first game of the season away from Lubbock will be a highly-anticipated matchup within the state and nation with the Red Raiders playing Houston in Fort Worth. The Cougars are at No. 17 in the AP Rankings and are picked to win the American Athletic Conference. They are coming off a 23-8 overall record and were 13-5 in conference play. The Cougars advanced to the 2019 Sweet 16 with wins over Georgia State and Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Kentucky by four in the third round. Houston leads the all-time series against Tech with a 28-27 advantage, including an 82-69 win in the last matchup on Dec. 23, 2014, in Las Vegas to snap a nine-game winning streak by the Red Raiders over the Cougars. The programs first matched up in 1961 with the Red Raiders earning a 69-67 win in Lawrence, Kansas. Tech is 7-3 against UH in neutral-court games.
UNCOMFORTABLE – BEARD EXPLAINS: "Being comfortable gets you beat every single time. You see it all the time in sports. You win a big game and the next time there's a letdown and a loss. We've all seen that. Life is the same way. You can have a great day at work and you could take the edge off. It takes a special person, we use the word 'elite', to remain uncomfortable. Coach Knight would talk a lot about when things were going good that we need to shake the tree from time to time. Everybody expects the best and have focus during times of adversity, but only the elite people can push themselves each day to stay uncomfortable. I think being uncomfortable is where growth comes from. Uncomfortable is what you have to be to compete in the Big 12. Our guys have embraced this. Each season we try to have a theme and with this year's group, we just feel that if we can stay uncomfortable we'll be where we need to be. We like our talent. We like our culture. If this team can keep pushing and not get too high or too low by staying uncomfortable right there in the middle, we think we have a great chance to grow."
AP RANKINGS: Texas Tech will go into the 2020-21 season ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Red Raiders, who were ranked No. 13 in last season's AP Preseason Top-25 Poll and spent 12 weeks in the rankings, are one of five Big 12 teams in the preseason rankings. Gonzaga is the top-ranked team in the poll, followed by Baylor, Villanova, Virginia, and Iowa. The Big 12 also has Kansas at No. 6, West Virginia at No. 15, and No. 19 Texas.
USA TODAY COACHES POLL: Texas Tech is at No. 13 in the USA TODAY Top 25 Men's Basketball Coaches Poll which was announced on Thursday ahead of the 2020-21 season that is scheduled to begin in two weeks. The USA TODAY Sports men's basketball coaches poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools. The Red Raiders were ranked No. 12 in last season's first USA TODAY Coaches Poll. In this year's ranking, Baylor is the top-ranked team followed by Gonzaga, Villanova, Virginia, and Kansas. Tech is one of five Big 12 teams in the poll, including West Virginia at No. 15 and Texas which is No. 22.
BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL: Texas Tech was picked fifth in the 2020-21 Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll with Baylor at the top of the rankings as voted on by the league's head coaches. The Big 12 Preseason Polls began in the 1996-97 season with Tech being selected sixth. The Red Raiders were picked seventh in the 2018-19 preseason poll before going 14-4 to win their first Big 12 regular-season championship and were third in last year's preseason poll for their highest preseason ranking in program history.
BIG 12 PRESEASON AWARDS: Santos-Silva was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year while juniors Edwards and McClung are Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selections in the conference's preseason awards. Santos-Silva played the last three seasons at VCU where he was named NABC All-District Second Team and led his team in scoring (12.8), rebounding (8.9) and blocks (1.2). The senior forward also registered 10 double-doubles during the shortened season. Texas Tech boasts the preseason newcomer of the year in consecutive seasons as Chris Clarke grabbed the honor in 2019-20. Santos-Silva graduated from VCU over the summer and is the lone senior on this year's Texas Tech roster. Clarke and Charles Burgess (2006-07) are the only Red Raiders to be selected as the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year before Santos-Silva. Texas Tech has not had a Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in the postseason honors. Santos-Silva said: "I didn't come here for individual awards. I came here to win the Big 12 and win the National Championship. Awards and recognition are nice, but that's not my focus. I'm focused on team goals and success."
DR. TJ: Shannon has been selected as one of 20 players on the watch list for the 2021 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. Named after Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 16-year professional basketball player Julius Erving, the annual honor in its seventh year recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates that was announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A Chicago native, Shannon was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last season after averaging 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He started 21 of 29 games played and scored a season-high 24 points against DePaul and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds at Kansas. Along with the watch list, Shannon has appeared in multiple 2021 NBA Draft projections.
