SIAP.
The ball bounced one last time in Lubbock.
After that, Jarrett Culver left his family, friends and hometown for what is expected to be a wild ride to prepare for the NBA Draft Combine set for Wednesday through Sunday.
Culver, a 6-foot-6 sophomore who helped lead Texas Tech to the program’s first national title game, is expected to be a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft set for June 20.
But before he inserted himself into the spotlight with all of the cameras, the Lubbock native went to his parents’ house to make sure he did not miss anything on his checklist: say goodbye to his parents, get a few shots in and then pray for his “next journey in life.”
“It was kind of tough, but I knew I was going to see them pretty soon,” said the 20-year-old Culver, who signed with Octagon Basketball before trekking to Phoenix, Arizona, to train for his upcoming on-the-court résumé. “It wasn’t too hard. But just leaving Lubbock, it’s kind of been just reminiscing about how I grew up there. ... To leave Lubbock is like a change for me.”
A small shift
Culver is familiar with change, especially when he made the transition from Coronado High School to Texas Tech.
As a Mustang, the wiry defender extraordinaire donned No. 1 as he began to develop into a three-level scorer for then-head coach Randy Dean. After his high-school career came to a close, though, Culver felt he needed to write another story for his college career, which meant a number change.
For him, it was an easy decision: No. 23.
“Michael Jordan is my favorite player, and Psalm 23 is one of my favorite Bible verses,” Culver said. “So I just wanted to get the number 23. I just wanted to make a legacy with it.”
Culver did that and much more during a two-year career with the Red Raiders, which ended with him declaring for the NBA Draft on April 18.
As a sophomore, he earned consensus all-America honors, was named Big 12 player of the year and helped guide his hometown university to the NCAA title game following an Elite Eight appearance his freshman year. Culver averaged a team-high 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season and helped the team go 58-17 in two years.
During that span, the Red Raiders went 17-1 at home both seasons and were 25-8 in conference contests — including road wins against West Virginia, Kansas and Texas.
“Basically since the first day that I recruited him until today he’s done everything that he said he would do,” Tech coach Chris Beard said during Culver’s announcement to prepare for the NBA in April. “He’s kept his word the entire way. He said he was going to be a team player, told me he was going to work hard every day, told me he was going to represent our program, told me he was going to be a leader and was going to let us coach him hard.
“Jarrett has always been so gracious and the most unselfish, best-player type guy I’ve coached and it has always been about you thanking other people, but on behalf of everyone here today we want to thank you for everything that you’ve done for our program.”
Culver also holds the distinction of winning eight NCAA Tournament games, while garnering the respect of several players and coaches along the way.
The ball bounced one last time in Lubbock.
After that, Jarrett Culver left his family, friends and hometown for what is expected to be a wild ride to prepare for the NBA Draft Combine set for Wednesday through Sunday.
Culver, a 6-foot-6 sophomore who helped lead Texas Tech to the program’s first national title game, is expected to be a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft set for June 20.
But before he inserted himself into the spotlight with all of the cameras, the Lubbock native went to his parents’ house to make sure he did not miss anything on his checklist: say goodbye to his parents, get a few shots in and then pray for his “next journey in life.”
“It was kind of tough, but I knew I was going to see them pretty soon,” said the 20-year-old Culver, who signed with Octagon Basketball before trekking to Phoenix, Arizona, to train for his upcoming on-the-court résumé. “It wasn’t too hard. But just leaving Lubbock, it’s kind of been just reminiscing about how I grew up there. ... To leave Lubbock is like a change for me.”
A small shift
Culver is familiar with change, especially when he made the transition from Coronado High School to Texas Tech.
As a Mustang, the wiry defender extraordinaire donned No. 1 as he began to develop into a three-level scorer for then-head coach Randy Dean. After his high-school career came to a close, though, Culver felt he needed to write another story for his college career, which meant a number change.
For him, it was an easy decision: No. 23.
“Michael Jordan is my favorite player, and Psalm 23 is one of my favorite Bible verses,” Culver said. “So I just wanted to get the number 23. I just wanted to make a legacy with it.”
Culver did that and much more during a two-year career with the Red Raiders, which ended with him declaring for the NBA Draft on April 18.
As a sophomore, he earned consensus all-America honors, was named Big 12 player of the year and helped guide his hometown university to the NCAA title game following an Elite Eight appearance his freshman year. Culver averaged a team-high 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season and helped the team go 58-17 in two years.
During that span, the Red Raiders went 17-1 at home both seasons and were 25-8 in conference contests — including road wins against West Virginia, Kansas and Texas.
“Basically since the first day that I recruited him until today he’s done everything that he said he would do,” Tech coach Chris Beard said during Culver’s announcement to prepare for the NBA in April. “He’s kept his word the entire way. He said he was going to be a team player, told me he was going to work hard every day, told me he was going to represent our program, told me he was going to be a leader and was going to let us coach him hard.
“Jarrett has always been so gracious and the most unselfish, best-player type guy I’ve coached and it has always been about you thanking other people, but on behalf of everyone here today we want to thank you for everything that you’ve done for our program.”
Culver also holds the distinction of winning eight NCAA Tournament games, while garnering the respect of several players and coaches along the way.
