Texas Basketball: Impact of Mac McClung transferring to Texas Tech

When it’s all said and done next year, Texas basketball will have faced the newest member of Texas Tech Mac McClung at least three times in two seasons.

Hitting the NCAA Transfer Portal has been a move explored on and off by the head coach of the Texas basketball program Shaka Smart. Texas hit the transfer portal two offseasons ago to land guard Elijah Mitrou-Long, but he only stuck around for one season on the Forty Acres before he left just as quick as he landed there.

One name that stuck out that hit the transfer portal this offseason, even for the fans of the Texas Longhorns basketball program, is former high school sensation and Georgetown Hoyas 6-foot-2 and 185 pound guard Mac McClung. As potentially the most high-profile name to show up in the transfer portal this offseason, McClung had attention from a wide variety of power conference programs.

But the power conference program and head coach that wound up landing him out of the transfer portal was the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Chris Beard. McClung announced his intentions to transfer to Texas Tech on his Twitter timeline on the afternoon of May 27.

https://twitter.com/McclungMac/status/1265722767590207494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1265722767590207494%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2FArticle%2FMac-McClung-transfer-to-Texas-Tech-Georgetown-Hoyas-147549058%2F

Beard usually isn’t one to pull a whole lot of high-profile names out of the transfer portal, especially one the level of McClung. He’s more known for going after underrated recruits like Zhaire Smith, Jarrett Culver, and Jahmi’us Ramsey, thus turning them into highly touted NBA Draft prospects.

McClung landing with Texas Tech, after they have a good team returning next season and a good 2020 signing class, is something that will change the landscape of the Big 12.

This is also a move that will have an impact on Smart and the Longhorns. Smart has already faced McClung once, in the 2K Empire Classic last season. Georgetown topped the Longhorns by the final score of 82-66 at Madison Square Garden in late November. McClung was the leading point-getter for the Hoyas, with 19 points.

He also registered a box plus/minus rating of 7.3, 119 offensive rating/103 defensive rating, 58.6 true shooting percentage, and above a 30 percent usage rate. He also added three rebounds, one assist, and two steals.

In 21 games played last season, McClung registered 15.7 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals, while shooting 39.4 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.2 percent from the charity stripe. That saw him have a tremendous turnaround in a lot of his advanced metrics from his freshman to sophomore seasons.

He registered a 5.5 box plus/minus rating, 107.0 offensive rating/104.9 defensive rating, .138 win shares per 40 minutes, 50.8 true shooting percentage, and 21.0 player efficiency rating. Adding those types of metrics to an already stout Texas Tech rotation could be lethal.

The likes of Terrance Shannon Jr., Davide Moretti, and Kyler Edwards, will now be joined by one of the best guards that could hit the transfer portal in any universe this offseason. And it will heighten their already solid chances of winning the Big 12 next season.

The odds to win the 2020-21 national title in college hoops (from William Hill Sportsbook) held Texas Tech tied with a number of other power conference teams at 50-1 odds. Those odds are likely going to be heightened now. That already places Texas Tech at 25-1 odds higher than William Hill Sportsbook has the Longhorns (they sit at 75-1 odds).

Coming out of Gate City High School in Virginia, McClung ranked as the nation’s No. 245 2018 high school prospect, No. 23 combo guard, and No. 11 prospect out of Virginia (247Sports Composite). He held offers from 30 schools including the Boston College Eagles, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Marshall Thundering Herd, Air Force Falcons, Old Dominion Monarchs, Quinnipiac Bobcats, Rice Owls, Seton Hall Pirates, Towson Tigers, and Yale Bulldogs.

Texas Tech finished up their 2019-20 season prior to all the postseason tournament cancellations due to the novel coronavirus pandemic with a record of 18-13 (9-9 Big 12). The last loss of the regular season for the Red Raiders to an unranked opponent was Texas, back on Feb. 29.

They were supposed to face the Longhorns in the first game of the Big 12 Tournament, as the five-seed, before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the festivities in Kansas City.

Texas did get an edge over Texas Tech once last season when they were red hot at the end of the regular season slate. Adding McClung to Beard’s rotation will make it more difficult for the Longhorns to knock them off one or two times come the start of next season’s Big 12 slate.