Texas Tech and second-year head coach Grant McCasland are ready to take a leap in 2024-25 and have prepared for this with a plethora of high impact additions via the transfer portal.
The latest commitment is likely the biggest of the McCasland era, coming from New Mexico transfer forward Jadyn (JT) Toppin.
Let’s dive into several potential starting lineups for year two in the Grant McCasland project.
Roster
Returners
Newcomers
This lineup would let the Red Raiders full display their influx of size that is coming in to the program.
The addition of Toppin is one that brings with it some positional flex, as he can slot in as either the four or five. In this scenario, Toppin slides into the four spot, with the 6-foot-11 Federiko holding it down in the middle.
General size on a basketball team is much more than who is down low, and that can be taken into account with 6-foot-5 Overton and 6-foot-6 Williams on the wings.
This second option presented sees Federiko take a rotational role with Toppin taking his place at the five.
This lineup is reminiscent of the starting five that was present for a vast majority of the season a year ago, with Kerwin Walton earning a starting nod and Darrion Williams running the flexible four spot.
Grouping the starters in this fashion allows for Federiko to be depth option with Walton adding some more long range capabilities next to Overton.
This grouping is not much different to that of the one above, though the added athleticism is worth noting with McMillian slotted.
The 6-foot-3 super-senior guard surprised many last season as being more than just a long range deadeye, becoming a reliable rebounder and ball handler.
This lineup sees Walton take on a more rotational role in his third season as a Red Raider.
Him and McMillian were essentially interchangeable last season, and McMillian often played more minutes than Walton despite coming off the bench.
This configuration sees more returners than newcomers and it will ultimately boil down to how big of a step up are McMillian and Walton going to take in their fifth seasons of college basketball.
In essence, this lineup is a solid blend of athleticism, experience and offensive versatility.
It is well known how effective McMillian and Walton are as spot-up shooters, with opportunities surely to be plentiful with Hawkins running the offense.
The much younger Overton would take a rotational role, likely the sixth man and be given more room to develop in this case.
One more thing to consider...
It was not lost on me when creating these lineups that Devan Cambridge is expected to return at some point next season. How early he does come back is still a mystery, as well as how effective will he truly be when he does.
If Cambridge were to make a good recovery, here’s a lineup I could see being rolled out:
This, of course, assumes Cambridge comes back at a Big 12-starting caliber. It it still very early to call these sort of things, but for now, let the imagination run wild.
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