Red Raiders sign Toronto prep basketball star
The Texas Tech men's basketball program on Thursday announced the addition of Elijah Fisher, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound swingman from Canada who's ranked by recruiting services as one of the top high-school prospects in North America.
Tech said Fisher has signed a financial aid agreement. Tech's announcement came shortly after Fisher released a video saying he had committed to the Red Raiders.
Fisher has been playing varsity basketball since sixth grade at Crestwood Prep in Toronto. He is the No. 24 recruit in the class of 2023 by the 247Sports composite ranking, the average assessment of several recruiting services.
However, Tech's announcement said Fisher will part of the Red Raiders' 2022 signing class and join the team this summer.
As a junior this past season, he averaged 28 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals per game. More than 20 schools offered him a scholarship, among them Kansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Memphis, Florida, Wake Forest, Arizona and Southern California.
Recruiting services and some media immediately hailed Fisher as the highest-rated recruit in Tech's history, although the recruiting services commonly disregard more than 70 years of the program's history and any rankings that predate those in existence today.
Also on Thursday, Baylor forward Matthew Mayer, who his name in the NCAA transfer portal, told the sports website Stadium he is considering North Carolina, Illinois, Memphis and Texas Tech.
Mayer, 6-foot-9 and 225 pounds, started 33 games this past season for a Baylor team that finished 27-7. He averaged 9.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and scored in double digits in seven of the Bears' last 10 games.
Mayer played four seasons at Baylor and will be a fifth-year senior next season.
Men's golf
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Texas Tech, led by Ben Hogan Award winner Ludvig Aberg, will go off on Friday afternoon as the No. 8 seed in the NCAA championship tournament at Grayhawk Golf Club.
Red Raiders players will be grouped with players from No. 7 seed Texas and No. 9 seed Florida for the first two rounds of the tournament.
All 30 teams and six players who advanced individually out of regional competition will play 54 holes of stroke play. The field will then be cut to the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on those teams for a fourth round of stroke play. The 72 holes will determine the individual NCAA champion and advance the top eight teams to a match-play bracket.
Aberg, the Big 12 champion, won the Ben Hogan Award that is presented annually to the top men's player in college golf. Also on the squad for the Red Raiders are Baard Skogen, Andy Lopez, Calum Scott, Carl Didrik Meen Fosaas and Sandy Scott.
At the NCAA New Haven Regional, Sandy Scott was the team's alternate. The two-time second-team all-American returned this season after more than a year off to recover from two wrist surgeries.
Lopez, Aberg and Skogen played in last year's NCAA championship in Scottsdale, where Tech tied for 11th. Sandy Scott competed in the 2018 NCAA championship at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where the Red Raiders finished third in stroke play and lost in a match-play quarterfinal.
"All six guys look good in different ways, but they all look really solid," Tech coach Greg Sands said Thursday. "It's nice to have three guys that have been around here last year for four rounds, so that helps."
The temperature reached 102 degrees Thursday afternoon in neighboring Phoenix.
"It's hot," Sands said. "It's going to be balls going far and greens are firm, so we're looking forward to the test and ready to get after it."
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are the top two seeds.
Golf Channel will provide coverage on Monday during the final round of stroke play followed by live coverage on Tuesday and Wednesday of match play. Live results can be found throughout the tournament at golfstat.com.
Football
The game times and television coverage for Texas Tech's three non-conference football games this coming season were announced Thursday.
Tech's Sept. 3 home game against Murray State will kick off at 7 p.m. and be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Red Raiders' Sept. 10 home game against Houston will be at 3 p.m., televised by Fox Sports 1.
Tech's Sept. 17 game at North Carolina State will kick off at 6 p.m. CDT and be aired on ESPN2.
The game times and TV partner selection were among several nationwide announced Thursday by the schools, ESPN and FOX Sports.
The Murray State game is Tech's one third-tier rights game for the season. Tech allowed fans to vote online for the kickoff time, offering two options. Tech officials said 65 percent of respondents voted for 7 p.m.
Kickoff times for the rest of the Red Raiders' games will be selected and announced on the customary 12-day advance notice by Big 12 TV partners. They also have the option of using a six-day advance notice to set kickoff times and TV coverage a few times each season.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech sports roundup: Red Raiders sign Toronto prep basketball star
