Texas Tech lands grad transfer forward Marcus Santos-Silva

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From Inside Red Raider Sports by Jarrett Johnson

Texas Tech added to its already stacked roster Wednesday with the announcement VCU grad transfer Marcus Santos-Silva is joining the Red Raiders. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward averaged 12.8 points and 8.9 rebounds on 56.9 percent shooting last season.

Santos-Silva was one of the most highly coveted grad transfers on the market this offseason, but trimmed his list to a final six last week and eventually chose the Red Raiders over Arizona State, Georgia, Penn State, Maryland and Ole Miss. He broke down what he was looking for prior to announcing his decision.

“Definitely style of play, development, overall winning and building that chemistry with the coaches and players so we have that chemistry on the court together,” Santos-Silva told 247Sports. “They all want me to come in and be a starter.”

What made Santos-Silva choose Texas Tech? What does he like about the Red Raiders?

“Very good winning culture and coach Beard, what he’s been doing the last few years has been amazing.”

Speaking of Texas Tech coach Chris Beard, he has enjoyed a lot of success in his short time in Lubbock by leading the Red Raiders to the program’s first two Elite Eights, first Big 12 championship, first Final Four and first national title game appearance. While he and his staff have done an excellent job of recruiting the high school ranks, they have also thrived in the transfer market as previous additions such as Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens have played major roles in Texas Tech’s success.

This offseason the Red Raiders have added traditional transfer Jamarius Burton and now Santos-Silva, who is immediately eligible as a grad transfer. Burton, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard who averaged 10 points, four rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last season at Wichita State, has two seasons of eligibility remaining and as a traditional transfer might have to sit out next season. Then again, a new rule proposing a one-time exemption from having to sit a season for all college athletes could pass before next season allowing him to play.

Texas Tech will also be welcoming a top 12 recruiting class headlined by five-star McDonald’s All-American combo guard Nimari Burnett and a pair of 6-foot-7 four-star forwards in Micah Peavy and Chibuzo Agbo. All these fresh faces combined with a returning roster consisting of veterans such as Davide Moretti and Kyler Edwards, plus budding stars Terrence Shannon and Kevin McCullar and finally forwards Joel Ntambwe and Tyreek Smith, who were both forced to sit out last season, have many predicting another  possible Big 12 title and Final Four run for the Red Raiders. Santos-Silva is considered one of the final pieces to the puzzle.

“Recruiting here is not hard. We’ve got one of the best universities in the country,” said Texas Tech coach Chris Beard when asked by Inside the Red Raiders about his staff’s success on the recruiting trail. “I kind of laugh when people talk about location. Location’s what makes Lubbock in my opinion one of the all-time great college towns in our country. We’ve got a great academic institution, we have caring fans, we have great facilities. I mean this is what we should be doing. We should be involved with some of the best recruits in the country and that’s what we’re striving to do.”

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