The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team represents

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Texas Tech competes in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and has been a charter member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

since its first season in 1996. The team previously competed in the

Border Conference The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 school year. Centered in the southwestern Unite ...

and

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

. The team was founded in 1925, having since won 13 regular season conference championship, and made 21 appearances in the NCAA tournament as of the 2024–2025 season. Since 1999, the Red Raiders have played their home games at the United Supermarkets Arena on the university's campus in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

History

1925–1935

Texas Tech's basketball program was founded the same year the school opened its doors in 1925. The inaugural game was a 37–25 loss to Daniel Baker College. Tech would lose two more games before finally clinching their first ever victory—35–21 at Sul Ross University. Grady Higginbotham was the first coach, earning a 14–18 record over two seasons. Until Pat Knight, Higgenbotham was the only Tech basketball coach to garner an overall losing record (.438) during his stay. Following Higgenbotham's departure, Victor Payne led the Matadors (as the school's teams were known until 1936) from

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

. His final tally stood at 32 wins and 20 losses. W. L. Golightly coached only one season, bringing in an 11–9 record. Dell Morgan held the head coaching job from

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, chalking up 42 wins to 29 losses. He was followed by Virgil Ballard. Though Ballard coached only a single season, it was during his time that the team won their milestone 100th game, a one-point victory over House of David. Ballard left with a 15–9 record.

1935–1971

Berl Huffman was twice the head basketball coach at Texas Tech—first from

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

and then from

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. During his total of eight seasons, he garnered a record of 121–67. Polk Robison was the only other person to serve two different times as the head basketball coach at the school. When Huffman left in 1942, Robison took the job. And, when Huffman left a second time in 1947, it was Robison who again filled the position, this time remaining until

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

. At a total of 18 seasons, his stay is the second longest of any Red Raiders basketball coach, behind Gerald Myers. He departed after leading his teams to 254 wins, 195 losses, and the first two NCAA tournaments in school history. Gene Gibson followed Robison into the position. In his eight seasons, he chalked up the second best conference record in Texas Tech history and led the Raiders to a Southwest Conference Championship in 1962.

Bob Bass Robert Eugene Bass (January 28, 1929 – August 17, 2018) was an American basketball coach and executive who worked in college basketball, the American Basketball Association (ABA), and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Bass ...

led the program to a 22–15 record over a season-and-a-half before returning to professional basketball coaching duties.

1971–2001

Gerald Myers became coach of the Red Raiders mid-year during the 1970/71 season and stayed until 1991. His stay was the longest of any head basketball coach at Tech, and several milestones were passed during his tenure, including wins #600 (

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

), #700 ( SMU), #800 (at SMU), and #900 (

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

). With a Texas Tech career record of 326–261, Myers has more wins with the Red Raiders than any other men's basketball coach in school history. Myers led Tech to 16 winning seasons, two

championships, three SWC tournament titles, and four NCAA tournament berths. Myers served as the school's athletic director from 1996 to 2011.

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet, novelist, critic, and lecturer. He was appointed the 18th United States Poet Laureate in 1966. His other accolades included the National Book Award for Poetry a ...

replaced Myers as head coach prior to the 1991/92 season and would remain at Texas Tech until his dismissal at the end of the 2000/01 season. During his 10 seasons at Texas Tech, Dickey amassed a 166–124 win–loss record (164–123 with vacated games omitted). The program also won its 1,000th game under Dickey—a 71–62 victory at UALR. Dickey took over a Texas Tech program that had finished with a 13–45 combined record over Myers' final two years and led his first team to a winning season and fifth-place finish in

play, after having been picked to finish last in the conference. In his second year as head coach, the Red Raiders won the Southwest Conference tournament championship, the school's fourth, to secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Texas Tech finished the 1994/95 season with a 20–10 record, sharing the SWC regular season championship with

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and earning a berth in the

1995 National Invitation Tournament The 1995 National Invitation Tournament was the 1995 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. The 1995 tournament was notable for the roster size of eventual champion Virginia Tech - injuries prior to and during the tournament ...

. In the SWC's final season, Dickey's 1995–96 Red Raiders produced one of the most successful seasons in school history and one of the more memorable seasons in the history of the conference, finishing 30–2 overall and undefeated in conference play, winning both the SWC regular season championship and the conference tournament title, advancing to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the NCAA Tournament, and finishing #8 in the AP poll and #10 in the

Coaches' Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. ...

