Texas Tech University Athletics
Culver Declares for 2019 NBA Draft
April 18, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech sophomore Jarrett Culver has announced that he will enter the 2019 NBA Draft.
A Lubbock native, Culver will hire an agent and start the draft process after a season where he earned consensus All-America honors, was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and helped lead the Red Raiders to the NCAA championship final following an appearance in the Elite Eight during his freshman season. Culver led Tech with 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game this season and helped the team to a 58-17 record in his two seasons.
"My thoughts on declaring is that it is a blessing to be in a position and have the opportunity that I'm in," Culver said. "I'm excited to get to work and what the future holds. I want to thank God, my family, my coaches, my teammates and Lubbock. It's been a dream to grow up in Lubbock and see the growth of Texas Tech basketball into an elite program."
Culver is the first player in program history to surpass the 1,000 point milestone as a freshman-sophomore, finishing with 1,119 points in 75 games played. He led the team with 701 points and 243 rebounds this season, including scoring a career-high 31 points in the regular-season finale at Iowa State to help lead the team to their ninth straight conference win and secure the program's first Big 12 Conference regular-season championship. Culver, who was 34-2 on his home court at Tech, scored in double figures in 37 of 38 games, went for 20 or more in 13 games and also had 30 points in a win over Abilene Christian. He led the Red Raiders with five double-doubles and had a career-high 16 rebounds in a home win over Iowa State.
"On behalf of all our players and coaches, we just want to thank you, Jarrett," said Texas Tech coach Chris Beard to Culver at the announcement on Thursday. "Basically since the first day that I recruited him until today he's done everything that he said he would do. He's kept his word the entire way. He said he was going to be a team player, told me he was going to work hard every day, told me he was going to represent our program, told me he was going to be a leader and was going to let us coach him hard. Jarrett has always been so gracious and the most unselfish, best-player type guy I've coached and it has always been about you thanking other people, but on behalf of everyone here today we want to thank you for everything that you've done for our program."
Culver's accolades this season included being named an all-America by the Associated Press, NABC, USBWA and Sporting News, was named a John R. Wooden Award and Jerry West Award finalist, earned Academic All-Big 12 and was a three-time Big 12 Player of the Week. In the postseason, Culver was named the NCAA West Region Most Outstanding Player and earned NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team honors. Â
Texas Tech has had 23 players selected in the NBA Draft, including first-round selections of Tony Battie and Zhaire Smith. The Denver Nuggets selected Battie with the fifth pick in the 1997 draft for the highest selection in Tech history, while Smith was chosen at No. 16 by the Phoenix Suns last season before a draft-day trade that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to Smith, the most recent selection was Andre Emmett who was the sixth pick of the second round in the 2004 draft.
The 2019 NBA Draft is on June 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
A Lubbock native, Culver will hire an agent and start the draft process after a season where he earned consensus All-America honors, was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and helped lead the Red Raiders to the NCAA championship final following an appearance in the Elite Eight during his freshman season. Culver led Tech with 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game this season and helped the team to a 58-17 record in his two seasons.
"My thoughts on declaring is that it is a blessing to be in a position and have the opportunity that I'm in," Culver said. "I'm excited to get to work and what the future holds. I want to thank God, my family, my coaches, my teammates and Lubbock. It's been a dream to grow up in Lubbock and see the growth of Texas Tech basketball into an elite program."
Culver is the first player in program history to surpass the 1,000 point milestone as a freshman-sophomore, finishing with 1,119 points in 75 games played. He led the team with 701 points and 243 rebounds this season, including scoring a career-high 31 points in the regular-season finale at Iowa State to help lead the team to their ninth straight conference win and secure the program's first Big 12 Conference regular-season championship. Culver, who was 34-2 on his home court at Tech, scored in double figures in 37 of 38 games, went for 20 or more in 13 games and also had 30 points in a win over Abilene Christian. He led the Red Raiders with five double-doubles and had a career-high 16 rebounds in a home win over Iowa State.
"On behalf of all our players and coaches, we just want to thank you, Jarrett," said Texas Tech coach Chris Beard to Culver at the announcement on Thursday. "Basically since the first day that I recruited him until today he's done everything that he said he would do. He's kept his word the entire way. He said he was going to be a team player, told me he was going to work hard every day, told me he was going to represent our program, told me he was going to be a leader and was going to let us coach him hard. Jarrett has always been so gracious and the most unselfish, best-player type guy I've coached and it has always been about you thanking other people, but on behalf of everyone here today we want to thank you for everything that you've done for our program."
Culver's accolades this season included being named an all-America by the Associated Press, NABC, USBWA and Sporting News, was named a John R. Wooden Award and Jerry West Award finalist, earned Academic All-Big 12 and was a three-time Big 12 Player of the Week. In the postseason, Culver was named the NCAA West Region Most Outstanding Player and earned NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team honors. Â
Texas Tech has had 23 players selected in the NBA Draft, including first-round selections of Tony Battie and Zhaire Smith. The Denver Nuggets selected Battie with the fifth pick in the 1997 draft for the highest selection in Tech history, while Smith was chosen at No. 16 by the Phoenix Suns last season before a draft-day trade that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to Smith, the most recent selection was Andre Emmett who was the sixth pick of the second round in the 2004 draft.
The 2019 NBA Draft is on June 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
I want to thank God and my family for the talent to play this game and always supporting me.
— jarrett culver (@jarrettc08) April 18, 2019
Thank you Texas Tech, my coaches & teammates, and Lubbock. We did things people thought weren't possible because of you. ????
It's time to take the next step, always a Red Raider??#4To1 pic.twitter.com/OrH5M64qkQ
ÂStayed home, made history.
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) April 18, 2019
Now, he's moving on to the pinnacle of the sport.
Thank you for everything, @jarrettc08. Forever a Red Raider, forever a part of Lubbock, Texas.
??#4To1 | #WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/L3PnKophwU
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