Red Raider Sports Magazine - June/July 2021 by Red Raider Club

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RedRaiderSports.com is a publication of TRI Productions Volume 26 Issue 6 Managing Editor Aaron Dickens

Cover Photo Brandon Brieger

Photographers Elise Bressler

Brandon Brieger Elizabeth Hertel

Norvelle Kennedy Artie Limmer

Michaela Schumacher Michael Strong

Writers Wes Bloomquist

Matt Dowdy

R. C. Maxfield

Brandon Soliz

Ben Golan

Terry Greenberg

Red Raider Sports (USPS 0013-768) is published bimonthly in February, April, June, August, October and December. Annual Red Raider Club membership dues of $500 or higher include a one-year subscription to Red Raider Sports Magazine. Red Raider Sports is a publication of TRI Productions, P.O. Box 53604, Lubbock, TX 79453. Periodicals postage is paid in Lubbock, Texas. Address all editorial-related correspondence to Red Raider Sports, P.O. Box 53604, Lubbock, TX 79453. Red Raider Sports is not an official publication of Texas Tech University. Postmaster: Send address changes to Red Raider Sports, P.O. Box 53604, Lubbock, TX 79453. For subscription inquiries contact the Red Raider Club at 806.742.1196. Give old and new addresses and enclose latest mailing address label when writing about your subscription. ©2021 TRI Productions. All Rights Reserved.

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MPACT by TERRY GREENBERG

f you’ve bought season seats for Texas Tech football the past few years you’ve had an amazing impact. You helped the men’s track and field team win a national title, baseball team make the College World Series four of the last seven years, soccer and tennis teams make NCAA Tournament runs and the men’s golf team finish 11th in the nation this season. Didn’t know you were so powerful, eh? “I call on all Red Raiders to buy football tickets. It doesn’t matter which sport you love most, football tickets provide the lifeblood for all the programs, especially the Olympic sports. We rely on it so much,” said Wes Kittley, track and field coach, who brought the university its first men’s national team title two years ago. About 80 percent of the Athletic Department budget comes from football and supports non-revenue-generating sports. “Football’s the rising tide that raises all boats,” said Andrea Tirey, Senior Associate Athletics Director/Development. “When people attend a Texas Tech football game, buy a hot dog or buy a t-shirt – it’s more impactful than people probably know. It allows us to support 17 sports and 400-plus student athletes,” she said. Most people don’t intuitively make that connection between buying football tickets and supporting all teams, said Jonathan Botros, Senior Associate Athletics Director/ Finance and Administration. “When you go to a Dallas Cowboys game, you’re supporting one team,” said Botros. “The collegiate model is different. We have two sports (men’s basketball being the other) that subsidize 15 others. We’re not like a grocery store where we can take a product off the shelf if it isn’t selling. We value every one of our 17 sports.” Tirey wishes every Red Raider fan could meet every Texas Tech student athlete. “I think we’d sell out every football game because people would see how buying tickets is changing lives and worth spending their discretionary income,” said Tirey. “A Little League game may not be as exciting as a Big 12 football game, but if it’s your child or grandRedRaiderSports.com

children it’s the best thing in the world because you have that connection and relationship. If people knew our student-athletes personally, and knew what many of them have overcome to play D1 football and be full time students, they would all want to be in the stands to support them.” And coaches whose teams don’t play at Jones AT&T Stadium say football’s impact is more than money – the program helps in many other ways. A Packed Stadium All sports bring recruits to home football games as part of enticing them to become Red Raiders. A full and raucous crowd helps. Football recruits notice a packed Jones AT&T Stadium, too, said Head Football Coach Matt Wells. “Recruits tell me, ‘Coach, the atmosphere in the stadium was off the chain’” he said. They’re impressed by the student section, by the people they meet around town and more, said Wells. “One of our best attributes is our friendly West Texas people. Everybody wears the Double T logo. Our players and recruits notice that and it’s part of what makes Texas Tech so special,” he said. Crowds can also help win games. In 2019, the Red Raiders jumped out to a lead on 25th-ranked Oklahoma State and won 4535. “The crowd was into it early. We fed off of it and it really created a home-field advantage, especially defensively,” said Wells. There was last season’s Baylor game, when almost 13,000 fans socially distanced in a stadium built for 60,000-plus. “When we were struggling in the third quarter. I think the crowd kept us in it,” he said. Then Red Raider linebacker Colin Schooler obliterated Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer just short of the end zone near the end of the third quarter to keep the Bears from putting the game away. The Red Raiders scored 12 unanswered points in the final quarter, winning on a field goal as time ran out and the happy crowd sounded louder than its size. 8

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Wells loved the crowd reaction after Schooler’s crushing stop and still wonders what it would have sounded like with a full stadium. A packed stadium also makes it tough on opponents. “I’ve heard from former players and coaches in the Big 12 that Jones AT&T Stadium has been a tough place to play. That’s not created by bricks and mortar, but by people, pride, passion and being vocal,” he said. And being present, another point from the coach. “If you can’t make a game, please get someone to use your seats,” he said to help make the crowd as large and loud as it can be. “I’m so appreciative and humbled by the support Texas Tech fans give our football program. I meet so many season ticket holders who’ve been coming to games for many years and driving many miles six times a year. It means so much to our program. That passion and pride of the fan base attracted me to Texas Tech,” said Wells. Wells understands things come up and people can’t make every game. He just asks fans to do what he does when he can’t make a basketball or football game. “I feel a remarkable sense of loyalty and accountability to those teams and head coaches to make sure my seats are filled. I make sure a family member, a buddy, or a neighbor sit in those seats and root passionately for the Red Raiders,” he said. He has a group text of dads in his neighborhood and when he can’t make a game sometimes offers them tickets first-come, first-served. “And their butts better be in the seat because I’ll have my assistant, Micki watching TV to make sure they’re filled,” said Wells, laughing. A Winning Experience People come to Texas Tech football games to hopefully see the Red Raiders win and have a great experience. Athletics invests in both. “It’s a lot of fun to win,” said Botros. “Every year we’re 1,000 percent in with giving Matt every resource he needs to win. At

the same time, we’re investing in an incredible experience. We’re going to invest in Raider Alley, student tailgating, a fan-friendly concession menu,” he said. Texas Tech invests in ticket pricing analysis to make they’re attracting all fans. “Certain fans want the absolute best seat in the house and they’re willing to pay for whatever they want. Other fans need the lowest cost to get into the stadium and where they sit is not as important. Certain fans want a cheeseburger, fries and all the fixings and they’re willing to spend $12. Other fans want to feed their whole family for $20. We can do both of those right now,” said Botros. He remembers fun trips to Texas Rangers games when he was growing up in Lubbock. “We’d come home and people would ask ‘how did it go?’ and I’d respond with ‘we had a blast,’” he said. “We got there early. Cooking hamburgers in the parking lot. There was a concert. During the game my sister and I tried to eat that $25 jumbo hot dog. We walked around and saw the Nolan Ryan statue,” he said. All of that builds memories. “One of the most memorable days in our history at Texas Tech was when ESPN’s College Game Day came to the men’s basketball game against Kansas three years ago. We lost by two points, but it was still an incredible day. It would have been more fun walking out with a win, but everybody had a blast. I want everybody to feel that way when they come to a football game,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong – we want to win. But we want people to have a good time, too,” he added. That includes people who may not feel they’re Red Raiders. “You don’t need any direct connection to Texas Tech to come to our football games. We want everyone to feel welcome. We want everyone to have a fun experience and become part of the Texas Tech family whether you went there or not,” he said. Getting Back to Normal Excitement is building about having a “normal” football season at Jones AT&T Stadium,

