Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Basketball to honor 1995-96 team
January 16, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – Thirty years ago, Texas Tech went 30-2 overall, 14-0 in Southwest Conference play, swept through and won the SWC tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. On Saturday, the 1995-96 SWC Champions will be back in Lubbock where they will be honored during the first half of the Red Raiders game against BYU.
"What an unbelievable team," Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland said. "I can't believe it's been 30 years. I'm telling you, that team had no weaknesses. You felt that team. They could score, they guarded you, had rim protection and were tough. They are awesome guys who I genuinely love being around. It's fun to be on their team now and I'm looking forward to our fans cheering them on when we honor them because of everything they did for our university. They pushed us into the limelight of college basketball."
The Red Raiders were led by head coach James Dickey who was in his fifth season and featured Jason Sasser, Cory Carr, Koy Smith, Tony Battie, Darvin Ham, Jason Martin, Gionet Cooper, Brock Barnes, Deuce Jones, Da'Mon Roberts, Gracen Averil, Catrell Wafer and Stan Bonewitz. Among the players expected to be back on Saturday are Sasser, Smith, Battie, Martin, Cooper and Barnes. Dickey, who hired McCasland as director of operations in 1999, will also be back on campus along with assistant coaches Greg Pinkney, Robert Brashear, Will Flemons and James Rike. Dickey was named the 1995-96 SWC Coach of the Year. Sasser, Battie, Carr and Flemons (as a player) have each been enshrined into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame while Sasser will be inducted into the Texas Tech Basketball Ring of Honor later this season.
Tech started the 1995-96 season on a seven-game winning streak before a loss to Eastern Michigan in the Sun Bowl Classic. After the loss, the Red Raiders ran off a 23-game winning streak that remains the longest winning streak in program history. The winning streak included going 14-0 in conference play to win the regular-season championship in the final years of the SWC. Tech, which played in the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum at the time, was 13-0 on its home court during the historic season. In the conference tournament, Tech ran off wins over Texas A&M, Rice and earned a 75-73 win over Texas to win the tournament title. The Red Raiders advanced to the Sweet 16 with wins over Northern Illinois and North Carolina before advancing to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta where they would fall to Georgetown.
Sasser earned Consensus Third Team All-America honors, SWC Player of the Year and All-SWC First Team as a senior during the season while Battie, Carr, Martin and Ham each were named All-SWC Second Team. Bonewitz, a freshman on the team, secured SWC All-Newcomer Team and SWC All-Freshman Team honors while Battie, Martin and Sasser were SWC All-Defensive selections. Sasser was also a Wooden Award Finalist and earned NCAA Tournament First and Second Round All-Tournament honors. Sasser, who is the program's fourth all-time leading scorer with 2,102 points in his four seasons at Tech, led the Red Raiders with 19.5 points per game during the season. Carr, who was a sophomore in 1995-96, averaged 16.1 points per game during the season and is the sixth all-time leading scorer at Tech with 1,904 career points. Smith, who was also a senior on the team, scored 13.3 points per game during the season. Battie led Tech with 8.9 rebounds and nine double-doubles during the season and went on to be selected by the Denver Nuggets with the No. 5 pick in the NBA Draft which remains the highest selection in program history. Ham, who shattered a backboard during the NCAA Tournament win over North Carolina, provided 8.1 points and 5.1 rebounds during the season. After a professional playing career that included winning the NBA Championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, Ham has coached in the NBA including being the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and currently as the lead assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks. Martin led the team with 5.7 assists per game while Battie had 2.3 blocks per game.
No. 15 Texas Tech hosts No. 11 BYU at 7 p.m. on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena. The 1995-96 team will be honored on the court in the first half at the under-four media timeout of the game.
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