Category: Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson could create chaos on day 1 of the draft

This is one of many storylines to watch on Thursday night.

One of the top prospects that have been buzzing for some time now is [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raiders[/autotag] edge rusher, Tyree Wilson. The 6-foot-6 defender really started to gain some traction this offseason.

In three seasons in Lubbock, Wilson has accumulated 69 tackles, 29.0 TFLs, and 15.5 sacks. A lot of his production came in 2022, appearing in 10 games for the Red Raiders before an injury ended his senior season.

But how high can he climb? In the past two decades, Texas Tech has seen two players drafted in the top 10. Michael Crabtree was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2009 draft with the 10th overall pick. Patrick Mahomes was also drafted at No. 10 overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2017 draft. Could Wilson be the highest-selected Red Raider since Donny Anderson was drafted No. 7 overall in the 1965 NFL draft?

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA TODAY Sports broke down 10 scenarios that could create chaos in round one of the draft. One certain scenario revolves around the aforementioned pass rusher.

Tyree Wilson is taken ahead of Will Anderson at No. 2

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

A week ago, this entry might have been centered on the Houston Texans bypassing a quarterback. Now, that once-farfetched scenario appears to be the prevailing wisdom for the No. 2 pick.

This might not prompt the chain reaction that some of the other moves on this list would. But if the Texans do opt to go the defensive route with the first of their two picks in the top 12, it would still be startling to see them take Wilson, the Texas Tech product, ahead of Anderson, Alabama’s first-ever two-time unanimous All-American and a prolific pass rusher considered by many to be the premier defender in the class. Of course, the 6-6, 271-pound Wilson offers a different kind of physical presence at defensive end, one who might be more fit for setting the edge and pushing the pocket than his 6-3, 254-pound counterpart. But there are substantial questions about whether he can achieve the same level of pass-rush prowess that Anderson has, as Wilson had fewer sacks in four years (17) than the former Crimson Tide standout did in 2021 alone (17 ½).

That would certainly shake things up at the top of the draft if the Texans bypass the quarterback position. Unless they want to go all out on getting the No. 1 spot next year by sticking with Davis Mills and targeting Caleb Williams next season. Playing chess not checkers in Houston.

One other scenario that Middlehurst-Schwartz mentions would be the selection of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker on day one. He is recovering from a torn ACL but he certainly has the talent to warrant the selection. Unlike a certain quarterback in Lexington.

Texas Tech’s Gavin Kash is a one-man wrecking crew

This kid is Kash money at the plate.

The No. 19 [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raiders[/autotag] have a high-powered offense on the diamond. They rank among the top 10 in NCAA in 10 different categories. This is thanks in large part to first baseman Gavin Kash.

Kash joined the Red Raiders after one year with the Texas Longhorns in 2022. He played a reserve role behind the ‘Hispanic Titanic’ Ivan Melendez, who launched 32 homers a season ago. Kash didn’t have a single hit leave the yard in 26 plate appearances for the Longhorns. Fast forward to 2023 and Kash has launched 19 home runs, the second-best mark in the country.

The Red Raiders’ top bat is showing off his talent which ranks among the top 10 in five different categories.

By The Numbers (All lead the Big 12):

  • Hits: 68 (No. 1 in NCAA)
  • Total Bases: 141 (No. 1 in NCAA)
  • Runs Batted In: 66 (No. 2 in NCAA)
  • Home Runs: 19 (Tied-No. 2 in NCAA)
  • Slugging Percentage: .860 (no. 8 in NCAA)

As Texas Tech works towards the end of the season and a likely postseason appearance, the success on offense will come from Kash. The Red Raiders begin a three-game weekend series against Baylor on Friday.

Report: Texas Tech becomes last Power Six school to fill head coach vacancy

Texas Tech brings Grant McCasland back to the Big 12.

After weeks of speculation, the [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raiders[/autotag] have hired North Texas head coach Grant McCasland as the next head coach per multiple reports. On Thursday night he led the Mean Green to the NIT Tournament championship. They defeated the UAB Blazers, 68-61.

The win gave McCasland a 30+ win season as UNT finished 31-7. Over his tenure with the Mean Green, the new Texas Tech head coach never had a losing season with five of the six seasons finishing with 20 or more wins. He won the CBI in 2018 and the NIT in 2023. Overall, McCasland was 135-65 and 71-35 in conference play with North Texas.

Multiple reports indicated that McCasland would accept the offer on Thursday evening following the NIT title game.

McCasland returns to the Big 12 where he was an assistant under Baylor head coach Scott Drew. He also played in the Big 12 with the Bears from 1995 to 1999. As a head coach McCasland has won 70.2% of his games with no losing seasons.

The next step will be finalizing the coaching staff and beginning to work on the putting together his initial roster. The Red Raiders have three players in the transfer portal as Fardaws Aimaq, Elijah Fisher, and Robert Jennings all entered the portal following the season. Tech has a commitment from former Georgia forward KyeRon Lindsay.

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Texas Tech is on North Texas watch as NIT resumes Tuesday

Tech could inch closer to hiring their head coach with a UNT loss on Tuesday.

