Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams and staff added an athletic wing over the weekend when Winthrop transfer Adonis Arms committed to play his "super senior" season for the Red Raiders.
Arms decided to enter the portal on March 25th, and has been in contact with Adams and lead assists Barret Peery since.
"I've been in contact with both of them really. Coach Peery, he was recruiting me from Portland State when he was the head coach there. When he got the associate head coaching job at Texas Tech and I was in the portal, he called my phone immediately. So I've been talking to him for a little bit.
Coach Adams, I started talking to him more recently. He's a guy that just made my family and myself feel comfortable. He told us what we needed to hear and not just what I wanted to hear, so I really appreciated him for that."
Prior to his commitment, Arms got to take a virtual visit of The Womble and see campus. Tech's new facilities certainly didn't hurt their chances in landing the 6-foot-6, 205 pound playmaker.
"Everything is super nice, man. The thing that stood out to me was coach Peery was showing me this new screen that got put in to the practice gym. We're gonna use that for different things throughout the season but that screen was something I've never seen before. It was huge.
Another thing was the workout facility, the training rooms, how to recover. Everything was just high class."
Arms chose Texas Tech over Oklahoma State, Butler, Iowa State, BYU and DePaul among others, and says it was the opportunity in Lubbock he could not pass up.
"I just felt the most comfortable with Texas Tech. Like I told the coaches, my decision was going to be based off of trust, opportunity and exposure. Trust was something I was going to have to blindly believe in and go with my gut. Exposure, the Big 12 is such a big conference, it's one of the best conferences in the United States. So that checks that box off.
Opportunity, coach Adams being the head coach, the whole program really runs through him. So him telling me that I'll be okay, I don't have to worry about anything, just get in here and work hard and let the rest handle itself. Me hearing that multiple times since I entered the portal was something that separated Texas Tech from the other schools."
Arms comes over after averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game at Winthrop in just over 17 minutes per game. That scoring average was second on the team despite him playing just the sixth most minutes. When Arms was in the game, he was putting the ball up.
Despite what the numbers tell you though, Arms says that isn't actually his game. He likes scoring, but he's also comfortable as an all around player and distributor, too.
"Honestly, no. I like playing the majority of the game, I like scoring, I like giving assists. I'm real versatile so I can do a lot.
That role at Winthrop, that was just different because of the rotation that coach Kelsey had for his system. I mean it worked, it was successful, we went 23-2 and made it to March Madness. So it was successful, we won the Big South Tournament, back-to-back champions. So it was successful but my game has never been like that before, just in and out, quick two-to-three minute intervals. I'm not really used to that, I just had to adapt to that."
Arms says he's expected to arrive in Lubbock sometime next month, and has already talked to a few of his future teammates.
"I will be arriving towards the end of May. Yeah, a couple of the guys actually reached out and some former Texas Tech alumni. I've been in communication with a lot of people, everyone seems nice so far so I just can't wait to get there."
Arms has one season of eligibility left and will try to make the most of it playing in front of Red Raider Nation.
"Red Raider Nation, coming from me I love playing Fortnite, I love crab legs and I just love smiling. I'm gonna give it my best that I got every day, have fun and win some games. Wreck Em!"
