College basketball has undergone some interesting changes over the past decade, as the transfer portal has made recruiting current college players more important than adding high school talent to the roster. But one true freshman at Texas Tech is turning heads heading into the 2024-25 season. In fact, at Big 12 Media Days in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, Red Raiders head coach Grant McCasland singled out Christian Anderson as a player he thinks will be a surprise factor in the Big 12 this year.
“We have an underrated freshman in Christian Anderson that I think will be a surprise for the Big 12,” McCasland said. “I love him, he’s a great player. He can do anything. He won a gold medal this summer with the (U-18) Germany national team. I’m really looking forward to him.”
As many college basketball fans focus on the transfer portal as programs look to find talent who will make an immediate difference through recruiting avenues, some college basketball fans (particularly players like Texas Tech) Fans who follow programs that aren’t majoring in five-star high school recruiting (talent) may not be as familiar with the high school players scheduled to arrive on campus this fall.
This year, the Red Raiders added two high school players to the program, Anderson and Leon Horner, a three-star forward from Dallas, Texas. While Horner is more of a development player, Anderson, a senior transfer from Minnesota, will be on the floor right away as the backup point guard to new starter Elijah Hawkins.
Anderson, who is originally from Germany but played high school basketball in Atlanta, Georgia, was a four-star prospect who originally committed to Michigan before signing with Tech. He is ranked the No. 122 overall player and No. 10 point guard in the nation in his class, according to 247Sports.com’s overall rankings.
Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 165 pounds, he represented Germany at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket Championship, averaging 20.3 points and 5.0 assists per game, helping them win the gold medal. Now, he has apparently earned a role with the Red Raiders as a true freshman and will soon be competing in the best conference in America.
Time will tell if Anderson lives up to McCasland’s demands and becomes the surprise of the conference this year. But there’s no doubt those in the Texas Tech basketball program are excited about him, and he’ll be a player to watch when the Red Raiders take on Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 5.
