List of Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NBA draft

The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team, representing Texas Tech University, has had 23 players drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) since the league began holding drafts in 1947. Tony Battie, taken fifth overall in the 1997 draft, was Texas Tech's only player drafted in the first round until Zhaire Smith was selected 16th overall in the 2018 draft. The Seattle SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) have drafted 3 Red Raiders, more than any other NBA franchise.

Each NBA franchise seeks to add new players through an annual draft. The NBA uses a draft lottery to determine the first three picks of the NBA draft; the 14 teams that did not make the playoffs the previous year are eligible to participate. After the first three picks are decided, the rest of the teams pick in reverse order of their win–loss record.^[1]^[2] To be eligible for the NBA draft, a player in the United States must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft and must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.^[3] From 1967 until the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, the American Basketball Association (ABA) held its own draft.^[4]

Drafts

American Basketball Association

Year	Round	Pick	Overall	Player	Position	ABA team^{[A 1]}	Notes
1971	—	—	—	Gene Knolle^{[A 2]}		Dallas Chaparrals	—

National Basketball Association

Year	Round	Pick	Overall	Player	NBA team^{[A 1]}	Notes
1947	—	—	—	Garland Head	New York Knicks	—
1953	—	—	—	Paul Nolen	Baltimore Bullets	—
1956	—	—	—	Gene Carpenter	Rochester Royals	—
1956	—	—	—	Jim Reed	St. Louis Hawks	—
1959	8	4	57	Leon Hill	Minneapolis Lakers	—
1962	3	4	20	Harold Hudgens	Detroit Pistons	—
1971	7	3	105	Gene Knolle^{[A 2]}	Portland Trail Blazers	—
1972	15	5	192	Greg Lowery	Chicago Bulls	—
1975	6	11	101	William Johnson	Houston Rockets	—
1976	4	6	57	Rick Bullock	New York Knicks	—
1978	3	8	52	Mike Russell	Kansas City Kings	—
1979	3	6	50	Geoff Huston	New York Knicks	—
1980	10	13	212	Kent Williams	Seattle SuperSonics	—
1982	2	19	42	Jeff Taylor	Houston Rockets	—
1982	5	18	110	Clarence Swannegan	Seattle SuperSonics	—
1985	4	16	86	Bubba Jennings	Dallas Mavericks	—
1985	6	21	137	Quentin Anderson	Milwaukee Bucks	—
1986	4	23	93	Tony Benford	Boston Celtics	—
1995	2	19	48	Mark Davis	Minnesota Timberwolves	—
1996	2	12	41	Jason Sasser	Sacramento Kings	—
1997	1	5	5	Tony Battie	Denver Nuggets	—
1998	2	20	49	Cory Carr	Atlanta Hawks	—
2004	2	6	35	Andre Emmett	Seattle SuperSonics	—
2018	1	16	16	Zhaire Smith	Phoenix Suns	—
2019	1	6	6	Jarrett Culver	Phoenix Suns	—
2020	2	12	42	Jahmi'us Ramsey	Sacramento Kings	—

Notes

^ ^a ^b This is the team that drafted the player, not their most recent team.
^ ^a ^b Gene Knolle was drafted in the 1971 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and in the 1971 AFA draft by the Dallas Chaparrals.

References

General

"NBA Draft Picks From Texas Tech University". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2011-08-13.

Specific

^ "Evolution of the Draft and Lottery". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
^ Dengate, Jeff (2007-05-16). "Let the Ping-Pong Balls Fall". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
^ "Article X, Section 1(b)(i)". 2005 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. National Basketball Players Association. Archived from the original on 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
^ Pluto, Terry (1990). Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 432. ISBN 1-4165-4061-X. Retrieved 2009-12-05.

[Team-5] This is the team that drafted the player, not their most recent team.

[GK-6] Gene Knolle was drafted in the 1971 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and in the 1971 AFA draft by the Dallas Chaparrals.

[NBA_Lottery_1-1] "Evolution of the Draft and Lottery". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-11-18.

[NBA_Lottery_2-2] Dengate, Jeff (2007-05-16). "Let the Ping-Pong Balls Fall". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-11-18.

[NBA_Eligibility-3] "Article X, Section 1(b)(i)". 2005 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. National Basketball Players Association. Archived from the original on 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2009-11-18.

[ABA-4] Pluto, Terry (1990). Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 432. ISBN 1-4165-4061-X. Retrieved 2009-12-05.

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v t e Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball
Venues	Livestock Judging Pavilion (1925–1927) Tech Gymnasium (1927–1956) City Bank Coliseum (1956–1999) United Supermarkets Arena (1999–present)
Culture & lore	Raider Red The Masked Rider "Fight, Raiders, Fight" "The Matador Song" Guns Up Knight School
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics