by Jarret Johnson for Inside the Red Raiders
Jonathan Kuminga, the No. 1 rated basketball recruit in the country for the 2021 recruiting class, released his top five “options” Friday afternoon and Texas Tech made the cut as expected.
Other schools on the list included Auburn, Duke, and Kentucky. The 6-foot-8, 205-pound small forward cut his list down to 10 in November before trimming the list in half Friday. Texas Tech currently holds one Crystal Ball prediction in its favor.
Despite the stiff competition for Kuminga’s services, the Red Raiders make sense for the five-star recruit for a couple reasons. One being, Kuminga’s brother Joel Ntambwe is on the team. Another is wing players with Kuminga’s skill set such as Zhaire Smith, Jarrett Culver and Jahmi’us Ramsey have thrived under Chris Beard and his staff.
Those factors make Texas Tech a unique opportunity for Kuminga, but the Red Raiders face more competition than just those other top programs as the fifth option mentioned was the “G-League”, which has recently become a huge factor for elite basketball recruits.
“Already at 6-foot-8 with extremely long arms, he is beginning to put his skill game together. Length, athleticism, and versatility are his strengths. Has shown the ability to get into the lane and rebounds well. Is capable of guarding multiple positions, and also blocking shots. Needs to continue to get better with his outside shot, and if that comes he should be nearly impossible to guard. His upside is through the roof, and he is just now beginning to figure out how good he can become. He should hear his name called early in the NBA draft when decides to make that move.”
Texas Tech signed the No. 9 recruiting class in the nation according to 247Sports which topped the Big 12 for the 2020 cycle. The group marked the third consecutive class which ranked as the highest-rated in program history at the time. The Red Raiders also landed combo guard Jamarius Burton and power forward Marcus Santos-Silva this offseason. Burton is rated by 247Sports as the No. 9 traditional transfer on the market while Santos-Silva checked in as the No. 6 grad transfer available this offseason.
The Red Raiders also picked up the first commit of the 2021 cycle earlier this week with the verbal pledge of Jaylon Tyson, a 6-6 small forward out of Plano (TX) John Paul II High School. The four-star recruit is ranked as the No. 75 overall player in the country, the No. 16 small forward in the nation and the No. 5 overall player in Texas for the 2021 class according to 247Sports.
“Recruiting here is not hard. We’ve got one of the best universities in the country.” said Texas Tech coach Chris Beard. “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.”