COVID IMPACT: In an effort to ensure adequate levels of safety, Texas Tech will implement a reduced capacity to approximately 25% at The United Supermarkets Arena this basketball season. In addition to the limited seating capacity, fans will see the following safety protocols this season: Big 12 Conference has mandated an established perimeter around the playing surface – 20 feet behind both team benches and 12 feet on all other sides of the court. Face coverings for all patrons (fans and staff) will be required at all times. A 100 percent mobile ticketing process. Mobile ordering in our concession areas to decrease contacts throughout the concourse. Kirby Hocutt said: "Our staff has worked diligently to ensure we accommodate as many of our fans as possible at our home basketball games. We also want to ensure we offer a safe and enjoyable experience while being socially responsible."
A CONVERSATION PATCH: Texas Tech will have a patch on its jersey all season that was the idea of Kyler Edwards with collaboration from his teammates. The patch depicts a rotten apple core and is described by Edwards as: "The team wanted to make a patch that was unique and not just something that everyone else had. We want to get rid of all the bad apples in all walks of life, including police brutality, sexism, and racism. These are topics around the world and we have the support of our coaches. We need to keep talking about it until it gets fixed." The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved rules to allow student-athletes in all sports to wear patches on their uniforms for commemorative and memorial purposes, as well as to support social justice issues.
NCAA BOUND: The Red Raiders were projected to make their third NCAA tournament last season before the season was canceled due to COVID 19. Tech, which advanced to the 2018 Elite 8 and 2019 National Championship final, had never made the NCAA tournament three straight seasons in program history. The Red Raiders finished last season with an 18-13 overall record and were 9-9 in conference play.
ABRUPT ENDING: Texas Tech was on the Sprint Center in Kansas City court warming up for its first-round matchup of the Big 12 Championship against Texas on Thursday, March 12, 2019, when both teams were pulled off the court. With the tournament being canceled, the Red Raiders went to the airport and returned home to Lubbock. Before arriving back to Texas that afternoon by plane, news broke that the NCAA had canceled the remainder of the season.
COVID RINGS: While the 2019-20 season ended without the opportunity to play for any postseason championships, Beard wanted to show his appreciation to the players who battled throughout the year. Each player on the roster received a ring to commemorate the season, a token of respect from Beard who felt it was important that the players could keep remembering the season that was cut short.
NBA DRAFT: Texas Tech's Jahmi'us Ramsey was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 43rd pick of the 2020 NBA Draft on November 18, 2020. An Arlington, Texas native, Ramsey earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year, All-Big 12 Second Team, NABC All-District First Team, Big 12 All-Newcomer Team, Big 12 All-Freshman Team, and was a three-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week selection. Ramsey, who is the first Red Raider to earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year, finished the season fifth in the Big 12 in scoring and was second with a 42.6 percentage on 3-pointers and fifth with a 44.2 shooting percentage. Ramsey's selection in the NBA Draft gives the Red Raiders three straight years with a pick following Zhaire Smith (2018) and Jarrett Culver (2019). Tech has now had 25 players picked in the NBA Draft in its program history.
FIRST-ROUND STUDENTS: Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver remain Texas Tech students despite being drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft as underclassmen. Both are currently enrolled in online classes at TTU where they remain focused on graduating while also being in the early stages of their professional playing careers. Smith said: "It is very important to me to get my education while playing because graduating was my first goal before playing basketball. I also made a promise to my mom and Coach Beard that I will finish. It means a lot to have Coach Beard motivating me by saying that education is the key. It's going to mean a lot to my family to see me graduate because school is not easy at all for me. They are going to cry tears of joy when I finish."
MALIGI DRAWS ATTENTION: Maligi was recognized during the offseason as one of 40 coaches on ESPN's "40 Under 40" list which highlights the top young coaches throughout the national college basketball landscape and The Athletic's 40 Under 40 which identified influential people in a variety of roles within college basketball who are under the age of 40. Maligi is entering his second season with the Red Raiders and was identified at No. 13 by ESPN on the list of head and assistant coaches. In the ESPN article, Myron Medcalf highlighted Maligi who turned 36 on May 14 by saying: "The Howard University product has identified and recruited some of the most talented players in the state of Texas and beyond, as proved by successful tenures as an assistant with Texas A&M, SMU, and Stephen F. Austin before joining Chris Beard's staff before last season. By all accounts, Maligi possesses the attributes and leadership qualities necessary to one day guide a Power 5 program."
DOCUMENTING HISTORY: Over the summer ESPN aired "Eddie", a documentary about legendary college basketball coach Eddie Sutton. The film covered many aspects of Eddie Sutton's life, including his family. Sean Sutton, one of Eddie's sons, was featured in the film and is entering his fourth season working with Beard at Tech as the program's director of player development and Beard's advisor. Sean played for his father at Kentucky and Oklahoma State and also worked for him as an assistant coach before being named the head coach at OSU. Talking about the documentary, Sean said: "To open up and talk about some of the things that went on behind the scenes for the public to view, I wouldn't necessarily say it was easy, but it was important. It was important to get an accurate depiction of his life and career."
