-Lubbock, Texas
The Texas Tech Red Raider basketball team finished the 2021-2022 season following a 78-73 defeat in the Sweet Sixteen at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils in one of the best college basketball games of the year. This team showed the same fight and West Texas grit that they have all year long, and put it on full display to the nation last Thursday night. It is hard to put into words how special this season was to Red Raider Nation, but I hope to sum it up properly in this short write up.
On April 1st, 2021, the departure of then head coach Chris Beard and most of his staff completely gutted the Red Raider basketball program except for four players and one coach: Mark Adams, Beard’s top assistant. After a week or so of former player support, Mark Adams was named the next Head Coach and that brought some hope back after the departure of Beard left many fans with the belief that the heights the basketball program had reached under Beard would never be seen again, as Beard headed to arch rival Texas.
Adams with the help of some new assistant coaches then proved to be a great recruiters, especially in the transfer portal by getting key transfers such as Bryson Williams, Kevin Obanor and Adonis Arms among others. Adams coached the Red Raiders to a 27-10 record with the best start for a first year head coach at Texas Tech since legendary coach Bob Knight. Adams led the program to a third place finish in conference play, sweeping the reigning Nation Champion Baylor Bears, a win against Kansas, and sweeping former coach Chris Beard and the Longhorns. The Red Raiders also achieved a three seed in the NCAA Tournament, matching a program highest.
Many people wrote off this program after Beard left for Austin, but this season put the nation on notice. The Red Raider basketball program is here to stay. The future continues to shine brightly on the South Plains, and Red Raider Nation continues to show why United Supermarkets Arena is the best environment in college basketball. Let the countdown to next season begin. Wreck ‘Em Tech!
Pat