Luke Adams joins Tech basketball staff - Texas Tech Red Raiders - TexasTech.com

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LUBBOCK, Texas – Luke Adams has been named Texas Tech men's basketball Director of Player Development after a successful run as the head coach at New Mexico Junior College the past four seasons. Adams, who played guard for the Red Raiders from 2012-15 and was an Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection, joins the Red Raider program led by his father, head coach Mark Adams.

"It's really exciting to come back and have an opportunity to make an impact on the program," Luke Adams said. "I had fun and gained a lot of experience coaching at the junior college level. It helped me develop as a coach and learn how to help build a winning culture. This is a dream come true for me. I've always wanted to coach with my dad and work together in the same foxhole. We've always enjoyed talking to each other about our teams but now to be on the same team officially is really awesome."

Luke Adams led New Mexico Junior College to 63 wins in three seasons of competition as the head coach, including going 19-13 overall and 10-6 in conference play last season. The 2020-21 season was canceled for NMJC due to COVID. His team advanced to the Region V semifinals to end last season and finished third in its conference standings. During his coaching career, Luke Adams has had 14 all-conference performers, two all-Americans, eight all-region selections and has helped 41 student-athletes sign to play Division I college basketball.

"Luke loves Texas Tech like I do and wants to do everything he can to help our program win," said Mark Adams who led Tech to the 2022 Sweet 16 and an 18-0 home record in his first season as the program's head coach. "He's a really hard worker and has shown that dedication during his time coaching junior college. His roles in junior college coaching gave him a wealth of experience that he can bring back here to help our players develop their full potential. I'm really excited to have him back here and to have the opportunity to work with him."

In his first season of 2018-19, Adams led the Thunderbirds to a 21-10 record, including wins over two top-10 ranked teams before going 23-9 and once again reaching the regional tournament semifinals in 2019-20. He finished his run as the program's head coach with an impressive 63-32 record.

The Thunderbirds also made it to the Region V Conference Tournament in his first season where they advanced to the semifinals. The Thunderbirds finished 12th in the country in points against, only allowing 66.3 points per game. Adams coached four players that signed with Division 1 programs including Ryan Murphy (Pittsburgh), Sean Rhea (Texas Rio-Grande Valley), Darnell Rogers (UMBC), and Hall Elisias (Bryant). Gideon George was selected was selected All-Conference, All Region, and Freshman of the Year in the WJCAC.

Before coming to NMJC, Adams spent one season as an assistant coach at Seward County, where he coached under head coach Jason Sautter. While at Seward County, Adams worked with a program that finished last (14th Place) in the Jayhawk West in 2017 and pushed them to an eighth-place finish with a completely new squad of 11 freshman and two sophomores. The Saints earned their first home playoff game in four years, defeated Butler 63-61 to advance to the Region VI Tournament Quarterfinals for the first time since 2015. Seward had one of the biggest finished turnarounds in the country finishing 18-14 on the season, a nine-win improvement from the previous year.

Adams also previously spent two seasons at South Plains College, where he coached under legendary head coach Steve Green for the Texans. South Plains put together a third-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament after going 29-0 in the regular season. In two seasons with the Texans, Adams helped the program to a 53-11 overall record.

As a collegiate coach, he helped four players to be selected as freshman of the year in Mouhamed Mbaye (NMJC), Gideon George (NMJC), Jordan Brangers (SPC) and Jerron Love (SPC).

During his playing career, Adams played four seasons at Tech for Billy Gillispie and Tubby Smith. He played in 64 games, including starting seven games as a freshman in the Big 12. He scored a career-high 15 points against Kansas State. He arrived in Lubbock after earning All-State honors at Big Spring High School where he averaged 26.9 points, 3.5 assists and 3.8 steals per game as a senior. He was the Class 3A scoring champion during that season and ranked sixth throughout Texas in points per game.

Adams also starred for the USA Deaf National Team, competing in the Deaf Olympics in Bulgaria in 2013, helping the team to a bronze medal performance while averaging 10 points per game for Team USA.

Luke Adams is a Texas Tech graduate having earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sports Science and a Master of Science in Sports Management.

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