Remember Chris Level's post last week about the mystery prospect that Tech was in on?
Meet Admon Gilder, former top 65 recruit in the country, Gatorade Texas Player of the Year and Parade All-American. Gilder is a grad transfer guard from Texas A&M and is immediately eligible with 1 year of eligibility remaining.
The Tech coaches recently completed an in-home visit with the 6-foot-4 guard, and now Gilder is set to officially visit Lubbock starting today through Sunday. Gilder will be joined on his official visit by his parents and daughter.
"My relationship with the Tech coaches is good, I talk to coach Beard and coach Burg mainly. Anytime you're able to accomplish something so great, making it to that championship game I mean it says a lot about the program. They're able to win so much and in only 3 years they've done so, so it's just an honor to be able to come in and visit a school that's done so well in recent years."
Gilder is one of the best players available on the grad transfer market, especially defensively. Is defense something that Gilder takes prides in? That's not even a question.
"Oh yes sir most definitely, in high school and throughout college I take a lot of pride on the defensive end. That's one thing that drives me even closer to Texas Tech is the way they defend so well and the way they keep teams below their averages and stuff like that."
Jeff Goodman with WatchStadium.com ranks Gilder as his #5 grad transfer prospect in the country. Per a scout that Goodman spoke to…
“Big-time kid, relentless work ethic. He was one of the best defensive players in the SEC over the last three seasons and has already scored over 1,000 points in his career.”
ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello also made his list of top transfers and Gilder sits at #6 on his list with the following note…
“Missed this past season with an injury, but was a productive all-around player for Texas A&M in 2017-18. Averaged 12.3 points and 4.1 rebounds and shot 39.5 percent from 3-point range.”
As a sophomore in 2016/17, Gilder averaged 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. He shot 42.9% from the field, 37.7% from deep and 74.3% from the line. After the year Gilder declared for the NBA draft where he would have likely gotten drafted (per DraftSite.com, they had him as a 2nd round pick), but decided to return to school anyways.
As a junior Gilder improved his efficiency across the board, scoring 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on 45.8% from the field, 39.5% from deep and 82.1% from the line.
Going into his senior year he was projected to be one of A&M’s best players, but missed the first two games of the season with a knee injury and eventually missed the remainder of the year with a blood clot. He has since been medically cleared to return to basketball activities per Damon Sayles from CBSSports.com.
During Gilder's three seasons in College Station he helped lead the Aggies to two Sweet 16's, and played with NBA players such as Danuel House, Alex Caruso and Robert Williams.
Gilder won SEC Player of the Week the week of 11/13/17 as a junior, and would fill a big need as a veteran player for the Red Raiders who currently are on track to have no seniors on the team next season. Potentially being one of those senior leaders, Gilder is looking forward to seeing what Tech has to offer this weekend.
"Just an environment that feels like home. That's the biggest thing but recruiting is going good, just taking it all in. Trying to make sure I choose the right school and find the right fit for me. As a grad transfer it's not just about seeing all the facilities and stuff like that, it's about making sure I come in and from the time I'm there truly just feel like I'm at home with the team and the environment so wherever that is, that's what I'm looking for."
Other schools thought to be in the running for Admon include Kentucky, Gonzaga, Virginia and Texas among others.
