Texas Tech Basketball Notebook: Kev’s Corner and Shannon’s Draft Status

Before you groan let me get the link out. The Oklahoman’s Berry Trammel wrote about all of the players who are coming and going in the Big 12 and ranked the transfers that the Big 12 teams have pulled in. Now, when Tramel wrote this, he didn’t include Texas nabbing UMass forward Tre Mitchell, which he averaged 18 points a game for the Minutemen. So, just keep that in mind.

This has also been helpful in that keeping track of who is coming and going has been head-spinning for me personally, so this was definitely helpful. Tramel ranks Texas Tech as having the best transfer class (maybe because Texas Tech needed the most help):

Net: When players started bolting after Chris Beard’s exodus to Texas, you felt sorry for the Red Raiders. But new coach Mark Adams made a quick recovery. Williams averaged 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds last season at UTEP. Warren averaged 21.2 points a game at Hampton. Wilson averaged 12.9 points a game at ULL. Arms averaged 10.5 points a game at Winthrop. The Red Raiders will be fine.

Everyone has their opinion. There was a stink last night about Jeff Goodman thinking that Texas Tech wasn’t really all that good, maybe a top 75 team, and that Texas and Beard would be elite next year, a top 3 team. I don’t get caught up in those sorts of things and there’s not going to be any rebuttal from me because that just sort of feeds the troll. Regardless, Tramel thinks that Texas Tech got the best transfer haul, while Goodman did not. We’ll find out in the fall who is right, but letting Goodman get you riled up isn’t productive. There’s been a lot of upheaval for Texas Tech, so there’s a ton of questions and we still have to see how this is going to work out. I think Adams has a definite plan, it’s going to be interesting to see how it works.

This is the first episode of Kev’s Corner, which is fun and a bit uncomfortable at times (in a good way and I get uncomfortable really easily, so pay no attention to me) where Kevin McCullar hosts Sadaar Calhoun and Mylik Wilson where he askes them a handful of questions to get to know his new teammates.

The NBA announced the list of players who will attend the Microsoft Surface NBA Draft Combine, which includes Terrence Shannon, Jr. That’s good news for Shannon, who is chasing those NBA dreams. I’ve had a hard time pinning Shannon’s draft spot down. This USA Today big board has Shannon as the 66th best player, while this Bleacher|Report positional ranking has Shannon as the 4th best traditional small forward:

Shannon’s explosiveness and quickness for a 6’6″ wing always pop first. It may be difficult to use him at a guard spot, given his limited playmaking and creation skills. But if he can become just an average three-point shooter, he should have enough to offer a rotation with his scoring and perimeter defense.

But this NBA Draft.net site doesn’t have him listed as one of the top 60 players in this mock draft. I sort of thought that Shannon would be a second round pick because his outside shot needs development in a pretty bad way. Truthfully, he wasn’t terrible, 36%, better than McCullar and better shooting percentage than McClung, who shot 34%. All of the other traits are there and if he can knock down an outside shot, or show that he can, he has as good a chance as anyone to get drafted.

Matt Brune, who writes for 24/7 Sports, spent 15 minutes breaking down film of Bryson Williams playing Kansas last year. This is a great way for you to spend your time.

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