Red Raiders Hold First Day of Practice

September 25, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Coach Beard Press Conference Senior Class Press Conference

LUBBOCK, Texas – Fourteen players and their coaches came together on the United Supermarkets Arena court on Tuesday for the first official day of Texas Tech men's basketball practice ready to work and knowing that they only had 42 days before opening the season.

"It's an exciting time of the year for basketball as we get started today," said Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard, who was named the 2018 Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year and is entering his third year leading the program. "Our expectations are pretty simple around here. We want to win every game on the schedule. There's a way to do that. Sometimes it's difficult when you're a big underdog, but it can still be done. Some days everyone thinks you should win, but it's still a responsibility to get it done. What we are trying to do this time of year is get better every day and then move towards competition which is coming soon. We are a team that believes we should continue being a part of the fight."

Texas Tech is coming off a season where the program advanced to its first NCAA Elite Eight with NCAA tournament victories over Stephen F. Austin, No. 23 Florida and No. 11 Purdue before falling to No. 2 Villanova which went on to win the NCAA National Championship. The Red Raiders started the season with a 14-1 record and would finish at 27-10 for the second most victories in program history, only behind a James Dickey led team that went 30-2 in 1995-96. The Red Raiders finished last season ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll after appearing in 11 straight polls to finish the season.

Texas Tech is led by a senior class of Brandone Francis and Norense Odiase who are returners and Tariq Owens and Matt Mooney who have transferred in for their final year of college basketball. Odiase is coming off a redshirt junior season where he averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while Francis went for 5.1 points and added 30 assists during his first season with the Red Raiders. Mooney transfers in from South Dakota where he was a two-time All-Summit League First-Team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 12 First-Team selection. A graduate student, Mooney played his freshman season at Air Force before transferring to South Dakota where he scored 1,271 points in 62 games with the program. Owens also arrives in Lubbock as a senior after starting his career at Tennessee and St. John's. A Maryland native, Owens played the last two seasons at St. John's where he blocked 193 shots which ranks fifth in program history.

"I've said it many times, but it's not a cliché," Beard said. "To me, one of the most important parts of college basketball is the seniors. They are guys who have fought through it for four years to get to that senior year. They each have special things that they want to accomplish as a team and as individuals. I take my job to coach these guys very serious and there's no four guys I'd rather coach than these guys. Norense and Brandone were huge parts to our success last season and then Matt and Tariq are trusting their senior seasons with our program, our coaches and our players means everything to me. We are looking forward to a great season led by these guys in a lot of ways."

Jarrett Culver is the team's leading returner in scoring after averaging 11.2 points per game in his freshman season. A Lubbock native who starred at Coronado High School, Culver scored 415 points in his first season which is the second most in program history for a freshman and also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds at No. 20 West Virginia and would finish the season with 20 double-figure scoring performances. Davide Moretti also returns after playing in 37 games as a freshman where he knocked down 26 3-pointers and contributed 42 assists, while junior Andrew Sorrells and sophomores Malik Ondigo, Parker Hicks, Avery Benson return for their second season with the program. Deshawn Corprew joins the team after averaging 12.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists to help lead South Plains College to a national championship before transferring to Texas Tech.

A talented freshman class of Kyler Edwards, Khavon Moore and Josh Mballa has the program excited about the future and their ability to contribute this season. An Arlington native, Edwards was a four-star prospect after averaging 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game as a senior at Findlay Prep in Nevada and 22.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a junior at Arlington Bowie High School. Moore is a four-star recruit who was ranked No. 39 nationally by ESPN and No. 44 by Rivals.com. A Macon, Georgia native, he scored over 2,000 points in his career at Westside HS before signing with the Red Raiders in April. Mballa played at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut after growing up in France where he played for gained international experience playing in the FIBA U17 World Championships and the FIBA U18 European Championships in 2017. Mballa, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, signed with the Red Raiders in July.

Texas Tech opens its season at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 6 against Incarnate Word before also hosting Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 9) and Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 13) at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are scheduled to play an exciting non-conference schedule that includes two games at the Hall of Fame Classic at the Sprint Center against Southern Cal and either Missouri State or Nebraska on Nov. 19-20 in Kansas City along with playing Memphis on Dec. 1 in Miami and Duke on Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Big 12 double round-robin schedule begins for the Red Raiders on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at West Virginia before returning to Lubbock to host Kansas State on Jan. 5, 2019 in their first conference home game of the year and then Oklahoma on Jan. 8.

Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2018-19 season are available now at texastech.com or by calling (806) 742-TECH. For all news and updates on Texas Tech Men's Basketball, follow the program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The four Texas Tech seniors have their own stories on how they got here, but are ready to come together to lead the team this season. Watch to hear from Brandone Francis, Norense Odiase, Tariq Owens and Matt Mooney. #4To1 pic.twitter.com/G5RznwdNZT
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) September 25, 2018