Texas Tech basketball Christian Anderson travels past Arkansas comeback
Texas Tech basketball Christian Anderson travels past Arkansas comeback
The basketball transfer portal window is now closed. So, as the Red Raiders move towards the 2025-26 season, it’s time to dig deeper into where things are for the Texas Tech basketball team.
Grant McCasland has been a huge success in his first two years as head coach, leading the Red Raiders to the Elite 8 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a few separate from the final four berths. Now, McCasland wants to keep that momentum going in its third year.
Some important pieces are guaranteed to leave another one in the Limbo. This will determine how the Red Raiders will move forward with their transfer portal over the coming months.
So far, let’s take a look at what Texas Tech did with the transfer portal and what it still can do to bring together the best teams for 2025-26.
Transfer portal breaks down Texas Tech basketball rosters that have been closed
departure
Elijah Hawkins – 5-11, 190, Guard (exhaust qualification, 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists) Chance McMillian – 6-3, 190, Guard (exhaust qualification, 1.4 2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 52.3% FG, 43.3% 3FG, 88.5% FT 210) KENWIN Guard (exhaust qualification; 6.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 39.6% 3FG) Kevin Overton – 6-5, 200, JR, Guard (transfer to Auburn, 7.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 42.2% FG, 33.1% 3FG)
Currently in the transfer portal
Dallion Williams – 6-6, 225, SR, Forward (currently passing the NBA draft process, 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 34% 3FG, first team all-big 12) Federico Federico – 6-11, 215, S-SR, Forward (5.1 points, 4.5 rebounds) 74.3% FG, 27 block JR, Forward (3.3 points, 2.4 rebounds in 8 games) Corbin Green – 6-5, 230, SR, Forward (0.1 points in 9 games)
Return to Texas Tech basketball
JT Toppin – 6-9, 225, JR, Forward (18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 55.4% FG, 48 blocks, Second Team All-American, Big 12 Player of the Year) Christian Anderson Jr. There, Guard (0.2 points, 0.6 rebounds in 9 games) Jack Francis – 6-3, 185, SR, Guard (0.2 points in 11 games) Jazz Henderson – 5-11, 175, R-FR, Guard (missed by injuries) Maria Akentoc – 6-10, 230, 230, 230, 230, 230, 230, 230, 230, 25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-25-2
Adding offseasons with transfer portal/recruitment
Tyeree Bryan – 6-5, 210, Sr, Guard (Santa Clara Transfer; 10.4 Points, 4.4 Rebounds, 46.3% FG, 42.9% 3FG) Lejuan Watts – 6-6, 233, Jr, Forward (Washington State Transfer; 13.7 Points, 6.7 Rebounds, 4.3 Assist, 4.9% 6-5, 190, SR, Guard (UNC Greensboro Transfer, 13.3 Points, 3.4 Rebounds, 39.8% 3FG, 90.6% ft) Josiah Mosely – 6-6, 229, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, (Minnesota) Rebound rebound.
Where Texas Tech Basketball’s 2025-26 Roster is closed
The roster stands at 11 players, of which 10 are expected to be on scholarships. This leaves three scholarships behind and closes the remaining roster.
JT Toppin’s return is the headliner here and there for good reason. Toppin was the consensus for the All-American second team after winning the Big 12 Player of the Year, leading the team in points (18.4 per game) and rebounds (9.2) in their first year at Lubbock. Toppin is taking part in Oklahoma’s Buddy Heald (2014-15 and 2015-16) and Kansas’ Raef Lafrentz (1996-97 and 1997-98) and aims to become the third player to win the annual Back-to-Back 12 Player of the Year Crown.
Christian Anderson’s return is important after he occasionally appears as a scoring option from Atlanta and shows his ability to play ball on the backcourt.
From there, Texas Tech has surrounded these two known merchandise, with four players from the portal 6ft 5 or 6ft 6, with three Thierry Brian, Lejuan Watts and Donovan Atwell filming at least 38% since last season.
What’s next for the Texas Tech Basketball Team on Transfer Portal?
Truly defined depth is the most obvious weakness of the present. Toppin’s five start five, Anderson, Brian, Atwell and Watts are solid and offer many options. Beyond that, there’s only Josiah Moseley, who played quite a bit of college, but the rest are young players who haven’t seen much of the floor.
The two biggest pieces the Red Raiders can add are proven point guards and another big, preferably in the seven-foot range.
A big guy would be the hardest to get at this point. One of the names that pop up was Joshu Aozian Oona, a big 6-foot-10 on Baylor’s portal.
There are more options for the point guard spot, but it will depend on what role Anderson is looking for in the upcoming season. Will he move into the role of a true ball handler and stay in the spot outside the guard? It’s probably a combination of the two, so Texas Tech mainly needs someone like Elijah Hawkins, who can carry out attacks and find many shooters on the floor. It would be asking for too much.
Potential X-factors
How the Red Raiders build their other rosters will tell you a little more about how they view redshirt freshmen Jazz Henderson and Marial Acentoc.
Henderson missed the 2024-25 season after being injured in the preseason, and Akuentok reclassified it into the 2024 recruiting class, joining the team in January and redshirring the season.
Henderson has built-in chemistry with high school teammate Toppin, which could be a factor for next season. Meanwhile, Akuentok was still rehabilitating injuries sustained while in high school, but he was around the team for the semester and learned from things like Federiko Federiko, who shares similar lengths and figures.
Texas Tech will likely add more veteran players to the point guard and big man spot, but it shows that Henderson and Akentek trust them to take over these roles as reserves if they decide to pad the depths to other positions.
Dallion Williams Factor
The variable here is Darrion Williams, Do-Everything Forward at Texas Tech. He uses stardom generated from his crazy performances in March to test things out in the transfer portal and the NBA draft.
Williams’ timing is important. Players do not have to formally withdraw from the NBA Draft until June 15th, leaving a gap of about two months between when Williams had to make that decision and now. Does Texas Tech assume Williams is gone and is trying to fill in the void? Or will the Red Raiders wait and see what happens, open that scholarship spot for him and go from there?
Texas Tech has already created the talk of the season just by keeping Toppin and Anderson. Getting Williams back will bring things to the top, but that’s not given. While many consider it a Williams alternative due to his similar build and stat lines in Washington, the two can play together just as easily, giving the Red Raiders a unique look.
When Williams returns to Texas Tech, it is shocking that if the Matador Club rushes someone to take him out of the Red Raiders, or if he will remain in the draft, it will be undecided for a while.