The [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raiders[/autotag] are among three Power programs that have yet to make a hire for their men’s basketball program. The California Golden Bears and Penn State Nittany Lions are the other two.

Penn State became available when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hired Micah Shrewsberry away after two seasons in Happy Valley. It could be that both Texas Tech and Cal are looking at head coaches currently competing in the annual NIT Tournament. The Golden Bears could have Mark Madsen of Utah Valley on their shortlist.

For the Red Raiders, we put together a list of notable names they could target with one clear No. 1 target in mind. That name is Grant McCasland of the [autotag]North Texas Mean Green[/autotag].

McCasland and North Texas are set to take on the Wisconsin Badgers at 6:00 p.m. CT from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Should the Badgers knock off the Mean Green in the NIT Semifinals, then the Red Raiders and athletic director Kirby Hocutt could make their move.

Recently Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported that McCasland was the top target for the job. As we previously noted, he has experience in Lubbock as the director of basketball operations with the Red Raiders under James Dickey from 1999 to 2001.

He spent most of collegiate coaching career with the Baylor Bears under head coach Scott Drew. He also played for the Bears from 1995 to 1999. He led Midwestern State to two Division II Elite Eight finishes in his first shot as a head coach from 2009 to 2011.

McCasland led North Texas to the CBI title in his first season and upset Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He has led UNT to the NIT in each of the last two season. Last year they were knocked out in the second round and this year they are among the final four teams still alive. In both seasons they have won 25 or more games.

McCasland knows the Big 12 landscape and basketball in the state of Texas. A win tonight would only seem to prolong the inevitable. The longer that UNT remains in the tournament the further that Tech will get behind on recruiting players and working on landing top prospects currently in the transfer portal.

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Report: Grant McCasland emerges as the top target for Texas Tech job

Another Power Six program could be closing in on a head coach hire.

We could be closing in on another Power Six program filling their head coaching vacancy.

Per Jeff Goodman of Stadium, current North Texas head coach Grant McCasland has emerged as the top target to replace Mark Adams.

McCasland has a history in Lubbock after serving as director of operations for head coach James Dickey from 1999 to 2001. He is familiar with coaching in the Lone Star state after starting his coaching career with Midwestern State at the Division II level.

He led them to two DII Elite Eight appearances in two seasons. McCasland was 55-12 in two seasons. After spending six seasons as an assistant under Scott Drew at Baylor he made a one-year stop at Arkansas State before taking over the North Texas men’s basketball program in 2017.

Overall, McCasland is 205-89 as a head coach, including his 130-65 mark in six seasons with the Mean Green. The former Baylor guard has produced five 20-plus win seasons at UNT. On Tuesday night, McCasland and the Mean Green are set to take on Oklahoma State in the NIT.

We will continue to monitor the coaching carousel as it relates to college basketball and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

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How to find how much money your favorite NIL Collective generated in 2022

A Step-by-step breakdown to view how much your favorite NIL collective is raising.

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Collectives seem to be big businesses in the college sports ecosystem. Some are even forming tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. These tax-exempt organizations have certain filing requirements depending on the gross receipts they generate. Most of these organizations must file a Form 990 with the IRS. See more about this here.

This is a step-by-step guide on how to search for these forms once they have been filed and made public.

For this example, let’s use the West Texas Matador Club, Inc., which is a Texas nonprofit corporation doing business as The Matador Club. Their mission is “helping Texas Tech student-athletes make a positive impact with their name, image, and likeness.”

Step 1: Head to the IRS website and search the legal name of the collective.

In this case, while the collective does business as The Matador Club, their website indicates their legal name is West Texas Matador Club, Inc.

Step 2: Click on the correct entity you want to review.

Step 3: Once the entity has filed their documentation, it should be available for download.

Step 4: For now, you can review the determination letters of collectives.

These letters indicate whether or not the collectives was approved for 501(c)(3) status and informs you which of the 11 deductibility codes they applied. The Matador Club was given the code of a public charity and approved for tax-exempt status. However, these organizations can easily lose their status, read more here.

Deductibility Code In general, an individual who itemizes deductions may deduct contributions to most charitable organizations up to 50% (60% for cash contributions) of his or her adjusted gross income computed without regard to net operating loss carrybacks. Individuals generally may deduct charitable contributions to other organizations up to 30% of their adjusted gross income (computed without regard to net operating loss carrybacks). These limitations (and organizational status) are indicated as follows: Code Type of organization and use of contribution. Deductibility Limitation PC A public charity. 50% (60% for cash contributions)

They are also required to file either a Form 990, 990 E-Z, or a 990-N depending on the amount of their gross receipts.

As Form 990s start rolling in, it will be interesting to follow along and see which collectives are bringing big donor money and which are merely scraping by with donations.

**Disclaimer: This is not tax or legal advice and should not be taken as such. It is merely for educational purposes.**

Report: Rick Pitino targeted for Texas Tech opening

Could Texas Tech actually go after Rick Pitino? That is certainly interesting.

The Big 12 could get a lot more interesting real soon.

