A good read from Krista Pirtle over at RedRaiders.com as she writes about how the final game as Red Raiders at USA was bittersweet for Luke Adams and Clark Lammert.

Over the last nine seasons, only 14 Red Raiders have stayed at Texas Tech all four years. During Adams’ and Lammert’s four-year tenure in Lubbock, 17 of their teammates have transferred. Of the five other freshmen who came to Texas Tech with them, only one remains – Toddrick Gotcher, who has one more year after redshirting his freshman season.

I have seen the revolving door in the Texas Tech basketball program for years, that is including the coaching staff as well as the players. It has been rough to watch, but with Tubby Smith and crew we have hopefully slowed down that revolving door. Jaye Crockett has been one of my Red Raider favorites because he stuck it out at Tech over his entire college basketball career. I have just as much respect for Adams, Lammert, and Gotcher for holding strong to the program. It’s really great that they picked the school over everything else.

Luke talks about the thoughts he had at times when the coaching staff keep changing…

For Adams, transferring may have crossed his mind but he wanted to continue living out his dream of playing at Texas Tech.

“Anytime there’s coaching changes or things don’t go exactly the way you want, everyone always evaluates their options,” Adams said. “For me, I kind of wanted to stay at Texas Tech and get my degree from here. I like Tech. I like Lubbock. My family was here. Transferring might have crossed my mind, but once we had Coach (Tubby) Smith, I was really excited about that.”

I don’t know how close the program came to crumbling after the Billy Gillispie fiasco, but going from Gillispie, to Walker, and then Tubby Smith must have been incredible difficult for the players. Bolting for a new basketball life somewhere fresh and new could have been real easy. I’m glad they stuck it out.

What’s up next for the fellas after their Red Raider basketball careers are done this season…

Adams and Lammert have both graduated with their bachelor’s degrees and are currently studying for their master’s.

Adams hopes to do what he’s wanted to do since the seventh grade — to be a basketball coach.

“I was always drawing up plays in class,” he said. “My dad was coaching at Howard Junior College at the time. When I was there, he had all these coaches come in to recruit his players. I knew that’s what I wanted to be. I’ll definitely be a basketball coach. I don’t know where yet. I won’t think about that until the season’s over and see which direction I want to go.”

As for Lammert, he’s got a couple of opportunities ahead of him. He is waiting to hear back from Under Armour about an internship this summer. As for the fall, he’s headed to Washington, D.C, to intern with a congressman.

Yep, these guys are going to go on to some bright careers when they leave Texas Tech and will make us all proud. It’s easy to see why everyone that sticks it out for the long haul at Tech loves being a Red Raider. Wreck ’em and Guns Up to Luke & Clark!