Admin Stuff

Today is April Fool’s Day. In general, you should not believe anything on the internet, but especially today. Keep your radar up for any shenanigans. Also, I’ve been doing “On the Court” for anything basketball related all year and at some point I wanted to change that to “On the Hardwood” but didn’t because I didn’t want to change anything happening with the team. A little bit crazy? Yes, but I am sure understandable.

On the Hardwood

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Stephen Garcia writes about how Aaliyah Chavez to Texas Tech always felt like a pipe dream and I sort of felt this way for a while. According to T-Rank, Texas Tech was 312th in turnover on offense and were top half in terms of shooting, 158th and 145th in 2-point and 3-point shooting. Not great. Defensively, they were 289th in opponent offensive rebounding and 343rd in free throw rate. Not to pile on Texas Tech simply doesn’t have enough talent. I won’t discuss players specifically (you can go look at T-Rank and see the shooting and turnovers and issues for yourself, it’s all there) because that doesn’t do anyone any good, but this team has to get more talent. I am sure that coaching has issues too (I didn’t watch a single game so I’m not qualified to comment about coaching acumen), but from a statistical standpoint this team had significant issues.

Throughout Chavez’s four-plus year recruiting saga, Tech made two postseason appearances, the 2023 Women’s National Invitation Tournament and this year’s Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. The Lady Raiders reached the quarterfinals of each, but it’s hard to compare that to wins in March Madness.

The simple truth is the current state of Tech’s program doesn’t attract that caliber of recruit — one who can turn around the recent fortunes. What the Lady Raiders are left with is a difficult catch-22. To return to national relevance, Tech needs top-flight talent. To bring in top-flight talent, Tech needs to return to national relevance.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi grades the teams that exited this past weekend and Lundardi thinks that Texas Tech overachieved (agreed):

2025 NCAA tournament performance: No. 3 seed; exited in Elite Eight

Program status: OVERACHIEVER

Even in the wake of a gut-wrenching Elite Eight loss, it must be acknowledged that Texas Tech has reached no worse than the Sweet 16 in four of the past seven NCAA tournaments. That the Red Raiders have done this under three different coaches is even more remarkable.

Texas Tech is not a traditional blue blood, and Lubbock can hardly be considered a premier destination. Maybe that’s why the Red Raiders remain under the radar despite being top 10 — and maybe top five — in postseason results since 2018.

All Grant McCasland can do is keep putting Tech in position to advance in March. We saw in the West Regional — one breathtaking win, one heartbreaking defeat — just how volatile the tourney can be.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf looks at teams eliminated this past weekend and what they are looking for in the portal and freshmen:

Expected player departures: Grant McCasland’s program will lose seniors Elijah Hawkins, a reliable leader for the Red Raiders on and off the court, and Chance McMillian. And the top two scorers, Darrion Williams and JT Toppin, could test the NBA waters. Toppin, an AP All-America third-team selection, also could make some cash in the portal, so McCasland will have to convince Toppin to stay in Lubbock.
Top incoming recruit: Texas Tech has not signed a freshman who could make an immediate contribution next season; instead, the Red Raiders will rely on the portal.
Portal priorities: In a worst-case scenario, Texas Tech could be on the brink of a rebuild. If four of the Red Raiders’ top five scorers end up leaving, the program will have to try to land multiple stars through the portal. The Red Raiders can count on Christian Anderson’s continued development and move him to point guard, if necessary, but they would be better served finding another guard in the portal. They would need more size and more reliable scorers, as well. But the uncertainty around Toppin makes it difficult to project what Texas Tech might have to do to stabilize the program in the weeks ahead.

On the Gridiron

The portal doesn’t stop and yesterday edge rusher from Stanford David Bailey (6-3/250) visited Texas Tech’s campus. Bailey would have one year of eligibility and had 31 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, and 5 forced fumbles. Stanford just fired their head coach and here we are.

Coveted Stanford EDGE transfer David Bailey is visiting Texas Tech, a source tells @CBSSports/@247Sports.

Bailey, the top player in the portal, had seven sacks and five forced fumbles last year and is a potential early-round 2026 NFL draft pick.https://t.co/hgj2VV7CF4 pic.twitter.com/gkBjou6mT5

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 31, 2025

Safety coach Rob Greene, cornerbacks coach Darcel McBath, and receivers coach Justin Johnson. I didn’t have time to listen to all of this last night.