Texas Tech’s Men’s Basketball made their second run in the NCAA Tournament this year.
Since the hiring of current Head Coach Chris Beard in April 2016 fans have witnessed the basketball team’s transformation.
RC Maxfield, a senior Public Relations major who covers and follows Texas Tech sports, spoke about the team’s growth.
“It is a completely different program from when I first started going to school here,” Maxfield said.
He recalled going to games in the United Supermarkets Arena as a freshman where about 4,000 fans would showed up; 500 of those he estimated to be students.
“To put that in perspective, these past two seasons we have sold out the 15,000-seat stadium during the regular season,” Maxfield said.
According to the World Population Review, Lubbock, Texas has a population of 252,506 people, meaning comparable athletic programs can have a geographical advantage.
According to the same statistics, Fort Worth – home of Texas Christian University – has a population of 874,168 people and is in a more convenient location for those fans who can commute.
When asked if the “off-the-beaten-path” location of Lubbock is a struggle for the program, Texas Tech Coach Chris Beard said the opposite.
“In terms of Lubbock, it’s a huge advantage,” Beard said. “For anyone who has been to Tech, they know we have some of the best fans in college basketball.”
Beard said Texas Tech has a great history and credits his predecessor, Tubby Smith, as well as other parts of the athletic program.
“We’ve always had great fans and the tradition of Texas Tech Basketball,” Beard said. “We’re not rebuilding it, just awakening it again.”
Beard is not the only part of the team trying to get the program to the next level.
Senior Guard Matt Mooney spoke on the methodology the coaches used this season.
“I’d say that’s probably why I chose Texas Tech,” Mooney said, “because I saw something in Coach Beard. He’s already established the culture here of winning.”
Senior Forward Tariq Owens described the methodology as “the process,” which is a term used by a lot of the team and program staff.
“That’s just the culture of the team,” Owens said, “everybody enjoys the work, nobody gets tired of it.”
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