. The Raiders moved to the Big 12 for the 1996/97 season, and appeared to pick up right where they left off with a solid 19–9 season. For all intents and purposes, however, Dickey's tenure ended on the first day of the inaugural Big 12 basketball tournament. During the Raiders' first-round game, it was discovered that two players had played the entire season while academically ineligible. Hours after that game, Texas Tech announced that it was withdrawing from postseason consideration and forfeiting its entire conference schedule. The Raiders had lost that game, and would have had to forfeit it if they had won. A subsequent investigation revealed massive violations dating back to 1990 in men's basketball and nine other sports. As a result, the NCAA stripped Tech of its two NCAA tournament wins in 1996 and docked it nine scholarships over four years. Dickey was unable to recover from the lost scholarships, and his Red Raiders finished with four consecutive losing seasons, during which they only won a total of 18 games in Big 12 play. He was fired after his 2000/01 team produced a 9–19 overall record.

Bob Knight era: 2001–2008

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

served as the Texas Tech men's basketball head coach from

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

–

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Hired in March 2001 to replace James Dickey as head coach,

quickly improved the program, which had not received a bid to the NCAA tournament nor achieved a winning record since 1996. Knight led the Red Raiders to three NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT appearance in his first four years at Texas Tech, including an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen in 2005. Texas Tech finished the 2005/06 season with a 15–17 overall record, marking the only time that Knight finished a complete season at Tech with a losing record and fewer than 21 wins. During the 2005–06 season, the ESPN reality TV show centering on Knight and the Red Raiders, '' Knight School'', was filmed. The Red Raiders recovered in 2006/07, finishing 21–13 and again earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they would lose to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in the first round. In both 2006 and 2007, Knight's Texas Tech teams defeated two top 10-ranked teams in consecutive weeks. During Knight's first six years at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders won 126 games, an average of 21 wins per season. On New Year's Day

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Texas Tech recorded a 70–68 defeat of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

to give Knight his 880th career victory, making him the highest winning coach in men's college basketball history. On January 16, 2008, Knight registered his 900th career victory when the Red Raiders upset the ninth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 68–53. Knight won two more games as head coach—against

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

—prior to announcing his retirement on February 4, 2008, after having led his 2007–08 team to a 12–8 mid-season record. His son Pat Knight, the head coach designate since 2005, was immediately named as his successor. The younger Knight stated that, after many years of coaching, his father was exhausted and ready to retire. Bob Knight finished with an overall win–loss record of 138–82 at Texas Tech.

Pat Knight era: 2008–2011

After assuming the head coaching role midseason, Pat Knight's initial two games were defeats on the road. The first was an 80–74 loss to Baylor on February 6, 2008. The second came three days later at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Knight's first head coaching win came at home when the Red Raiders upset #18 Kansas State, 84–75, at United Spirit Arena. Going into the game, KSU was in sole possession of first place in the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

. On March 1, 2008, the Red Raiders again defeated the top team in the conference by beating #5

, 83–80, ending a month-long, eight-game winning streak for the Longhorns. The Red Raiders finished the regular season with back-to-back losses, first at

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and then to Baylor. At the 2008 Big 12 men's basketball tournament, they added another loss—to

—in the first round. The team did not receive an invitation to play at either the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship or at the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

. Texas Tech did get an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational, but declined the offer. In the third game of the 2008–09 season, Tech defeated Division II opponent East Central 167–115, setting a new school record for most points scored in a game. The previous record of 128 was set in the double overtime victory over

on February 20, 1994. The combined total of 282 points also became a new record. On March 7, 2011, Texas Tech terminated Knight's position as head coach. He left with an overall record of 50–61, becoming the second coach in the school's history to depart with more losses than wins.

Billy Gillispie era: 2011–2012

Billy Gillispie Billy Clyde Gillispie ( ; born November 7, 1959), also known by his initials BCG and Billy Clyde, is an American college basketball and current men's basketball coach at Tarleton State. Gillispie had previously been head coach at UTEP, Texas ...

became the head coach of the team on March 20, 2011. He only stayed for one season before resigning on September 21, 2012, in the wake of a school investigation into his treatment of his players.