Contributions, Premium Seat Contributions and the Excellence Fund. Suites – part of premium seats – have sold out every year since they were added to the stadium about two decades ago. “I put our premium seat holders against any in the country. The loyalty has been unbelievable. Andrea is focused every year on making sure our suite holders have a great experience” said Botros. Then add in corporate sponsorships. “When you see United Supermarkets on the video board at Jones AT&T Stadium, those businesses understand tying their brand name to the Double T and tying it to Texas Tech football is very valuable in this community,” he said. Football Drives the Brand Tom Stone, women’s soccer coach, sees the football program as much more than a funding source. “It’s the engine that drives the whole athletic machine at Texas Tech and every other Power Five university. It also has the opportunity for the biggest brand image across the country,” said Stone. When Quarterback Graham Harrell connected with receiver Michael Crabtree to beat then-No. 1 Texas in 2008, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people were introduced to Texas Tech Athletics on a grand scale, said Stone. “It’s amazing how many more people want to come to a school when your football or basketball team has a great year. It’s no coincidence applications go up,” he said. “We benefit from that because families know about us, young ladies know about us and we seem like a cool place to go to school.” “Football drives the brand, the excitement, it drives the vibe in the community. Everybody brings in recruits for football weekends and when the Jones is rockin’ at night and you’ve got one of the best golfers in world on campus, one of the best tennis players in the world on campus and one of the best soccer players in the world on campus they can’t help but feel that energy and excitement,” he said.

as more people are vaccinated from the coronavirus. Season seat renewals are ahead of two years ago, said Botros. “At this time last June we still thought the pandemic was going to be ending very soon and we’d be back to 100 percent-filled stadiums. People would be itching to attend athletic events after being cooped up in their house. That was not the reality in Lubbock, nor reality in Clemson, South Carolina or in Alabama,” he said. Games were not selling out even at reduced attendance last year all over the country, he said. “This year it’s flipped,” Botros said, but there’s still weeks to go until they get final numbers on season seats. The three “pillars” that make up annual giving funding for Athletics are from Annual Seat RedRaiderSports.com

Stone also appreciates how Wells meets with Stone’s recruits. “There’s a great tradition at Tech of the football staff being super supportive across all athletics,” said Stone, adding that’s rare based on what he hears from other soccer coaches at Power Five schools. “A lot of my buddies have never met their head football coach,” said Stone. That starts with Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt, he said. “It’s the way he’s designed this department – we’re altogether,” said Stone. That also means facilities. Football was “incredibly accommodating” when the “Bubble” existed south of Jones AT&T Stadium and now with their part of the Sports Performance Center, he said. “I saw (Offensive Coordinator) Sonny (Cumbie) and he said whenever your girls need a place if the weather’s terrible to use the SPC. I have a good buddy of mine in the Big 12 who’s never even walked into his indoor football facility because those things are protected like Fort Knox. Our football program is incredibly generous with their resources – even the Jones if we need it,” he said. “And our strength and conditioning program is one of the best in the country. It starts with Tory (Stephens) and his staff,” said Stone. The coach also sees support at his team’s games from players on other Texas Tech teams who’ve gone on to play professionally. “At one time or another we’ve had four or five future millionaires standing in line for a hot dog at a soccer game,” he said. The financial support is appreciated, too. “From year one to year 15 it’s hard to wrap your arms around the increased support we’ve gotten,” said Stone, mentioning the Sports Performance Center, the Cash Family Sports Nutrition Center, mental health professionals. “We’ve probably quadrupled in size and performance across all athletic programs in the 15 years I’ve been here,” he said. It’s Night and Day When Todd Petty took over the women’s 10

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tennis team 13 years ago, the program had never made the NCAA Tournament. Back-to-back Big 12 titles in 2012-13 and another in 2017. Four-straight Sweet Sixteens and two straight Elite Eights. “It’s completely driven by that football stadium being packed or not,” he said. “Texas Tech does a better job of letting financial revenue trickle down to its Olympic sports. In a lot of other places it’s left up to the sport to raise money if they need something new,” he said. Like Stone, Petty’s program has seen dra matic improvements in his time in Lubbock. “It’s night and day where we are today to where we were when I started,” he said, talking about facilities teams share like the nutrition center and SPC, but also locker room upgrades, stands, scoreboards and recruiting. “We have the ability to go anywhere we need to go to find the best athletes,” he said. A packed stadium also shows his recruits the community’s love for Texas Tech and the support they can expect as student athletes. Petty sees other ways of support. “When we hosted the first two rounds of the NCAAs you could see the women’s basketball team, the men’s basketball team. Coach Wells hit the first serve for our opening match of the season,” he said. “It’s a family here,” he said. Texas Tech is building momentum, said Petty. “I feel like Texas Tech has been a place that may have been overlooked 13 years ago,” he said, but that’s changed as teams have made national impact. “That’s what football has done for us,” he said. We’re Funded Where We Can Compete Greg Sands’ men’s golf team was ranked as high as third when COVID wiped out the 2020 season. They finished 11th in the NCAA Tournament this year and that was without top player Sandy Scott, out with a wrist injury. “There’s a correlation of fan support for football trickling down to other sports,” he said, shortly before leading the U.S. team to victory in the Arnold Palmer Cup Championship in Illinois in June. “We’re able to recruit, go to tournaments

and be successful. If you take kids to the best tournaments you’re going to get the best talent,” he said. “We’re funded at a level where we can compete with the best teams in the country.” All of Us Are For Each Other Track and field’s recruiting tailgate at football games is popular. “ They see the excitement and how the community supports football. They see it’s more than a football game, it’s a social event,” said Kittley, who’s turned his program into a perennial national power. Like his fellow coaches, Kittley enjoys how the programs support each other. “When anyone wins and does well it’s positive for everybody,” he said. “All of us are for each other. You don’t see that at some other places.” Wreck ‘Em Coach! Much like Tirey wishes all fans could meet all student athletes, Botros said if Wells could sit in every fan’s living room and share his vision for the football program, the stadium would be full every game. “He cares about this place, whether he went here or not,” said Botros, who caddied for Wells at the recent AT&T Byron Nelson Pro-Am in the Metroplex, where he played with PGA star Brooks Koepka, who’s won the U.S. Open and PGA Championships each twice and has been the number-one ranked golfer in the world. “Every time Coach Wells hit a golf ball, people were yelling ‘Wreck ‘Em, Coach!’ People were asking for pictures after every hole – even more than Koepka. We were also playing with the athletic director from TCU and I don’t know I saw any purple out there the whole day. It was just red and black,” he said. “Coach Wells doesn’t love Texas Tech for what it can do for him, he loves Texas Tech for what he can do for Texas Tech,” he said. That’s why the football team gets involved in the community. “If we’re asking people to invest in the football team – they need to know the team is invested in their community,” said Botros.

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NO FEAR by WES BLOOMQUIST

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RED RAIDER

SCHOLAR ATHLETE

Kevin McCullar is Fearless

“I ain’t got no fear. No fear at all.”

This was last season, on a Zoom press conference fol-

lowing the first double-double of his career. Fifteen points, 11 rebounds and a 27-point win at Iowa State brought Kevin McCullar to a makeshift press conference room in Hilton Coliseum to answer a few questions before heading back to Lubbock. Four games back after being sidelined for the first nine due to a preseason injury, McCullar had gone down in pain during the game but returned to finish off one of the best performances of his career.

"Is there a fear level you have out there when you come

down wrong?," a reporter asked.

“No fear at all. Just out there hoopin’,” McCullar shot back.

