A really nice piece from Kevin McCullar where he (or someone) is writing about the process of Chris Beard leaving and I thought that these words encapsulated a pretty decent attitude to have about what happened, with Beard moving on to Texas and players deciding to transfer:

“I really feel that the adversity I’ve gone through is making me a tougher person,” McCullar says. “It’s not fun while it’s going on and you’re going through everything to get back on the court, but you also see someone’s true character during those times. Nothing about college basketball is easy. Those guys from my first three years here will always be my brothers. It doesn’t matter to me where they are now. I’ll always care about them and respect their decisions. You always wish that everyone could stick together forever and run it back, but it doesn’t work like that. It has to be about us now.”

And about the prospects of playing for head coach Mark Adams:

“As soon as he got the job I knew I was coming back,” McCullar says. “Coach Adams always has a plan. I’m excited for him to have this opportunity and for me to be a big part of it. We are all going to work our butts off and compete every day for him. We’re ready to send a statement that Texas Tech basketball isn’t going anywhere.”

Mark Adams announced that he’s hired Rick Cooper as Chief of Staff. I was unfamiliar with Cooper, but he was the athletic director at Wayland Baptist and was a long-time head coach at West Texas A&M and Wayland Baptist where he had a record of 394-195. Here is Cooper and Adams:

“I’m thrilled to be a piece of something special that coach Adams is putting together here,” said Cooper, who is in the WBU and WT Hall of Fame. “I’ve known Coach Adams for a long time and know that he is going to do a great job leading this program. I’m here to help him in the process. I’m a basketball junkie who has coached college basketball almost all of my life. This is a great opportunity for me and I can’t wait to help the entire staff as we continue building this program into one of the best in the nation.”

Adams added: “We have developed a lot of trust between each other over the years. We’ve worked together in the past and have a great friendship. He’s someone who understands how to build a great program and work with people. Rick is a great addition to our program because of his experience and ability to handle anything that comes his way.”

I can’t really comment a ton about this hire other than it seems fine. Cooper is a West Texas guy and this seems to be a very popular hire on Twitter and Cooper won a ton of games, 543-240 in 27 coaching seasons I think, which is just insane to have a guy on staff who has won 500 games.

I wanted to correct a small error in the Eligibility Chart, which is that new signee Mylik Wilson will have three years of eligibility remaining rather than two, so that changes things slightly in the 2024 season.

Eligibility Chart