ON THE NBA SIDELINES: Tech legend Darvin Ham continues to rise among the ranks of NBA assistant coaches where he helped lead Milwaukee to the best regular-season record (56-17) in the NBA last season. Ham, who became an iconic player nationally by ripping down a rim in the 1996 NCAA Tournament and winning the 1996 NCAA Slam Dunk Contest, played in the NBA from 1996-2005 and was on the Detroit Pistons' 2004 NBA Championship team. Ham was an Atlanta Hawks assistant coach from 2013-18 and has been on the Bucks sideline since the 2018 season where he is the lead assistant. He recently completed his bachelor's degree, earning his Texas Tech degree in 2019 – 23 years after leaving Lubbock to begin his professional basketball career. Along with Ham, Max Lefevre is entering his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team's Video CoordinatoPlayer Development Associate. Lefevre was a graduate assistant for Beard at Angelo State and worked on his staff at Little Rock and for three seasons at Texas Tech.
BIG 12/SEC CHALLENGE: Texas Tech and LSU will meet for the second time in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 30, 2021, at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The eighth annual event will consist of 10 games as every Big 12 member faces 10 squads from the Southeastern Conference. The Red Raiders are 4-3 overall and 2-1 in Baton Rouge all-time against LSU. Tech has also played South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas twice in the challenge. This will mark the sixth consecutive year for all games to be played in one day. ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU will combine to televise the contests which also includes matchups of Auburn at Baylor, Iowa State at Mississippi State, Kansas at Tennessee, Texas A&M at Kansas State, Alabama at Oklahoma, Arkansas at Oklahoma State, TCU at Missouri, Texas at Kentucky and Florida at West Virginia. Texas Tech is 4-3 all-time in the Big 12-SEC Challenge after its 76-74 overtime loss to No. 15 Kentucky last season. The loss to the Wildcats ended a 54-game non-conference winning streak by the Red Raiders which was the second-best streak in the nation. Big 12 teams are 40-30 (.571) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge after a tie in 2020.
BIG 12/BIG EAST ALLIANCE: The Red Raiders will host the Red Storm of St. John's on Dec. 3 in the second year of the Big 12/BIG EAST Alliance. Tech traveled to Chicago to play DePaul in the inaugural season of the matchups, dropping an overtime decision. The four-year agreement will continue through 2022-23 with an equal number of games played in each conference's home market each year. Texas Tech is 0-2 all-time against St. John's with the last matchup coming on April 1, 2003, in the NIT in New York.
HALL OF FAME SELECTION: Ronald Ross was selected for the 2020 Texas Tech Hall of Fame class during the offseason. Ross remains one of the beloved greats in the history of Texas Tech men's basketball as the former walk-on helped lead the Red Raiders to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including their first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 in 2005. Ross, a native of nearby Hobbs, New Mexico, was an All-Big 12 first-team selection and an All-American by Basketball Times as a senior after averaging 17.5 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game under head coach Bob Knight. Ross also established the single-season and career school records that year by recording 86 steals, pushing his career total to 204 over 132 games. He served as a graduate assistant the past two seasons under Beard following a professional career overseas.
CONTINUED IMPACT, DREAM COURT: Nancy Lieberman Charities teamed up with Texas Tech University and The Culver Foundation to give the City of Lubbock a brand new Dream Court. The new Dream Court is located at Duran Park in Lubbock. This court will serve as a safe play space for youth in the community to interact with friends, family, and local law enforcement. "I am so excited for the Red Raiders, Jarrett Culver, and the City of Lubbock to partner with Nancy Lieberman Charities to honor our beloved, Andre Emmett. We all deeply miss him and want his legacy to live on forever in the lives of people who were touched by his genuine kindness." Basketball Hall of Famer, Nancy Lieberman said. The Dream Court™ is 50-by-84 feet with two brand new basketball goals and features a high-performance PowerGame™ surface from Sport Court® in signature Texas Tech red and black colors. Its centerpiece is the Dream Courts logo, flanked by the brands of all supporting organizations. Emmett, who is Texas Tech's all-time leading scorer, was murdered in 2019. A dedication ceremony was held on Friday, October 23.
DFW PRESENCE: Every year Beard looks forward to the trip to play TCU, not only to compete against the Horned Frogs but also to reconnect with the Red Raider fan base in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This season, even though the challenges we'll all face in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program is excited about traveling to the area three times with the addition of non-conference games in Fort Worth and Frisco on the schedule. Beard said: "The DFW market is obviously very important to our program. Many of our players and coaches currently and throughout the years grew up there and we have a huge fan and alumni base there that shows up for us every year. To play non-conference games in the area has been an objective of mine since we started and I'm really excited that we're getting it done twice. These types of games are something that I'm going to be committed to for years to come because of how important we think the Metroplex is to our program." The Red Raiders are scheduled to play their third game of the season on Sunday, Nov. 29 against No. 17-ranked Houston in the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth and will also take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 12 at the Comerica Center in Frisco. The final trip will be their Big 12 clash against TCU on Jan. 20, 2021.