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That’s the mentality Kevin McCullar has with everything. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking injuries, playing through a pandemic, coaching changes or seeing teammates make tough decisions on their futures. None of it’s easy. He’s not pretending it is. Some of his best friends are no longer on the team after entering the transfer portal and moving on to different programs. Injuries since high school have created setbacks. The head coach who recruited him and led the program he’s been in for three seasons is now coaching an inconference rival. It’s all tough. No denying that.

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“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.”

Fighting through and overcoming adversity may be what McCullar is best at. That’s saying something since he’s coming off earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention as a sophomore and is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection. But it’s also true. In high school, McCullar would contribute on a team during his sophomore season that reached the Texas Class 6A State Championship before starring as a junior and attracting nationwide attention and college offers. His high school career ended though in the second round of the playoffs of his junior season when he fractured his tibia below his knee while going up for a transition layup. Six months later while progressing through rehab, the tibia broke. It was agonizing, but it can now be looked at as a foundation which built him into what he is today. “Having injuries at an early age during high school was tough,” McCullar says. “I leaned on my family during those challenges and they helped me through. I always knew that if I stayed focused and positive that I could get on the court and do the thing I love the most again.” “Kevin has been coached and raised to understand that life is a constant challenge,” says his father, Kevin McCullar, Sr., who had 177 tackles as a linebacker at Texas Tech from 1996-98. “All people are created equally, but each will face many obstacles along the way. I am proud of him for learning that at an early age and continuing to grow and use it to his advantage daily. Nothing has ever been given to him and he has never backed down and continues to strive for greatness. To see him where he is today has been an amazing journey for our entire family.” Where he is today is entering his fourth year at Texas Tech, having redshirted during the program’s run to the Final Four before playing in 49 games over the past two seasons. He’s coming off a year where he missed nine games to begin his sophomore season but played the final 20 without interruption. After three years in the program, some fans see him as being the team’s ‘glue guy’ by having the ability to hold everything together with unique versatility. That works, and every team wants one, but McCullar is poised to take his game to another level. “Glue guy has a ring to it, but I think it’s more than that with him,” Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams says. “He’s a catalyst. Kevin can bring out the best in everyone on your

team with the way he approaches the game. Your best players always have this skillset where they improve everyone else they’re around. I see that in him. He has the ability and mindset to be a program-changer on and off the court.” “I see myself playing in a leadership role and continuing everything I can to help us win,” McCullar says. “I can distribute the ball to my teammates and I can also get a bucket when I want. I’ll always see myself as a player who competes nonstop on both sides of the court and never takes a play off. I just want to impact winning.” None of this is easy. For three weeks after the season ended there was nothing but uncertainty around the program. It went from wondering if coach Chris Beard would leave to him accepting the Texas job to who would be the new Texas Tech head coach. Social media evolved from basically every business in Lubbock making lifetime offers to keep Beard, quickly flipping on him when he took the job in Austin to speculating who would be lead the Red Raider program. Following drama on social media and message boards can be a guilty pleasure for some of us, but most the time it’s about someone else and we can move on to something else. McCullar and his teammates were the ones directly impacted by it, saw it all and added to it by tweeting, “Well, decisions to be made…” on April 1. Overwhelming support was directed his way with a small mixture of hurt fan messages. Some of it was understandable. None of it was fun. “The days were going as slow as they ever have for me when all the coaching changes were going on,” McCullar says. “You don’t really know what’s going on and you don’t control any of it. I was sitting there not knowing what my future was going to be like.” Through it all, McCullar stayed patient. Did thoughts of playing elsewhere creep in? Of course. How could they not? Almost everything he had signed up for at Texas Tech was changing. He stayed in close contact with his teammates, some knowing they were leaving and some undecided. The Texas Tech administration was doing its due diligence in selecting a new head coach to continue building on a program that had been ranked throughout the season and advanced to its third straight NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. It took a week. A very long week. But

when coach Adams was offered the position and named the 18th head coach in TTU men’s basketball history, it sealed McCullar’s decision with him declaring it on twitter: “Texas Tech is in my blood. It has been so special to be part of a family like Red Raider Nation. I have been blessed with this opportunity and after talking with Coach Adams and my family, it’s in my best interest to stay at Texas Tech. We have unfinished business.” 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.” McCullar’s belief in Adams is matched by Adams’ belief in McCullar. “With his versatility, experience and leadership skills, Kevin is going to be the rock of this program,” Adams says. “We needed him to come back. He’s had a really strong year last year and I think he has the potential to be one of the best players in the Big 12. Kevin does a great job on defense anticipating what the other team is trying to do and is always willing to take a charge, come up with steals and block a shot. He’s very competitive, brings toughness and can guard all five positions, even a big. He has developed the strength and size to be able to handle anything we need him to.” None of this was ever easy. McCullar was a four-star recruit who opted to forgo his senior high school season, reclassified from a 2019 to a 2018 prospect, graduated early and enrolled at Tech at midyear. He had already helped Converse Wagner, which also produced NBA players Andre Roberson and Jordan Clarkson, to the Class 6A state championship game (earning alltournament honors after scoring 12 points in the finals) and then as a junior averaged 16.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. His production and potential had established himself as one the most prized recruits in the state despite the broken tibia in his left leg in a second-round playoff win to end his junior season. "It was tough," McCullar told the San Antonio Express-News when he made the decision not to play his senior season following earning District 27-6A First Team. "Everybody wants to

enjoy their senior year and do everything that comes with senior year. I just feel like this was the best decision for me to make." While the decision was made to not play his senior season, committing to play at Texas Tech didn’t come easy with powerhouse programs from throughout the country vying to sign him. He’d make official visits and forged relationships with coaching staffs from major programs who believed in him even with recruiting trips coming with him using crutches. There was always a pull towards Texas Tech with his parents Hether and Kevin meeting while students in Lubbock and his sister, Katelyn, finishing nursing school at Tech during his recruitment. That was important, but it was his decision. His future. After a lot of thought, he kept coming back to visualizing himself in a Red Raider uniform. The opportunity and fit were too much to ignore. On July 5, 2018 he made his commitment to the Red Raiders on social media, officially signed on Nov. 14, 2018 RedRaiderSports.com

and graduated from Harland High School on Dec. 12, 2018. Eight days later he was in Madison Square Garden. The Red Raiders were matched up against No. 2 Duke with coach Mike Krzyzewski roaming on the sidelines and future NBA Draft top-10 picks Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish on the court. He was a young kid who had just graduated from high school early and now was in the huddle with Tech legends Norense Odiase, Brandone Francis, Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens, Davide Moretti and future lottery pick Jarrett Culver. Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe were calling the game on ESPN. Doesn’t get much bigger than that. “It was eye-opening for sure,” McCullar says. “Coming right up from being in high school a week before to being on that stage was crazy.” How do you handle being injected into a situation like that? Easy. You embrace your role, even if that means you will never see the court that season. You take coaching. You support your teammates. You learn. You grow. McCullar did all of that throughout the spring 2019 semester. “Those guys on that team took me in right away even though I wasn’t able to play. I was their younger brother who had the opportunity to witness what they were doing every day. They were mature on and off the court, always working to get better throughout the season. It was a situation that has really helped me become the player that I am. It still helps me to this day.” McCullar’s redshirt season turned out to be most historic one in Texas Tech’s history. The Duke game was exciting, but the story got even better. Running off nine straight wins to end the season resulted in securing the program’s first Big 12 Championship and ended on the final Monday night of the college basketball season. McCullar was there for it all. In Tulsa, Tech cruised to wins over Northern Kentucky and Buffalo. In Anaheim, Michigan went down in the Sweet 16 and Gonzaga fell in the Elite 8. In Minneapolis, the Final Four stage made the Red Raiders into stars with McCullar soaking it all in. “When Mac was a freshman I saw a young kid determined to get back on the court,” says Matt Mooney, who was a senior on the team and helped McCullar develop throughout the year. “I could tell how much he wanted to get back out there. I could also tell he had a swag16

