MINNEAPOLIS — This was before Texas Tech was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12. Before it wasn’t ranked in the preseason. Before official practices even began.
Chris Beard gathered his team together and laid down the gauntlet.
“We have enough to play on the final Monday,” the Red Raiders coach told them.
At the time, it seemed like a fantasy. Texas Tech was coming off a sensational season, having reached the Elite Elite, but it lost five of its top six scorers. It was adding three new starters, two of them grad transfers new to the program. Merely reaching the NCAA Tournament, some felt, would have been a major accomplishment. That vision was not shared by Beard and his players.
“Everybody counted us out even though we made a great run last year,” senior reserve guard Brandone Francis said Friday as third-seeded Texas Tech prepared to meet No. 2 Michigan State in a national semifinal Saturday night.
“It kind of was a mistake, because we work very hard. You never see us caught up in any drama. We never disrespect our opponent. We live and play basketball the right way. Counting us out wasn’t the right choice, obviously.”
The Red Raiders have stunned many by reaching the final weekend of the college basketball season for the first time in program history, by upsetting No. 1 Gonzaga in a riveting West Region final and snapping Kansas’ run of 14 years atop the Big 12 standings, sharing the crown with Kansas State.
Despite several new pieces, Texas Tech led the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. Sophomore guard Jarrett Culver made one of the biggest leaps in the country, developing into a potential top-five draft pick. St. John’s graduate transfer Tariq Owens became the backbone of the stingy defense, averaging 2.4 blocks per game, and South Dakota graduate transfer Matt Mooney delivered much-needed scoring punch from the perimeter, shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point range. Beard, in just his third season, has gotten the most out of his personnel.
“I think he deserved to be Coach of the Year, and whoever voted did a good job voting for him,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.
The team’s development began in the summer. A bond was formed, one of hard work, discipline and accountability. The players lived close to one another and would routinely hang out away from the court. The Red Raiders took a retreat. There would be a movie night. No cellphones at team meals.
“What you fight in those situations is time, and we try to compete with time by spending a lot of time together and developing relationships quicker than most,” Beard said.
Beard wanted to see everyone make sacrifices for the betterment of the team, so he gave up beer, desserts and candy. A few players stopped using social media. One quit fried foods. One cut out watching Netflix after 9 p.m.
“You basically have to sacrifice something in our culture,” Beard said.
He did find a loophole, however.
“Did you know a Pop-Tart is not a dessert?” Beard said with a smile. “It’s a breakfast. I’ve eaten a lot of Pop-Tarts, man, since October.”
The entire team made another sacrifice late in the season: No phones at night on road trips. They would be collected. Some players grumbled. But as the winning continued, those complaints vanished.
“We’re locked into more important things than cellphones,” Owens said.
Francis did admit, if it was suggested to him Texas Tech would follow up an Elite Eight bid with a Final Four trip, he would have laughed at the notion. The Red Raiders lost so many key players. But that was before he got to meet his new teammates, saw their work ethic and heard how much Beard believed in them. They still remember that meeting before everything began, and the sky-high expectations Beard had for them.
“When he said that, we all believed it,” Mooney said. “And now we got a chance to get to that final Monday.”