Texas Tech Is a Top-15 Offense If These Two Players are Eligible

Texas Tech does not need a new roster to be a Big 12 contender. It needs Darrion Williams and Donovan Atwell back in it. Both are pursuing another season in Lubbock. Williams already has a temporary injunction. Atwell is on the roster and working through the same process. If they play, the offense that finished 14th in KenPom gets its forward and its shooter back. That is the season.

Darrion Williams

Williams is the further along of the two. A McLennan County judge granted a temporary injunction on September 22 covering 31 players, Williams among them. He can practice and compete until a final hearing. The season opens in November. That is enough runway to be in the rotation from the start.

He is back after a year at NC State. In two seasons at Texas Tech he averaged 13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, made All-Big 12 first team in 2025, and scored 23 in the Elite Eight loss to Florida. He is 6-6. He can finish a possession against Big 12 length without needing a new role.

Donovan Atwell

Atwell is the shooter. Texas Tech announced in August that he would return. A hearing that had been set for September 11 was moved, so his paperwork is a step behind Williams. The production is not in doubt.

He started all 34 games, averaged 13.5 points and 3.2 rebounds, and shot 45.8% from three on 8.4 attheempts a game. He broke the Texas Tech single-season three-point record. He played Summer League with the Bulls after going undrafted. If he is cleared, he is the spacer a 14th-ranked offense can actually use.

If they play

Texas Tech was 14th in KenPom offense and 6th in Torvik’s adjusted offense. LeJuan Watts, who started 28 of 33 and averaged 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in that offense, is at Washington. Williams and Atwell are the two who can keep the number from falling. Williams creates and rebounds. Atwell makes the threes. Together they are a top-15 offense walking into the Big 12 with a coach who already took this program to the Elite Eight.The outlook if both are cleared is a conference contender. One NCAA bid is the floor. A top-four Big 12 finish is the realistic case. March is available if both are in the lineup when the league schedule starts.Williams is the more certain of the two, because the injunction is already written. Atwell is on the roster and lined up to join him. Jamichael Stillwell, the UCF forward, is in the same process and gives McCasland another body if his case lands the same way.The exhibitions will not settle the paperwork. The roster case is already clear. Texas Tech is a top-15 offense with Williams and Atwell on the floor. That is the team to write.