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ger about him. He was confident. I saw him working every day to get healthy and do whatever he could on the court that he was allowed to.” Nothing great will come easily. As fun as being a part of the 2019 Big 12 Championship team and run to the NCAA National Championship Final was, not being able to play killed McCullar. Sure, he was young, learning every day, and accumulating championship rings, but when you have his talent and competitiveness, sitting on the sidelines can get to you. Physically he had progressed through rehab and was getting stronger, while mentally he had always remained engaged. It was time to play. McCullar would enter a game for the first time in the 2019-20 season opener against Eastern Illinois at the 7:23 mark of the first half. Two minutes later, he was back on the bench without much to show for it besides a feeling of relief of being back on the court doing what he loved. He’d return a couple minutes later, missed a shot and committed two

fouls. Those were his first-half stats. A missed shot and two personal fouls in five minutes of play. He wasn’t going to let himself get down though. Tech was up 15 at halftime and he knew his time would come. His first basket as a Red Raider can now be looked at as a microcosm of who he is as a player. Thirteen minutes into the second half, his defensive prowess would lead to offense. It started with a steal and led to a fast break layup to put Tech up by 30. Two possessions later he hit a jumper for four straight points and gave everyone a glimpse into his future potential. He had formally introducing himself on the court, but realized that he had a long way to go. His first double-digit scoring performance came in the fifth game of the season, dropping 10 points on Long Island with two 3-pointers before going for 10 in games against UTRGV, Kansas State and TCU. His season-high in scoring came with 15 points at Oklahoma State where he was 6-for-8 from the field and also contributed three steals and five rebounds.

The impressive performance had been building throughout and would earn him a starting role in the next game. In the final six games of the season as a starter, McCullar averaged 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game including a career-high 11 rebounds at Iowa State and 13-point performances on the road at Oklahoma and Baylor. “I felt like everything started coming together for me at the end of the year and that the hard work we had put in was working,” McCullar says. “I was always confident it could happen but I knew I’d have to work for it. No doubt my confidence was building.” The strong finish to the season had McCullar positioned for a strong sophomore year where he was anticipated to be a starter and one of the top players on the team. After missing out on offseason workouts the past couple years, McCullar was healthy and ready to go. That would quickly change though in the final week of preseason practice when he went down again with another ankle issue when he went up to try and block a shot. This time it was a Grade III lateral ankle injury which ultimately cost him the first nine games of the 2020-21 season. “I couldn’t believe it was happening again,” he said. “As soon as we knew what we were dealing with, he gave me that look of ‘What is the plan Big Mike?’,” recalled Texas Tech athletic trainer Mike Neal. “His mindset the entire time was what can I do to get back on the court as soon as I can. The kid competes in everything he does and approached this injury in the same way. It says a lot about his character and personality. Guys like him persevere through everything that comes their way in life because of the way they are wired. He’s an athletic trainer’s pride and joy because you know that he isn’t going to hold back. He’s going to give it everything possible to get back out there.” Once back on the court, McCullar quickly emerged as one of the most consistent players in the Big 12. He would average 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 2.1 assists and 0.8 blocks per game in a redshirt sophomore season where he earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention that started with 11 points in 11 minutes against Incarnate Word in his first game back as a reserve before starting 19 straight games. McCullar ranked third in the league with 1.9 steals and eighth with 6.5 re-

bounds per game in conference games along with producing 10 double-figure scoring performances. He had two double-doubles, going off for 15 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State and then for a 10/10 performance against Baylor. In the postseason, McCullar had a career-high six steals to go along with 11 points against Texas at the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City before going for 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the 65-53 win over Utah State in the NCAA Tournament First Round. The season would end though two days later in Hinkle Fieldhouse with McCullar contributing 15 points and eight rebounds in the second round loss to Arkansas. The defeat to Arkansas hurt. Down two, Tech had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds but couldn’t connect. McCullar immediately broke into tears on the sideline across from his team’s bench and braced himself on a scorer’s table for a moment. A trip to the program’s third straight Sweet 16 was right there. The end didn’t seem real. Tears continued in the locker room before overwhelming shock and disappointment permeated the airplane that night as the team flew back home. “Our team was connected from the start and had big goals. It hurt when we lost and it was all over,” he says. There was a lot of stress associated with last season. COVID-19 has stolen lives throughout the world and has disrupted our normal way of life. How it changed college basketball is somewhat trivial in the grand scheme of life, but for McCullar, his teammates and coaches, they had put everything they had into it. Sacrifices were made that no college athlete in history has ever had to go through. It was stressful and not fair, but to spin it into a positive it was also bonding. “We were locked-in last year,” he says. “Our team gave up almost everything to make the season work. We played for each other. Believed in each other.” April, 2021 was interesting to say the least for the Texas Tech basketball program. Coaching changes, player movement, signings, completion of the Womble Practice Facility. It had just about everything you’d want or can handle if you were a member of the program. McCullar, who was taking online classes, returned home to San Antonio for a while but returned once Adams was named head coach. Things were familiar, but also different. The team went through some practices

together, but there were only five players back from the 12 who completed last year. Adams, Sean Sutton and a couple graduate assistants were there, but the calvary of coaches who had been on his collegiate ride since the first day were not. What never waivered though was the commitment and focus that McCullar and Adams share as Tech basketball progresses. “I want to leave my legacy here,” McCullar says. “That’s important to me. I’m just getting started and I’m staying to help us get it done.” McCullar will go into his third season on the court and fourth at Texas Tech having scored 382 points, securing 218 rebounds and coming up with 69 steals through 49 games. Those are just numbers though that have come through perseverance. He’s forged his way with toughness and determination, never being satisfied or just trying to get through. Now, as Adams and his new staff build a roster and establish their new culture, McCullar stands firmly ready for anything. He fully knows that none of this is or will be easy. But more importantly, none of this is too much for Kevin McCullar. “Every day I wake up I know I’m blessed to be able to play the game I love,” he says. “There isn’t one play in a game where I’m going to take it off. I’m not scared of anything and love to compete. I know how special it is to be in the situation I’m in here at Tech playing at this level of basketball. I never take it for granted.”

