The Morning Stake | 2018.05.30

Leading Off

The men’s golf team magical season ended yesterday in the quarterfinals match play of the NCAA Championships, losing to Alabama, 3-2 (TexasTech). Texas Tech went down 0-2, battled back to tie, but eventually fell, 3-2 to Alabama, who will play Oklahoma State in the finals of match play today.

Since you sort of have to think about next year, well, four of the five players who teed off will be back next year.

This experience could bear fruit for Tech, who are set to retain four of the five players who hit the course today next season, including the freshman Hogan and the sophomore Scott, who could have multiple shots at this level again as Red Raiders.

“I feel really good about this group of guys,” Sands said. “It always helps when you can advance this far and raise expectations. These guys know what it takes to advance now and that means a lot, because when you look at the eight who made it, most of them have been here quite a few times.”

Trey Culver was the first Red Raider to be named to teh Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team, where you must have a 3.30 cumulative GPA and participate in fifty percent of the team’s events (TexasTech).

Lady Raider Basketball

Lady Raider head coach Marlene Stollings had signed four JUCO players and now she’s landed her first transfer, guard Andrayah Adams (5-10), who played her first two years at St. John’s where she averaged 9.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, while shooting 42% from the field and 41% from the three-point line (TexasTech):

“I am thrilled to welcome Andrayah Adams to the Lady Raider program,” Stollings said. “She brings a high basketball IQ, a tireless work ethic, the ability to score in a multitude of ways and strong leadership skills. Andrayah is very goal driven an aspires to help this program return to the national spotlight. Andrayah’s prowess also extends to the classroom where she is a dedicated student. Lady Raider fans will enjoy watching her perform in our high-octane system.”

Texas Tech Basketball

A recent SB Nation 2018 NBA mock draft has Zhaire Smith dropping to #17 to the Milwaukee Bucks, one spot before the Spurs pick at #18:

Smith might be the most athletic player in the draft. He only measured at 6’4 at the combine, but he’s a two-way force who could just be scratching the surface of his talent level. Smith was barely a top 300 recruit out of high school and immediately turned into one of the most valuable players in college hoops as a freshman for a Texas Tech team that reached the Elite Eight. He could be a high-upside steal at this point for the Bucks.

Texas Tech Football

Express-News’ Carter Karels writes about Texas Tech’s pivotal year with Kingsbury as the head coach:

Kingsbury credited their progression to the stability of his defensive coordinator, David Gibbs.

“For the longest time, Texas Tech was year in and year out having new defensive coordinator — unable to build a culture and recruit to schemes like we have been with coach Gibbs,” said Kingsbury of Gibbs, who enters his fourth season at Tech.

According to SBNation’s Bill Connelly, the Red Raiders return 96 percent of their defensive production. Only one other team brings back a higher percentage. Tech also returns 19 of its top 20 tacklers.

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