The 2021-22 basketball season officially came to an end on Thursday night, as the Red Raiders dropped their Sweet Sixteen matchup, 78-73, to the Duke Blue Devils. While the outcome was disappointing, this Texas Tech team exceeded all expectations set out for them this year, and they gave us one hell of a ride in the process.

It feels like ages ago when the Red Raiders took the court against North Florida on opening night and when you look back at this season, there are so many great memories and moments that stand out. The way Mark Adams and his staff took a group of guys that had never played the game together and molded them into one of the best teams in the country, is nothing short of amazing.

One beautiful thing about this sport, and you see it in every sport, but it’s especially prevalent in the game of basketball. This game is littered with great players at every level. There are guys all over the lower levels of college basketball that would thrive if given the right opportunity or found themselves in the right situation and environment for them.

There are countless stories of guys who have gone on to reach great heights in this sport that struggled to find their footing early-on in their careers. Jimmy Butler, a five-time NBA All Star, spent a year at Tyler Junior College after not receiving a single division one offer.

Jae Crowder’s only college offer was from Division-2 West Georgia University, and that offer was to play quarterback for their football team. He opted to play basketball for a non-accredited tech school before landing with Mark Adams at Howard College. Crowder is now in year 13 of his NBA career.

This Texas Tech basketball team was made up of the same type of guys. Players who had repeatedly fallen through the cracks and gone largely unnoticed over much of their careers. What made this team different was their ability to come together, and they sacrificed individual accolades for the betterment of the whole.

Bryson Williams was a three-star recruit out of Roosevelt High School in Fresno, CA. He decided to stay home and played two years at Fresno State before transferring to UTEP. Williams spent two seasons in El Paso and averaged 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last year before opting to leave for Texas Tech

Adonis Arms appeared in only 17 games as a senior and had no college offers out of high school. He was discovered in an open gym session and made his collegiate debut at Mesa Community College before transferring to Northwest Nazarene. Arms would transfer to Winthrop and averaged 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds last season but ultimately decided to transfer again to become a Red Raider.

Kevin Obanor was an unranked Rivals prospect coming out of high school but would become a star player at Oral Roberts University. He averaged 18.7 points and 9.6 rebounds for an ORU team that made the Sweet 16 a season ago but decided to transfer to Texas Tech for his senior year.

Davion Warren wasn’t a highly recruited prospect out of high school either and spent two seasons at Olney Central Community College in Illinois. He would transfer to Hampton University and averaged 21.2 points and 6.3 boards last year but opted to join the Red Raiders for his super-senior season.

Perhaps no player on this team sacrificed more and dealt with the adversity that Marcos Santos-Silva faced this year. He started for Texas Tech in 2020-21 and averaged 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds but bought in and accepted a smaller role in coming off the bench this season. Getting up and battling day in and day out, while also dealing with the loss of his father; Santos-Silva is a warrior who will forever have a special place in the heart of the Tech fanbase.

These Red Raider basketball journeymen were all successful in their previous stops, and they all sacrificed the numbers and statistics this season for the benefit of the team. This was a collective group of likeminded individuals who fought and grinded over the course of their careers to get to this point.

Through sacrifice, hard work and countless effort, this team ultimately found themselves in a position to shine. Despite everything these guys have been through in their careers, not one player on this team attempted to better themselves by playing for the name on the back of the jersey.

This was a tight knit group that bought in as a unit and came together for the single purpose of playing team basketball and winning games, and they were successful in doing so. It’s clear to anyone who watched this team, that they only played for the name on the front of the jersey. That was the main key to their success this year, and they'll all leave Texas Tech as better basketball players because of it.

In the end, it’s ok to be sad that the season is over because of the quality individuals this team will be losing. But ultimately, when we look back at the 2021-22 season, Red Raider Nation will always be proud that it happened, and this was a special team that Texas Tech University will never forget.