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Donor Spotlight b y T E R RY G R E E N B E R G

Linda & Terry Fuller

Dennis Kruse

Dennis Kruse works in Midland but lives in Lubbock to be close to Texas Tech sports. “I’m a Texas Tech sports fanatic,” said Kruse, whose successful career in the oil and gas business has allowed him to be supportive of his alma mater almost 40 years after getting his degree in petroleum engineering. Kruse came to Lubbock in 1977. “It was the largest school in West Texas. I knew I wanted to stay in West Texas for a career and wanted to major in petroleum engineering. It was a good match for me,” he said on a Zoom call from his Midland office with a picture of Jones AT&T Stadium behind him. “And Tech was the only Southwest Conference school to give me a chance to walk on to play football,” he said. “I was a preferred walk-on because Texas Tech preferred I walked on,” said Kruse, laughing. There was one more reason he came to Lubbock from Big Lake, 177 miles south of Lubbock. “My hometown hero Joe Barnes played quarterback at Tech in the early ‘70s,” he said. Kruse didn’t suit up for varsity games but played on the JV team – the Picadors – when Texas Tech had a JV team during his freshman year. “We played a four-game schedule against Houston, Arkansas, New Mexico and Ranger Junior College,” he said. Kruse was a tight end and on the scout team practicing against the varsity starting defense. Two of the defensive coaches were Bill Parcells – who led the New York Giants to two 18

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Super Bowls and Romeo Crennel, who also went on to be an NFL coach. Kruse ran into Parcells his first day at the football facility. “A guy stopped me and asked what kind of tennis shoes I was wearing. They were new ones. He said, ‘those are pretty sharp. I need to find some,’” said Kruse. Soon after, he found out the guy was Parcells, who was developing the defensive schemes he would use in the NFL. “Parcells could be very intense in practice – but he could also build you back up,” said Kruse. The Red Raiders were ranked in the top ten that preseason, but suffered a tough injury when starting quarterback Rodney Allison’s leg was broken against Texas A&M. “Rodney was the most intense competitor I’d ever seen,” said Kruse, adding Allison and running back Billy Taylor would put in even more work after long practices. Kruse gave up football after his freshman year to focus on academics. “I was not big enough, fast enough or mean enough,” he said. Kruse worked for Gulf and Chevron oil companies, passing up transfers to stay in West Texas. “I felt like I could spend the rest of my career learning about oil and gas in this part of the world,” he said. In 1997, he started an engineering consulting firm – Drillmark Consulting Group – selling it in 2003 and remaining a consultant with it until 2013. Then he became a partner

and senior vice president/drilling manager for Tall City Exploration. “I run all of our horizontal drilling operations,” said Kruse about the “horizontal shale revolution,” where technology developed to extract hydrocarbons from shale. It allowed the oil and gas business to not just do vertical drilling. “The Permian Basin went from producing one percent of the world’s production to five percent and it basically constituted the entire increase of all U.S. production in that same time frame,” said Kruse. The Permian Basin has the second-largest reserve base field in the world, he said. The only one bigger is in Saudi Arabia. “The last ten years of my career have been the most fascinating,” he said. Kruse loves Texas Tech for the opportunities his degree gave him and is loyal to his alma mater. “When I’m able, I like to donate to Texas Tech sports and sports facilities,” he said. Kruse donated to the Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center and the Sports Performance Center and is a member of the Red Raider Club’s Victory Circle. He has season seats for football, both basketball teams and baseball. Kruse also sits on the Texas Tech Foundation Board and is one of five members of an athletics committee under the Foundation Board. “They asked me to chair that committee. It’s meant to be a sounding board for (Director of Athletics) Kirby (Hocutt) to help him commu

nicate his vision for Athletics and move forward with his mission to grow student-athletes and our brand,” he said. Kruse followed the men’s basketball team through the entire post-season in 2019 and as much as he enjoyed being in Minneapolis for the Final Four, his favorite Texas Tech sports moment was the win sending the team there. “My most emotional sports moment was when we beat Gonzaga in the Elite Eight game two years ago in Anaheim. Gonzaga was extremely talented and when the game ended it just touched me emotionally because we knew what it meant,” he said. Both of his daughters – Reagan and Brynn – are Red Raider graduates. Krista Gerlich, Lady Raider basketball coach, also has a daughter named Bryn – but with one “N,” who plays for the Lady Raiders. That led to a fun moment between the coach and Kruse when they met after Gerlich returned to lead her alma mater. “Krista did her homework because she said, ‘You spelled your daughter’s name with two ‘Ns’ and I wish I had done the same because she’s been called Bryan her whole life.’ I had to laugh and told her it wouldn’t have made a difference, because our daughter had the same experience,” he said. “Dennis is a life-long Red Raider, a financial supporter, a passionate fan, a positive voice, and a friend to Texas Tech Athletics. We are grateful for his continued support of our programs, our student-athletes, and our mission,” said Andrea Tirey, Sr. Association AD for Texas Tech Athletics. RedRaiderSports.com

DISTINGUISHED LETTERWINNER John Dudley by TERRY GREENBERG Along the way, the beloved Dudley became a Lubbock baseball legend of his own. So he understands at a deeper level how lucky Texas Tech is to have Coach Tim Tadlock leading the Red Raider baseball team. “What Coach Tadlock has done is phenomenal. I marvel when I watch him, his demeanor the way he coaches. I can remember as a coach getting tied up knots over things – but the way he handles things is just unbelievable,” said Dudley, sitting in his central Lubbock home, nine blocks from where he went to high school. “Coach Tadlock has created a culture where kids want to come to Texas Tech to play baseball. They know they’re going to have suc John Dudley (above, left) hasn’t wandered far from baseball diamonds. He has season seats for Texas Tech baseball and sits next to Ronny Holly (above, right), decades after they played at Monterey High School and Texas Tech. The pair made up the right side of Coach Berl Huffman’s infield in the mid-1960s – Dudley at first and Holly at second. In between playing for Texas Tech and cheering for his alma mater in this year’s NCAA post-season, Dudley stayed in the game. He spent three decades as head coach at Lubbock’s Coronado High School. For a lot of that time, he battled with his coach, the legendary Bobby Moegle, when he played at Monterey. 20

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cess,” he said. Dudley also appreciates where the Red Raiders play and the team’s support. “The facility upgrades are 1,000 times better than what we had years ago. And look at the crowds. We might have had 100 people watch us play and most were girlfriends and family members. People love coming to those baseball games,” he said. Dudley was talking a few days after Texas Tech won the Lubbock Regional and before losing the Super Regional. “This past weekend was a great example of how important the fans are. They create a definite home-field advantage,” he said. Dudley also complimented Texas Tech on how they hosted the regional games – how they couldn’t play the “Matador Song” on the

Rip Griffin Park’s sound system and other things done at a normal home game. “There’s at least one NCAA guy there making sure everything is done by the book. And I think that’s why they like us being a host city – they know there are going to be a bunch of fans and it’s going to be done the right way, first class. The visiting coaches were very complimentary of Lubbock and Tech,” he said. That’s why the Red Raiders and their fans sang “Matador Song” acapella after sweeping Regional play – beating Army, North Carolina and UCLA. Playing in Lubbock Moegle – who won four state titles at Monterey – came to the school in 1959 when Dudley was a sophomore. “He was tough. Sometimes you just felt like it was survival,” said Dudley. But eventually the team saw how the hard work created success and then it became an expectation. “And then you enjoy being part of a successful team,” he said. After playing on Texas Tech’s freshman team, Dudley was a starter at first base his sophomore and junior years. He tore up his ankle on a pickoff play during an inter-squad game his senior year. “So for a good portion of the first part of the year, I’m walking around in a cast and can’t play,” he said. A sophomore named Don Champion took Dudley’s place and was hitting around .400. So when Dudley’s ankle healed, he saw limited action. During this year’s Regional weekend, the story of Dudley’s injury popped up during the Thetford and Ashby radio show on Double T 97.3. They told people if they saw Coach Dudley at the game to walk up and ask if he’s OK. “I’ll be darned if Bill Dean, of all people, came up and said ‘John – are you OK?’” he said, laughing.