Tubby Smith era: 2013–2016

Tubby Smith was hired to replace interim head coach Chris Walker on April 1, 2013, after 6 seasons as head coach of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Smith's first season showed some signs of progress, with Texas Tech picking up its first victory over a top-25 team since 2009. Texas Tech's victory over the then #12 Baylor Bears was the first win over a ranked opponent since December 2009, when the team defeated #10 Washington. Smith would later earn another top 25 upset with a victory over #19 Oklahoma State on February 8, 2014. Following outreach by Smith and the athletic department, Texas Tech students broke both school and Big 12 Conference records for student attendance at the United Spirit Arena during a February 25, 2014, loss to Kansas State. The record of 6,086 students fell less than 2,000 short of the national record. The Red Raiders ended Smith's first season with a home victory over the Texas Longhorns, but the Raiders fell to Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in March. They ended the season with a 14–18 overall record, Smith's first losing season as a head coach. JayeCrockettSlam

Under Smith, the 2015–2016 Red Raiders finished 9–9 in Big 12 play and advanced to their first NCAA Tournament in nine years, earning an 8-seed in the East Regional. Their season ended in the Round of 64 with a loss to the 9-seed Butler Bulldogs. Following the season, the Smith era came to an end as Smith resigned on April 14 to coach the Memphis Tigers.

Chris Beard era: 2016–2021

Texas Tech hired former Arkansas-Little Rock coach

Chris Beard Christopher Michael Beard (born February 18, 1973) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's coach at University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss). He also previously served as head coach at Texas, Texas Tech, Little Rock, Angelo State, a ...

on April 15, 2016, a week after he was appointed to the same position at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. In his second season at the helm, Texas Tech reached the Elite Eight for the first time in school history, with a 78–65 win over the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

, where they lost to the eventual national champions, the Villanova Wildcats, 71–59. With a share of the Big 12 regular season title, the Red Raiders returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 as a #3 seed. Their second trip to the Elite Eight in as many years saw them defeat the #1 seed

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs (), also known unofficially as the Zags, are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

75–69, clinching their first ever Final Four appearance. They proceeded to defeat the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

61–51, reaching their first-ever national title game, where they ultimately lost to another #1 seed, the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

, 85–77 in overtime, ending the most successful season in school history. Beard departed the program after the 2020–21 season, to take the head coaching job at his alma mater, the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. Given the rivalry between the two schools, Texas Tech

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

Kirby Hocutt later remarked, "Had he gone to any other university, he'd be celebrated. But there's just certain things you cannot do, and one of them is you can't leave Texas Tech for Texas."

Mark Adams era: 2021–2023

Mark Adams, a Texas Tech alumnus and longtime coach around West Texas who had served as Beard's assistant for the last six seasons, was elevated to head coach on April 5, 2021. The Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center, a new 58,000-square foot, $32.2 million practice facility for the men and women's basketball teams, was inaugurated a month later. Coach Adams swept former coach Chris Beard and the University of Texas in his first season at the helm. On March 5, 2023, Texas Tech University announced that they suspended Coach Adams for using "racially insensitive" terms and possibly spitting on a player; Corey Williams led the team in the Big 12 tournament. On March 8, Adams resigned his position.

Grant McCasland era: 2023–Present

On March 31, 2023, Grant McCasland was hired as the 19th head coach of the Red Raiders. He had previously been the head coach of North Texas. Previously, he worked as the Director of Basketball Operations at Texas Tech from 1999-2001. He also earned his master's degree from Texas Tech in 2001. In Coach McCasland's first season, he notched a 23-11 record including a berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Red Raiders were upset in the first round by NC State. In 2024–25, McCasland guided the Red Raiders to a top-10 AP ranking and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Red Raiders advanced to their third Elite Eight as a program and their first under a coach not named Chris Beard.

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Red Raiders have appeared in the NCAA tournament 20 times. However, their 1996 appearance was vacated. Their combined record is 22–21 (20–20 without vacated games). On April 6, 2019, Texas Tech earned their first trip to the NCAA tournament championship game with a Final Four win over

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

. Two days later, the Red Raiders lost the NCAA tournament championship game in overtime 85–77 to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

NIT results

The Red Raiders have appeared in the

(NIT) four times. Their combined record is 6–4.

NAIA tournament results

The Red Raiders have appeared in the NAIA tournament two times. Their combined record is 3–2.

Season-by-season results

Home arenas

The Red Raiders play their home games at United Supermarkets Arena located on the university campus. The Red Raiders previously played at Lubbock Municipal Coliseum until United Supermarkets Arena opened in 1999. The university's first team, then known as the Matadors, did not have a home court but instead played at the Livestock Judging Pavilion until a wood and stucco barn was constructed the following season. Texas Tech students broke both school and Big 12 Conference records for student attendance at the United Supermarkets Arena during a February 25, 2014, loss to Kansas State. The record of 6,086 students fell less than 2,000 short of the national record.

Players

AP All Americans

Conference Player of the Year

All Conference first team

All tournament team

Ring of Honor

Texas Tech does not retire jersey numbers, but they do honor players with a Ring of Honor.

Individual awards

* Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award :

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the f ...

, 2004–05 *

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...