Why Ulric Maligi Should Be Texas Tech’s Next Head Basketball Coach

The 2022-2023 Basketball season has been one to forget for Texas Tech fans, to say the least. Following the disappointing conclusion of the Mark Adams era in Lubbock, Texas Tech is now looking for a new leader to take the program back to the heights of the college basketball world. There are many names and faces to be considered in this search for a new coach. One such face is quite familiar to the Texas Tech community, one that helped build the program to the level it is at today.

That familiar face is Ulric Maligi, the associate head coach of the Kansas State Wildcats. Maligi has many things to offer including outstanding recruiting ability, vast connections throughout the state of Texas, coaching experience with Texas Tech, and many more traits that make him quite a popular name in the minds of many Texas Tech fans when we think of who will take the reigns for the future of the program. This is why Ulric Maligi should be named the head coach of Texas Tech for the future to lead this team to new heights.

Outstanding Recruiter

Throughout his extensive coaching career, Ulric Maligi has been known to be able to bring recruits wherever he is. As an assistant coach for Texas Tech under Chris Beard, Maligi helped recruit a top-10 class for the 2020 season. This class included very familiar names such as Marcus Santos-Silva, Mac McClung, Chibuzo Agbo, and McDonald’s All-American in Nimari Burnett. Maligi is also credited with recruiting NBA-level talent at his other stops as well such as Houston, Texas A&M, Texas, and most recently Kansas State, where he has just inked the No. 19 class of 2023. It is quite safe to say that he can set the foundation for the future of this program if given the reigns.

Successful Teams In His Career

Throughout his career, Ulric Maligi has been an assistant on several successful teams. In his sixteen-year career, the teams he has been a part of have had 12 winning seasons to 4 losings. Maligi knows how to win basketball games clearly from his lengthy experience of coaching winners. He served as an assistant on 6 NCAA Tournament teams and 2 NIT tournament teams, making him an experienced coach in the regular season as well as in the Postseason. Throughout all of these stops, Maligi has learned how to coach a team to victory as shown this season at Kansas State where he is currently serving as the associate Head Coach of the wildcats, helping to lead them to the best season they have seen in recent memory. This skill of knowing how to will a team to win games is a very valuable one, especially for a first-time head coach.

Familiarity With Lubbock

One very notable qualification for coaching at Tech is the ability to adapt to Lubbock and connect with the community. Maligi already is quite familiar with Lubbock as he has already been here as an assistant to Chris Beard for the 2019-2021 seasons. He has a leg up on the other coaches in the running because the community already knows him and he retains his ties to Lubbock, which stands to help recruiting-wise. Ulric Maligi knows this community and he knows how to engage with the university from his past term here in West Texas.

In conclusion, the end of Mark Adams’ tenure on the South Plains marks not only the end of an era but the beginning of a brand new age in Lubbock. This next hire could make or break the program that has taken years to build to the top. After considering his outstanding recruiting ability, lengthy experience in coaching winning teams, and his familiarity with Lubbock, Ulric Maligi is a name that is sure to be near the top of the list for Kirby Hocutt as we look to find a new leader to usher Texas Tech into a new era on the South Plains.