When Dudley played, home plate was where the right field corner is now by the Fuller Track and Field. The baseball team was an independent – they had not yet joined the Southwest Conference as other Red Raider teams had. They played about two-dozen games against teams like Abilene Christian, New Mexico Highlands and New Mexico State. Tech also played TCU every year and even though the Red Raiders never won one of those games when Dudley was playing, one of those contests was his favorite game as a player. “I hit an opposite-field homer at TCU to put us ahead. We’re getting to the latter stages of the game and I said, ‘we’ve got to hold them’ and we didn’t hold them. Some of the fans got all over me, saying ‘you didn’t hold them,’” he said. Dudley loved playing for Huffman, saying the coach was a wonderful person. Future Tech head coach Kal Segrist became Huffman’s assistant during Dudley’s junior year. A Life of Coaching Dudley planned to go into business, but a lot of his friends were going into education so he switched plans and got a bachelor’s degree in education. He got a job with the Lubbock Independent School District and coached 7th grade sports at Atkins Junior High. One of the 7th graders that year was Curtis Jordan – who went on to play football at Texas Tech and played a decade as a safety in the NFL, including being on the Washington Redskins Super Bowl winning team in 1983. Dudley was excited when he was asked to move up to the 9th grade teams his second year, but then got a call to come to Monterey and become Moegle’s first assistant in 1967. Dudley worked with Moegle for five years before taking over Coronado’s baseball team – Monterey’s rival. “Coach Moegle said ‘I’ll root for John Dudley, but I’m not going to root for Coronado,’” Dudley remembers Moegle saying. Back then, a team had to win its District to get into the playoffs and Monterey – which had just won its first state title Dudley’s final

year as an assistant – was always in the way. “We seemed to be a perennial secondplace team, but in 1980 we won our first District championship,” said Dudley, beating Monterey by posting seven runs in the first inning, including a grand slam by Dudley’s ninth-place hitter. “I don’t think he’d hit a home run since Pony League.” His Mustangs made the state tournament once in 1995, beating Grand Prairie before falling in the title game. Grand Prairie was led by pitcher Kerry Wood, who went on to play Major League Baseball for 14 seasons. Dudley’s top pitcher that season was Brad Ralston, who played at Texas Tech and has gone on to a successful business career in Lubbock. The year before, Coronado and Monterey met in the Regional Final for a chance to go to the state tournament. About 12,000 people came to the three-game series, which Monterey won. By now, Moegle and Dudley had evolved from coach-player to coach-assistant coach to rivals to friends. “We were sitting together before the game and talking and he said, ‘John, you and I’ll just go to the mountains and let them play this thing,’” said Dudley. Monterey lost its first game in the state tournament and Moegle, said Dudley, told reporters “We played our state tournament game back in Lubbock last weekend.” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much pressure on high school kids,” Dudley said of that series with Monterey. “They’d grown up together, were crosstown rivals and then play with this big crowd.” Family, Faith and More Baseball Dudley retired from coaching in 2002 and from teaching two years later. His two daughters graduated from Texas Tech and one of his grandchildren is a current Red Raider. Dudley now enjoys taking his grandson Cooper – who will be a freshman at Lubbock Cooper High School – to Texas Tech games. “He watches the games and analyzes what’s going on. He models himself after some of the players – I’ve seen it in how he plays,” said Dudley.

Dudley also credits Coach Larry Hays for elevating Texas Tech’s baseball program before Tadlock took it higher. “We saw Larry taking what Kal built and lifting it up higher. That’s when they began to upgrade the facilities,” he said. He’s also a field representative for Coaches Outreach, which exists to “impact communities through Christlike leadership of coaches.” Dudley’s favorite game as a fan was the deciding game of the Super Regional two years ago. Kurt Wilson came to bat in the bottom of the 8th inning with runners on second and third and Tech behind Oklahoma State 6-5. “We’re trying to get back into that thing and we just wanted him to hit a sacrifice fly to tie the thing up – just get a ball into the outfield. And he hits a three-run shot. We couldn’t believe it,” said Dudley of the home run that gave Tech an 8-6 lead. “But it still wasn’t over,” he said. The first two Cowboy batters walked in the top of the 9th inning before Dane Haveman got a strike out, foul pop out and sent Texas Tech to the College World Series by striking out Oklahoma State’s Colin Simpson, who’d hit 17 homers that season. “It was just so exciting,” said Dudley. RedRaiderSports.com

LETTERWINNER COACHES There’s the old saying “Once a Red Raider, always a Red Raider.” Well that proves true to these former letter winners that wore the scarlet and black as a student-athlete then come back to coach at their alma matter. Currently, we have 9 former letter winners coaching at Texas Tech in five different sports. Here are just a few that are currently coaching at Texas Tech.

TIM TADLOCK Baseball — 1990-1991

ERIC GUTIERREZ Baseball — 2013-2016

ZACH GLAVASH Track and Field — 2006-2007

• Helped Tech to its first ever 40-win season as a senior in 1991 • Played 120 games, batted .289 (120-for-415) with 96 runs scored, 19 doubles, 4 triples, 8 home runs, 68 RBIs, 71 walks, & 28 stolen bases • Played for Larry Hays • Was Associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Texas Tech in 2012 • Named Head Baseball coach at Texas Tech in 2013 • Completed the biggest turnaround in school history and the second biggest turnaround in Big 12 history going from 26 wins in 2013 to 45 wins in 2014 which was the same year Tech made it’s first trip to Omaha for the College World Series • Won the Big 12 Title in 2016 and made second appearance in the College World series • Was named Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2016 • Went on their deepest run in the college world series in 2019 • Was ranked No. 1 in the polls during the 2020 season for the first time since 1997 pre-Covid.

• 9th player in school history to earn freshman All-America honors • Helped Red Raiders make their first College World Series appearance in program history in 2013 • Was the only Red Raider to play and start in all 56 games • Named to the NCAA Coral Gables Regional All-Tournament Team in 2014 • Named first team All-Big 12 honors and ABCA All-Midwest Region team accolades for the second-straight season in 2016 • Named Big 12 Player of the Year in 2016 • Participated in the College Home Run Derby in 2014 and broke the derby record with 52 homes and finished runner-up at the event • Joined the baseball coaching staff in 2018 as a volunteer assistant coach • Helped mentor senior first baseman Cameron Warren into All-America accolades in 2019.

• Won the 800m at the 2007 Big 12 Outdoor Championship • Second-Team All-American after finishing ninth at the NCAA Championships • During the indoor season, he was first team All-American in the 800m • Worked as a graduate assistant under Coach Kittley in 2008 • Began is full-time coaching career in the Mid-American Conference at Eastern Michigan • Served as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee for two years. • Was a Volunteer Assistant coach in Austin at the University of Texas for one year then promoted to Asst. Coach in 2017. • Proven to be one of the best recruiters in the country having recruited Micaiah Harries at Texas who won the Big 12 indoor 400m as a freshman Christian Coleman at Tennessee who went on to break the NCAA records in the 60m and 100m. • Was hired on the Texas Tech coaching staff in 2019 and assisted in the development of the men’s sprints relays and hurdles group that produced six Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles and the first-ever NCAA Championship in Texas Tech history.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME On Wednesday, June 2nd, the College Football Hall of Fame announced it’s 2022 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. The ballot includes 78 players and 7 coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision. Two Red Raider greats have made the nomination ballot: Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell. Michael Crabtree was a wide receiver from 2007-2008. He was two-time unanimous First Team All-American and was the first two-time winner of the Biletnikoff Award. In 2007 he was the AT&T All-America Player of the Year and two time-First Team All-Big 12. He holds six FBS receiving records and is Tech’s all-time career leader in receiving TDs (41) and 100-yard games (15). Graham Harrell was quarter back at Texas Tech from 2005-2008. He was First Team All-American and AT&T AllAmerica Player of the Year in 2008 who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. The 2008 NFF National Scholar-Athlete holds 7 NCAA records including career 400-yard games (20), three-time All-Big 12 performer and ranks second in league history with 15,793 career passing yards. The announcement of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2022. They will be officially inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6, 2022. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute.

