Tech hoops adds three guards in huge week for Beard's program

Regardless of the sport, recruiting often happens in waves. One prospect decides to commit out of the blue, and all of a sudden your program has a handful of new pledges.

That's exactly what happened to Texas Tech basketball this past week, as the Red Raiders got things booming in the 2017 recruiting class with commitments from two JUCO prospects in Trinity Valley guard Hyron Edwards, South Plains guard Jordan Brangers, and a high school prospect in Lubbock Coronado guard Jarrett Culver.

And while some may wonder why the Red Raiders are taking so many guards in the class, it makes total sense when you get a look at what the roster loses over the next two years, too. Tech will lose five upperclassmen currently in the guard rotation from the roster over the next two seasons, meaning there's going to be prime opportunity for newcomers, including Edwards, Brangers, and Culver, to earn their keep from day one.

But adding prospects in bulk is nothing new for Beard's staff. They brought in seven newcomers to the program over the summer, an absolutely eye-popping feat when you consider the fact that the current coaches, including the head man, have only been on campus for five months. This roster is unquestionably better as a result and could be considered one of the most talented and veteran heavy in the entire Big 12.

That's wildly impressive when you consider that many believed the Red Raiders' roster was likely in the bottom half of the conference as a whole a year ago. But again, it all starts with the way Beard and his staff recruit players, opting for honesty and persistence as opposed to some kind of manufactured sell on the recruiting trail. That theme continues with the three newest additions that will be on campus next summer.

As for on the court, each of the new commits is a great athlete that can score, a common thread for essentially every guard that Beard and his assistants have gone after in their short time at Tech so far. The motion, Euro pick and roll offense that they'll be running certainly demands that, and all three will be key cogs in the system down the road.

So, what's up next for Tech hoops recruiting? Only the biggest fish left in the pond that the Red Raiders are chasing after: Norman (Okla.) North five-star guard and Texas Tech legacy prospect Trae Young.

The superstar prospect, who recently cut his list of teams down to six that included Tech, will visit Lubbock next weekend on September 29th to get a closer look at the program himself.

Adding a player of Young's caliber to an already great class, who's a prolific scorer on the hard court, would likely make this the greatest group of guards that Texas Tech basketball has ever signed in a single class, and it would set up the possibility of some all-time basketball being played at the USA for years to come.

Exciting times for Red Raider basketball are on the horizon.