Following a report that St. John’s is interested in speaking with Rick Pitino about their opening following the dismissal of Mike Anderson, another team could be joining the Pitino sweepstakes.

College basketball insider Jon Rothstein reports that the Texas Tech Red Raiders are also interested in speaking with the 70-year-old head coach. Pitino currently serves as the head coach of Iona, where he has been since 2020.

Pitino has worked as an assistant and head coach at the collegiate and NBA levels. Most notably he is remembered for his time with the Kentucky Wildcats, the Boston Celtics, and the Louisville Cardinals.

Pitino has coached two championship teams and seven Final Four teams. One title and two Final Four appearances were vacated by the NCAA due to his “pay for play” investigation. He would coach overseas before returning to the collegiate level with Iona.

Certainly replacing one head coach who resigned for racially insensitive comments for another that has a history of scandal and investigations would be interesting, to say the very least.

College Sports Wire will continue to monitor the coaching carousel and provide updates as they are made available.

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Who could replace Mark Adams at Texas Tech? 10 names to consider

With the news that Mark Adams is out at Texas Tech, we put together a list of 10 names to consider as the next Red Raiders head coach.

On Wednesday night the Texas Tech Red Raiders men’s basketball head coaching job became vacant following the announcement that Mark Adams would resign.

This came off the heels of Adams’ suspension for racially insensitive comments to the team. Now with Adams stepping aside, this will put Tech back in the head coaching search. Adams was named head coach after Chris Beard left for the Texas Longhorns. Less than two years later, both teams could make huge changes.

Rodney Terry has done an outstanding job since being named interim head coach but John Calipari has been linked to the job. It remains to be seen how that will all play out. As far as Tech is concerned they can begin their search for the next head coach.

College Sports Wire has a list of potential candidates.

Mark Adams steps down at Texas Tech, Fardaws Aimaq to enter the transfer portal

Following his suspension, Texas Tech’s Mark Adams resigned.

On Wednesday, Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim wasn’t the only head coach in the Power Five to step down from his post. Later that day, it was announced by Texas Tech that men’s head basketball coach Mark Adams would resign from his position.

The school announced the news on its team website. Adams was placed on suspension following an investigation into a racially insensitive comment made to the team. Corey Williams was named interim for their Big 12 tournament game against West Virginia.

“My lifelong goal was to help and be a positive influence on my players, and to be a part of the Texas Tech men’s basketball team,” Adams said. “However, both the University and I believe this incident has become a distraction for the Texas Tech men’s basketball team and the University, which I care about so deeply.”

The Red Raiders named Adams the head coach of the program prior to the 2021-22 season after Chris Beard left for the opening with the Texas Longhorns. That season, the Red Raiders made it all the way to the Sweet 16 before being eliminated. This past season, the team was a shell of their former selves. They lost four consecutive games to close the season to end the regular season at 16-16.

At one time it looked as though Texas Tech would make a run at the NCAA Tournament, but that appeared to be fool’s gold. The next head coach will need to rally the troops for next season. While the administration will now begin a search for the next head coach, the team is also expected to lose big man Fardaws Aimaq to the transfer portal. This was reported by Red Raider Sports on Wednesday night.

A lot is about to change as the team will welcome a new era of basketball at the United Supermarkets Arena by the time the 2023-24 season tips off.

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Left for dead, Texas Tech basketball is resurfacing

Texas Tech has come back to life on the hardwood.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball was coming off a 2021-22 campaign where they were the No. 3 seed out of the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. They reached the Sweet 16 but fell to the Duke Blue Devils, who finished as a Final Four team.

The team had to rebuild for the 2022-23 season with so much of last year’s team leaving due to graduation, the NBA draft, and the transfer portal. Head coach Mark Adams did a good job of addressing some of their needs through the transfer portal and in recruiting. Prior to the start of Big 12, the Red Raiders were a respectable 10-2. Then the downward spiral began.

Over the next eight games ahead of the Big 12/SEC Challenge against the LSU Tigers, Tech dropped all eight matchups. This included five single-digit losses to conference foes. However, now the Texas Tech program has come back to life.

Since the break in the schedule with LSU, the Red Raiders and Mark Adams have won five of their seven games. This includes the epic comeback over No. 13 Iowa, where Tech needed a second-half surge to force overtime. The Red Raiders then won against No. 12 Kansas State and No. 6 Texas. Tech is now on a three-game win streak after knocking off West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday.

A huge reason for the turnaround has been the health of key players. Fardaws Aimaq finally debuted and has averaged 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in six games. Freshman guard Pop Isaacs has returned as well. He shot 60% against West Virginia after missing over three weeks of action. Isaacs hit three big shots from behind the arc.

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, they are currently listed as the “next four out.”

For Adams’ squad to get into the tournament the final four games will be key. It begins on Tuesday night when the Red Raiders take on the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. Over the next two weeks, Tech faces Oklahoma, Texas Christian, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. Not exactly an easy task.

However, getting into the semifinals of the conference tournament would help as well. The team currently holds the No. 54 spot in the NET rankings with 4 quad 1 wins and a combined 11-0 against quad 3 and 4.

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