Graham Harrell

Michael Crabtree Hall of Fame Criteria

• Player must have received First- Team All-America recognition • Player becomes eligible 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played. • He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen and carried the ideals of football within his community. • Nominations may only be submitted by the current athletic director, head coach or sports information director (SID) of a potential candidate’s collegiate institution.

During the year, members will receive:

This month, The Double T Varsity Club introduced The Legacy Team, a new program for children and grandchildren of Letter Winners (between birth and age 12). The Double T Varsity Club hopes to create, among these children, a deep appreciation for Texas Tech and its traditions. “It is our hope that the Legacy Team will build loyalty to Texas Tech and create memories for a lifetime,” said Rodney Allison, Executive Director. For just an annual fee of $20, children of Letter Winners can join the Legacy Team.

• a welcome note • a blanket (birth - 3) or a t-shirt (4-12) • a magnet • a birthday card along with a small gift • special activities with sports teams • kid of the game (all sport home games) • autograph sessions/pictures with former players & coaches • meet & greet event during spring games/off season with players and coaches) • attend practice with Letter Winners • acitivites during DTVC events and tailgates • field day • a letter from the Athletic DIrector

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RED RAIDER

For Life by AL PICKETT

Tim Tadlock will be a “Red Raider for life.” Tadlock, a Texas Tech graduate who has been the Red Raiders’ head baseball coach since prior to the 2013 season, has agreed to a new rolling seven-year contract, which Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt described as a “lifetime contract” intended to keep the 52-year-old coach at Texas Tech for the rest of his career. With the initial announcement of the deal, Hocutt tweeted “A Red Raider true to the core! Excited to share @TimTadlockTTU has agreed to a lifetime contractor to remain the head coach of @TTU Baseball!” Of course, nothing in the world today happens in a vacuum, and the April 1 departure of Tech basketball coach Chris Beard to the University of Texas certainly played a role in inking Tadlock to the long-term deal. At the conclusion of the regular season, Texas A&M announced that it would not renew the contract of baseball coach Rob Childress, who had led the Aggies for the previous 16 years. Almost immediately, rumors began to swirl that A&M would make a play for Tadlock. And why not? Tadlock has been enormously successful at Texas Tech. His career record is 775-295, including 340-168 in nine seasons at Tech. He has led the Red Raiders to the College World Series four times since 2014 and has won or shared the Big 12 regular-season championship three times since 2016. Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said Hocutt had been in discussions with Tadlock about his future with the Red Raiders for some time, even before the A&M vacancy was announced.

“Kirby shared with me that A&M had reached out to inform him, I guess as a matter of courtesy, of their intense interest in coach Tadlock,” Schovanec said. “We responded to those overtures. Kirby had begun discussions with coach Tadlock several weeks ago, and it was just unacceptable to us that we would lose the best coach in the state of Texas.” So Hocutt tweeted a photo of he and Tadlock, just prior to the team leaving on the bus for the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, shaking hands with the agreement of new deal. Some believe Tadlock may have done his best coaching job in 2021 as he guided the Red Raiders to a No. 5 national ranking and the host for a NCAA regional tournament and Super Regional despite the team being plagued by a slew of injuries. The extension of Tadlock’s contract came on the heels of an announcement of plans for a new $12.5 million baseball team facility at Dan Law Field at Ripe Griffin Park. The project is part of The Campaign for Fearless Champions, which has transformed Texas Tech’s facilities with more than $200 million invested into the athletics department since its inception. The team clubhouse will remain in its present location down the left-field line but will greatly expand as part of the new facility. It will include a state-of-the-art lock room as well as a team lounge, along with a expanded athletic training space with a state-of-the art hydro area that includes both chilled and hot water tubs. The clubhouse will also boast an enlarged indoor training facility with adjustable netting to allow for indoor infield work as well

as indoor batting cages. “There is no better university in the country to play baseball than at Texas Tech, and this investment into our clubhouse facility demonstrates the commitment we have to sustaining our status among the nation’s elite programs,” Hocutt said. “Coach Tadlock is the best baseball coach in the country, and we couldn’t be prouder of his continued leadership of our program. This facility will allow coach Tadlock and his staff to continue chasing Big 12 championships and our yearly goal – to win that final game in Omaha.” The Red Raiders have played in six regional tournaments under Tadlock and have now advanced to the Super Regional five times. After the 8-2 win over UCLA to clinch the Lubbock regional title and a berth in the Super Regional, Tadlock was asked if this ever gets old. “We don’t take these for granted,” he replied. “We are very thankful for all of our players and their families and the way they go about things. These things don’t happen without good teammates and a good locker room. These guys have been really good. But by no means is it easy to do this. This game is a challenge on any day of the week and any scenario. These guys are up to the challenge and are looking forward to it. From our seat, it is really fun to watch them handle the mental side and the physical side and watch them grow in those areas.” No, winning doesn’t get old. And with the addition of the premier new facilities and Tadlock locked up for as Texas Tech’s baseball coach for the foreseeable future, Red Raider fans expect many more exciting wins at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. RedRaiderSports.com

The Right Fit b y B E N G O LA N

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The Texas Tech coaches were looking to add a receiver to the team’s roster this offseason, but they wanted to find the right fit. There is a lot of young receiver talent on the team. Loic Fouonji, Jerand Bradley, Trey Cleveland, Myles Price and JJ Sparkman all have at least four seasons of eligibility remaining if they want it, but the receiver room needed someone with experience to pair with vets such as Erik Ezukanma, Dalton Rigdon and McLane Mannix. Enter Troy’s Kaylon Geiger. Geiger officially entered the transfer portal on May 25 and chose Texas Tech over reported interest from TCU and Auburn. Geiger, who is originally from Ft. Worth, wanted to play his senior season closer to home. He says he couldn’t pass up the opportunity at Texas Tech. "For me, choosing Tech... it was more than football. Coming to Tech for me was big because of my family. I'm from Texas. Texas Tech was the most understanding, they really care about me. I felt like they genuinely cared and that's big for me also. I wanted to go somewhere I'm welcome with open arms and be able to do my best." On the field, the Red Raiders added an explosive playmaker who can line up in the slot or on the perimeter. Geiger was a two-time AllSun Belt selection who caught 77 passes for 873 yards and five touchdowns as a junior in 2019. As a senior during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, Geiger still amassed 64 receptions for 752 yards and three touchdowns. Geiger also says his relationship with Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie

played a big part in him choosing the Red Raiders. "It's been pretty great, he's (Cumbie) a down-to-earth guy. I really love talking to him, he really cares about my situation as all the coaches do. I've talked to all of them, but with coach Cumbie it's been pretty good. “We talked about football a lot but the first few days we were talking, he genuinely cares about me and my future. So that's been pretty cool." Texas Tech has a long history of receivers putting up big numbers, and that has to appeal to someone like Geiger who has the potential to one day play in the NFL. Overall, Geiger is just the latest in a long line of talented players that Matt Wells and the Texas Tech coaching staff have brought in this summer via the transfer portal. Quarterback Tyler Shough, who transferred in from Oregon and is the odds-on favorite to start for Texas Tech this season, was recently named to the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football All-Texas College First-Team. That is pretty impressive for someone who has yet to start a game in the state. TJ Storment, who transferred in from TCU earlier this offseason, was also rewarded, being named to the magazine’s All-Texas College Offensive Line Second-Team. That’s not to mention defensive backs Marquis “Muddy” Waters, Rayshad Williams or Malik Dunlap, who all come in with starting experience at Power Five programs. Kaylon Geiger arrives at Texas Tech with one season of eligibility remaining. Look for him to make it a memorable one back in his home state of Texas. RedRaiderSports.com

MAKING IT b y B RA N D O N S O L I Z

Texas Tech is no stranger when it comes to landing well-known names in the basketball world. Mac McClung transferred to the Red Raiders from Georgetown and brought along more than 700,000 Instagram followers. This spring, head coach Mark Adams landed a star when KJ Allen (pictured below), one of the most well-liked players featured on the Netflix series ‘Last Chance U,’ committed to Texas Tech. Allen’s former coach, John Mosley (pictured, right) of East Los Angeles College, was a big part of his recruiting process.

