Grant McCasland has finally landed a player out of the transfer portal as Hofstra point guard Cruz Davis has committed to the Texas Tech basketball team, On3 reported Thursday, April 16.
Davis is entering his fifth year of college for his final season of eligibility. He spent one year at Iona, where he appeared in 24 games before transferring to St. John’s along with Rick Pitno, where he only appeared in four games.
From there, the Plano native has started every game for Hostra in each of the past two seasons. He earned Colonial Athletic Conference player of the year playing under Speedy Claxton this past season, where he averaged 20.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game and shot over 40% from 3-point range.
Davis dropped 36 points on Pittsburgh and had point totals of 22 against Syracuse, 17 against UCF and 14 against Alabama in the NCAA Tournament.
What Hofstra transfer Cruz Davis brings to Texas Tech basketball
Before the transfer portal opened, I published a list of 13 players I thought Texas Tech should target. Davis was among that list but didn’t enter the transfer portal for about a week later.
Both of Texas Tech’s point guards are on the move with Jaylen Petty transferring to UCLA and Christian Anderson set to declare for the NBA Draft. Davis is the immediate No. 1 point guard for Texas Tech and has the quickness for his size that Anderson lacked, featuring more willingness to get to the cup for layups. Only about a third of his total shot attempts were 3-pointers while Anderson had 60% of his shot attempts come from 3.
That’s a positive but also means Texas Tech will need to surround him with shooters (which have been the hallmarks of McCasland’s roster building anyway). The question will rest on whether Davis can adjust from the CAA to the Big 12 Conference level of competition.
Davis should also be able to handle the amount of minutes Anderson played. Davis played 40 minutes (or more) 20 times last season, so he’s used to the grind of playing full games. Getting another ball handler is also crucial.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech basketball finally lands first player out of transfer portal
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