PLAYING IN THE USA: Texas Tech Athletics announced an extension of the current naming rights agreement to United Supermarkets Arena as the grocery chain will remain the facility's namesake through 2035. Texas Tech will receive an additional $16 million over the course of the agreement, which continues the long-standing partnership between the university and United Supermarkets. The West Texas-based chain has now committed more than $30 million to Texas Tech Athletics since securing the original naming rights to the 15,000-seat arena in 1996. United provided Texas Tech with a key $10 million investment that jumpstarted fundraising efforts for the arena, opening in 1999 as United Spirit Arena. In 2014, Texas Tech and United extended their original agreement for $9.45 million. The second extension will ink the relationship until 2035.
IT'S ACADEMIC: Beard announced the hiring of Jamaal Scott as the program's Academic Advisor on July 7, 2020. An experienced educator and athletics leader following a decorated playing career which includes being named the 2000 Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, Scott will provide the Red Raider program personal, vocational, educational, and advanced counseling and training at both the individual and group levels. Scott is pivotal in the management of academic advising for the men's basketball program by assisting with course selection to ensure degree progress and completion along with serving as the contact between student-athletes and the coaching staff regarding academic progress. Scott is a graduate of the University of Richmond where he played for the Spiders from 2002-05 and was an Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference Team selection and a two-year team captain.
A GROWING TREE: Brian Burg was named the head coach at Georgia Southern over the summer to add to the growing list of former Beard assistant coaches who have been hired as head coaches. Burg, who joined forces with Beard at Little Rock, would work on his staff for four seasons at Texas Tech where the program reached new heights by advancing to the 2018 Elite 8, winning the 2019 Big 12 regular-season title, and then reaching the 2019 NCAA Championship final. Burg is now entering his first season as a head coach at Georgia Southern and hired Tim MacAllister (former Tech Chief of Staff) as an assistant. Along with Burg, Chris Ogden is now entering his fourth season as the head coach at UT Arlington after being an assistant at Tech under Beard. Wes Flanigan was the first Beard assistant to land a Division I head coaching job, being named the Little Rock head coach after Beard left the Trojan program. Flanigan is currently an assistant at Auburn. Along with Division 1 coaches, Cinco Boone is the head coach at Angelo State (DII), a position he's held for six seasons after being Beard's assistant there for two years and at McMurry for one.
TYSON SIGNS: Beard announced the signing of Jaylon Tyson to his national letter of intent for the 2021-22 academic year. A 6-foot-7 guard/forward from Allen, Texas, Tyson is a senior at John Paul II High School where he helped lead his team to its first-ever Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) state championship last season. A four-star recruit by ESPN, Rivals, and 247Sports, he earned TAPPS All-State first-team honors as a junior after averaging 24.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. ESPN currently lists Tyson as the seventh-best recruit in the state of Texas and 18th by the small forward position. 247Sports puts Tyson at No. 4 in Texas, while Rivals has him as the No. 34-ranked player nationally. Tyson signed on November 11, 2020.
RED RAIDERS IN THE PROS: Jarrett Culver (Minnesota – NBA), Jahmi'us Ramsey (Sacramento – NBA), Matt Mooney (Cleveland – NBA), Tariq Owens (Phoenix – NBA), Zhaire Smith (Philadelphia – NBA), Keenan Evans (Hapoel Haifa – Israel), Davide Moretti (Olimpia Milano – Italy), Norense Odiase (Brose Bamberg – Germany), Brandone Francis (Gipuzkoa Basket – Spain), TJ Holyfield (Kauhajoki Karhu – Finland).
RECENT GRADS: A pair of our No. 22s are now Texas Tech graduates. Despite different academic paths and life timelines, Jarrius Jackson and TJ Holyfield shared a milestone on August 8, 2020, as the former Red Raiders (both wore 22 during their playing days) received their diplomas in a virtual ceremony. Jackson, who played from 2004-07 and then enjoyed a successful professional career overseas, completed his degree in University Studies while Holyfield played last season and earned his master's degree in one year as a graduate transfer. Beard said: "I'm really proud of both of them. I was really fortunate that I got the opportunity to coach Jay Jackson and Holyfield. Earning their degrees was always something we talked about being important to them and their families. It's impressive the way both of them did it."
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The 2019-20 season saw the largest average attendance in program history with 14,057 fans per game. The Red Raiders sold out six home games during the season, including non-conference games against Eastern Illinois and Bethune-Cookman. The regular-season finale against Kansas was another sellout and the 32nd game in program history with 15,000-plus games at the home arena. Texas Tech is 262-93 all-time at the United Supermarkets Arena, including a 61-9 record under Beard.
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