LUBBOCK, Texas – The bright lights of the NBA Draft are about to shine on Texas Tech's humble superstar Jarrett Culver. A hometown product, who was an "unheralded prospect" out of Lubbock Coronado High, Culver took his game and the Red Raiders to new levels during his two seasons at Tech to ascend to the pinnacle of the sport.
Culver declared for the NBA Draft 10 days after leading the Red Raiders to the NCAA Championship Final, completing his two-year collegiate career with 1,119 points, 420 rebounds and 209 assists. He led Tech with 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists in a sophomore season where the Red Raiders had its winningest season in program history with 31 victories, secured the Big 12 regular-season championship, earned the NCAA West Region Championship and advanced to the national championship final. Culver was a Consensus All-America selection and was the first Tech player in program history to be named the Big 12 Player of the Year.
The NBA Draft begins at 6 p.m. (CST) on Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and will be broadcasted on ESPN (Watch ESPN app). Culver is a top-10 pick in every mock draft and is rated as the No. 3 overall prospect in the draft by Sports Illustrated and the No. 2-ranked shooting guard by ESPN.
"I'm Jarrett Culver, from Texas Tech University, and an elite two-way player," said Culver in an NBA produced intro video. "I see myself as determined, motivated and hard-working. I put in hours and hours to work on my craft and be great at what I do. I have a lot to prove. I go out every night trying to prove myself. A lot of people doubted me and didn't believe in me, so I stayed true to myself. When I look in the mirror I see myself working hard every day and all the people who doubted me. I see myself proving that I can be what I really want to be. People don't have the expectations that I have for myself. I know there are a lot of great players that play in the NBA and I want to be one of them."
Culver scored a career-high 31 points against Iowa State in the regular-season finale to help secure the regular-season championship and would drop 29 on Northern Kentucky in the NCAA first-round matchup. He averaged 18.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in the six NCAA tournament games during the historic run to the final Monday night of the college basketball season. Culver helped lead the Red Raiders to a 58-17 overall record in his two season, including a trip to the Elite Eight as a freshman before the program's first Final Four appearance as a sophomore.
Texas Tech has had 23 selections in the NBA Draft, including two first-round picks in Tony Battie in the 1997 draft and Zhaire Smith who was chosen at 16 last season. Smith was picked by the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on draft night. Battie is the highest selection in Tech history at No. 5 by the Denver Nuggets in the 1997 draft. Garland Head was the first-ever Red Raider selected in the NBA Draft when the New York Knicks took him in the third round of the 1947 draft. Currently, has three players currently in the NBA and G League with Smith on the 76ers while Keenan Evans is on the Delaware Blue Coats (G League) and Zach Smith plays for the Greensboro Swarm (G League).
