Why Paul Mills Should be Texas Tech’s Next Head Coach

With Mark Adam’s resignation becoming official, Texas Tech is now looking for a new Head Basketball Coach. Looking outward, the Red Raiders could go after Oral Roberts Head Coach Paul Mills, a successful coach at a mid-major. Here is why Paul Mill should be the next Texas Tech Head Basketball Coach:

Record of Success

Mills has been a Division 1 Coach since 2003 and has only had two stops in his career, Baylor with Scott Drew for 14 years and now Oral Roberts. He took a middling Oral Roberts program and has turned them into one of the best mid-majors in the nation.

His last three season have been very successful, with a Sweet 16 run in 2021 featuring Red Raider Kevin Obanor and a respectable 19-12 season last year plagued with injuries to star Max Abmas. This season, the Golden Eagles are undefeated in conference play and appear to be heading towards another deep NCAA Tournament run. He has studs on his roster such as All-American Max Abmas and 7’5″ rim protector Connor Vanover.

Over his 6 seasons at Oral Roberts, Mills has accumulated 106 victories and has four straight winning seasons.

Recruiting

Mills has an eye for developing under-recruited talent, as the two best players in his tenure were unranked players that had little-to-no interest coming from anywhere else. Kevin Obanor was a part of Mills’ first recruiting class and has turned into a great player. Max Abmas was an undersized guard coming out of high school and has turned into an All-American.

Not only has Mills found good talent in the high school ranks, he’s done an excellent job pulling from the Transfer Portal to find talent and fill gaps in his roster. This season alone, he went and got Connor Vanover, a 7’5″ stretch big man that can shoot and defend the rim. Last season, he got Isaac McBride, a guy that averages almost 12 points per game and can rebound and pass well.

With his recruiting ability, Mills would have no problem getting high-caliber recruits to Lubbock.

Spread System

Mills has run a spread offensive system at Oral Roberts that includes a ton of spacing on the perimeter and one man in the post. This allows for ball screen and high pick-and-rolls. This type of offense allows for a lot of open looks from three and a ton of one-on-one matchups in the post for anyone.

Defensively, it’s a bit different than what Texas Tech is used to as there’s not too much switching on ball screens. He runs a man-to-man defense that doubles post entries and pressures ball handlers. He wants to avoid allowing teams to run things through the middle of the floor and the paint.

What would you think of Paul Mills being the next Head Basketball Coach at Texas Tech? Let us know in the comments below!