Texas Tech basketball: Former Red Raiders having big starts to 2023-24 season

Now that the college football regular season is ended, many fans nationwide will be more interested in NCAA basketball. That is undoubtedly the case when Big 12 schools take on Big East programs in the match between the two conferences (with one game left, the Big 12 leads 6-3).

Furthermore, the Texas Tech basketball team only has six games left before they play their first Big 12 match on January 6 at Texas. But some fans are beginning to notice that a number of former Red Raiders are playing quite well for other clubs in the nation.

Two freshmen from Texas Tech’s 2019 class have excelled.
The careers of Illinois wing Terrence Shannon Jr. and Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. may be the two hardest pills for Texas Tech supporters to chew. During their many seasons in Lubbock as freshmen at Tech in 2019–20, both guys displayed glimpses of their potential as outstanding athletes. All have, though, stepped up their game for their next initiatives in 2023–2024.

For the No. 2 Jayhawks, McCullar has started all eight games. He is enjoying the kind of season that some in Lubbock weren’t convinced he could have. Although McCullar was always a fantastic defender, he was only a mediocre offensive player at Tech who lacked scoring punch and was a terrible

However, he’s scoring 18.5 points, pulling down 7 rebounds, and dishing out 5.1 assists a game this season. More than eight points more are scored per game on offense than he ever averaged at Tech.

Above all, McCullar has developed into a respectable three-point shooter. With a career-best shooting percentage of 35.5% from outside the arc, he is making 1.4 long-range baskets per game. His career high three-point percentage at Tech was 31.1%, and he never finished a game with an average of more than 1.0 makes. He has already scored 20 points or more in four games this year, including 24 against Marquette, a team ranked in the top five, and 21 against UCONN, the reigning national champion.

Shannon is also emerging as one of the country’s best scorers. His career-high 21.6 points per game is more than seven points per game over his previous Tech average.

Despite the fact that his jump shot is still far from flawless, he has managed to make it work. In fact, he’s making 3.1 shots from beyond the arc on average per game, hitting at an amazing 45.8% percentage.

In a victory over No. 11 Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, Shannon, who has already scored 20 points four times this season, exploded for 33 points. Regarding the Owls, a former Red Raider big guy is doing well for them as well.