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“The relationship there is between me and Coach Adams. I’ve known him for years,” Mosley said. “The biggest compliment is when Coach Adams decides to come to our gym two or three years ago. He came to recruit in my gym. To me, he had a vested interest in our players. At the time we didn’t have a player that fit Texas Tech, I think it was the national title game year, so it was like ‘wow.’ It was more of honor that he came out.” Mosley said when you really know someone you have a trust in them. He has that

bond with Adams, established back when Adams was coaching JUCO basketball at Howard College in Big Spring. Mosley added when he was a Division I coach at Cal State - Bakersfield he would go visit Adams at Howard College and recruit his players. He mentioned, specifically in Allen’s recruitment, it meant a lot to get Allen in a program where the coach knew about the JUCO level and how to handle a player coming from a smaller level looking to be at a Power Five program. Allen, however, was a bit of a surprise land for Texas Tech because he was previously committed to USC, right in Southern California. “There was an uncertainty with USC because they didn’t sign (KJ) in the fall,” Mosley said. “He had committed early fall a month prior to signing. They wanted to make sure academics were in line and there was too much out there while we wanted to make sure KJ wouldn’t be abandoned when it was all said and done. Come close to signing day and it didn’t feel like 100 percent commitment from USC but felt like 1,000 percent commitment when I was speaking to Texas Tech and Coach Adams.” Allen’s potential is through the roof, Mosley said. He added Allen brings that ‘it’ factor onto the court. But Mosley did say he, Adams and Allen all discussed the patience all three must have in making a splash. He clarified that by saying Allen might not blow up the scoreboard immediately or come out of the gates running fast. The plan for Allen is to work for that success over time and build his game.

T For comparison, Mosley said Allen can mold himself into a Larry Johnson-type of player. Johnson was the first overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets and went on to play from as a power forward.

“First off, KJ is – I won’t keep it a secret. I’ve had some talented young men play for me – KJ is the best I’ve ever had play for me,” Mosley said. “The reason why is not only the talent level but his work ethic and then I’m not fighting against the other demons, you know, the other drama. He is kind of a mini version of a Larry Johnson. That’s how I see him developing him. But the power, explosiveness and quickness, you can kind of see a little bit of a poor-version of Zion Williamson.” Allen will be joining six other newcomers

on the Red Raider roster. Two of those transfers, Sardaar Calhoun and Daniel Batcho, from Florida State and Arizona, respectively, bring in Power Five experiences of their own. Meanwhile, Allen was thriving for that honor despite missing a whole season of basketball due to COVID-19. Mosley said Allen will need to adjust in Lubbock but sees him pulling on the chain to be the best he can be for the Red Raiders while competing against some of the best players college basketball has to offer. “He wants to play on the biggest stage,” Mosley added. “He wants to play the best play-

ers. The way I got him to respond the best is telling him this player is this guy and you announce all the accolades of the player he’s playing against and then he’s going to go out

for his head. Another beast comes out. I think he’s going to be great playing in the (Big 12)

because he’s playing the best every night. When his best is needed – that’s when he’s at his best.” It’s worth mentioning Mosley has over 20 years of experience in college coaching at all levels. He’s flipped the ELAC program into a consistent powerhouse in California. Throughout his coaching career, though, he can only think of one player that can get to the big league. “I’ve had NBA-talented players but the person who I think can make it and get to the NBA is KJ. I think he can get there,” Mosley said. “Sweet family – sweet all the way around. I’m excited for him.” RedRaiderSports.com

RED RAIDER

NOTEBOOK by RC MAXFIELD

McPhearson and Anderson selected in NFL Draft Defensive back Zech McPhearson was drafted in the fourth round with the 123rd overall pick by the Philadelphia Eagles. In his breakout season at Texas Tech, McPhearson had four interceptions, six passes defended and two fumble recoveries with one resulting in a touchdown. Offensive guard Jack Anderson was drafted in the seventh round with the 236th overall pick by the Buffalo Bills. In his first season back from shoulder surgery, Anderson was a cornerstone of the 2020 Texas Tech offensive line. Both have signed their rookie deals with their respective clubs and will look to make an immediate impact in 2021.

JACK ANDERSON

ZECH MCPHEARSON

Texas Tech Adds Talent Head coach Matt Wells and staff continue to add talent to the Texas Tech roster via the transfer portal, this time by signing Wisconsin defensive back Reggie Pearson. In his two seasons with the Badgers, Pearson totaled 65 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. He is the fourth Power Five transfer Texas Tech has added this offseason including Malik Dunlap, Marquis Waters and Rayshad Williams. Pearson has three years of eligibility remaining. Kick-Off Times Announced Texas Tech football knows what time it will play to open the season both at home and to begin the year at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Red Raiders will start the season against the Houston Cougars at 6 p.m. on Sept. 4 on ESPN. The following week on Sept. 11, Tech will have its home opener against Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. Tech will round out its non-conference schedule on Sept. 18 at Jones Stadium against the FIU Panthers with kick-off set for 6 p.m.

REGGIE PEARSON

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The Red Raider men’s basketball team will make its first ever trip to Providence College on Dec. 1. Texas Tech has only played Providence once in program history, the teams played in the Rainbow Classic back in 1977. The Friars won the lone match, 53-52. Texas Tech did not participate in the Big 12/Big East Battle in 2020 due to St. Johns not making the trip to Lubbock due to COVID-19 concerns.

The two most prominent players involved in the most memorable play in Texas Tech football history were both named to the 2022 National Football Foundation (NFF) Hall of Fame Ballot. Both wide receiver Michael Crabtree and quarterback Graham Harrell were named on the ballot for their outstanding play. Crabtree was the first wide receiver to win the Biletnikoff Award as a freshman and again made history as the first-ever back-to-back winner of the award. Harrell has the second-most passing yards in a single season with 5,705 and is at or near the top of most of Texas Tech’s school passing records

Coach Mark Adams (above) and staff have been busy constructing a roster for the 2021-22 season and added yet another transfer, this time in Arizona big man Daniel Batcho. The 6-foot-11 big, who is originally from France, was the highest-ranked international player in the class of 2020. Batcho redshirted at Arizona his freshman year due to injury. He will show up to campus with four years of eligibility remaining. After losing both Kyler Edwards and Mac McClung, Texas Tech needed guard help and Adams and Co. got just that in Louisiana guard transfer Mylik Wilson. As a sophomore at Louisiana, the 6-foot-3 Wilson averaged 12.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and two steals per game. In 2020, Wilson was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and, out of high school, he was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Louisiana. Wilson will show up to campus with three years of eligibility remaining. One aspect of the men’s hoops roster that needed to be addressed was the lack of shooters on the team. Adams addressed that issue with Sardaar Calhoun. Calhoun, originally a JUCO standout, joined the Florida State roster in 2020 out of the JUCO ranks. While at FSU, Calhoun played in all 25 games and averaged 5.3 points per game while shooting just under 40 percent from three (39.7%). He will have two years of eligibility remaining. RedRaiderSports.com

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