Sophomore guard Jarrett Culver was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, one accolade on the long list of honors and awards that Culver has collected through his two years at Texas Tech.
Culver has been named to the 2018 All-Big 12 Academic Rookie Team, All-Big 12 honorable mention, Jerry West Award Watch List, Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List, Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List, John Wooden Award Midseason Watch List, Sporting News Midseason All-America second team, Sporting News All-America second team, Academic All-Big 12, Jerry West Award finalist and the John R. Wooden Award National Ballot. Add that on to the list of Big 12 weekly awards he has also received.
For Culver, he said all the credit goes to his teammates as he talked about the Player of the Year award in a press conference Monday morning, but he said he also has seen himself grow as well.
“I’ve grown a lot with the help of my coaches and my teammates over the summer and last season,” Culver said. “We got to work, and we focused, we set our goals and we’re just trying to reach every goal, so our coaches, we got in the film room, GA’s, we got to work, so it all came out to that.”
However, Culver is not the only one who has seen himself grow. His coach Chris Beard has seen it, too. After all, Beard was the one to recruit Culver from Coronado High School in Lubbock. As a freshman, Culver played mainly secondary to much of the older and more experienced players on the 2017-18 roster but this past season, he grew into one of the key leaders on the team.
“(He’s grown) in every facet. That’s what guys have to do to go to the next level,” Beard said. “Physically, his body’s improved; mentally, he’s continued to improve on IQ and film study; basketball, he’s made big adjustments to his game; so, this is the key. You’ve got to continue to improve and Culver’s done that.”
Just recently, Culver scored a career-high 31 points against Iowa State, which helped lead the Red Raiders to a Big 12 regular season Championship share with Kansas State. However, through the entire season, Culver has only had one game where he was held under double digits in scoring, which was against Kansas State on Jan. 5, with nine points. Culver often scored from the 10-20 range, but he shot an unprecedented 12-19 from the field, 4-8 on three-pointers and 3-3 on free throws to total 31 points.
His brother, the decorated track and field star and volunteer assistant coach to Tech’s track and field team, Trey Culver, said Jarrett Culver is a competitor and will do whatever it takes to win.
“You just never know what to expect from him,” Trey Culver said. “He’s a winner, so when he goes out there – he’s going to win and if he has 31, and if he has two points, he’s just trying to win.”
Wayland Baptist junior J.J. Culver has also been making a name for himself in the basketball world, scoring 17.8 points per game with a 52.6 field goal percentage, 38.5 three-point percentage and 78.3 free throw percentage. He also averages about 6.7 rebounds per game. Alongside Trey Culver, J.J. Culver was there for his brother Jarrett to welcome the Red Raiders home after they defeated Iowa State and were crowned Big 12 co-champions.
J.J. Culver offered a few words to his brother after the celebration inside the United Supermarkets Arena.
“I just want to say, I just want Jarrett to keep having fun and keep playing hard,” J.J. Culver said.
In the most recent CBS NBA Mock Draft, Jarrett Culver is projected to go No. 8 to the Charlotte Hornets. According to NBC, he is going to the Washington Wizards at No. 7, and according to Bleacher Report, he is going to the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 6. Regardless, it seems Jarrett Culver is projected a top-10 pick.
For right now, the Red Raiders look towards the Big 12 tournament as they will either face West Virginia or Oklahoma at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
