Foes & friends: Texas Tech basketball players have unique blend of NCAA Tournament experiences

When assembling his inaugural Texas Tech basketball roster, head coach Grant McCasland searched for one big attribute: a winning pedigree.

A specific kind of winning, that is.

Inheriting a team that wanted to experience March Madness in a Red Raider uniform, McCasland sought players with NCAA Tournament experience. Kerwin Walton was the lone returner who did, having been on North Carolina's national runner-up team in 2022 before transferring to Tech.

McCasland found five such players. Not only had these recruits been in the tournament before, all had experience against their new teammates in the big dance.

Three were on the floor together a year ago in the First Four. Warren Washington and Devan Cambridge guided Arizona State to a win over Nevada, which featured Darrion Williams. Washington and Williams just narrowly missed being teammates with the Wolf Pack, then went from foes to friends in a matter of months.

"It's funny how it works," Washington said in October. "I feel like everything happens for a reason."

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A year later, Washington and Williams hope to be healthy enough to take the floor together in what is each's second NCAA Tournament appearance. Both are dealing with injuries, but the pair played a crucial role in getting Tech to the tournament.

Cambridge, who likes to remind Williams who won that game — Arizona State, by a 98-73 score — and who hit two 3-pointers over Williams — Cambridge did — won't get a chance to contribute on the court. After a season-ending knee injury in December, Cambridge has his sights on helping Tech make it back-to-back trips next year, as he plans to return on a medical hardship waiver.

Cambridge, Williams and Washington aren't the only Red Raiders to have March Madness experience against each other.

The 2021 NCAA Tournament, held in the Indianapolis area, was where McCasland got his name into the national conversation after leading North Texas to an upset of Purdue. The next day, Joe Toussaint got his first taste of the tournament.

Signing with Iowa out of high school, Toussaint was on one of the best teams during the 2021-22 season. Led by 6-foot-10 national player of the year Luka Garza, the Hawkeyes entered the tourney as a 2-seed, one of the favorites to win the whole thing.

COVID-19 protocols called for a very different experience than Toussaint anticipated.

"Everything was just weird," Toussaint said. "We were all sitting away from each other. Hotel was weird. Practices in the hotel. Just a whole bunch of weird things going on."

Then a sophomore, Toussaint said he was just happy to be in the tournament. But that weirdness wouldn't come full circle until a few years later when the man he scored his first NCAA Tournament points against became his Tech teammate.

Chance McMillian would rather not pull up highlights of that 2021 tournament game between his Grand Canyon Antelopes and Iowa. One play in particular he'd prefer to let live in the past.

Grand Canyon — which also featured Tech assistant Achoki Moikobu as the director of recruiting — was making its first tournament appearance. McMillian, a true freshman, crouched into his defensive stance ready to track the Iowa ball handler. To his left was Garza, the burly brute, bluffing a screen to McMillian's left side.

McMillian turned his head slightly to see where Garza was. In the split second it took to refocus, Garza slipped to McMillian's right for the screen. Out of position, McMillian was unable to catch up as his man got to the rim for the layup.

The man he was defending was Toussaint, who let out a chuckle when remembering the play years later.

"I would say my first (NCAA Tournament) I was a little more starstruck," McMillian said. "Like, I'm in March Madness. But the second time, I came with some vengeance because I didn't score a basket (against Iowa), so I made sure I got a bucket the second time."

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Iowa handled Grand Canyon 86-74. Toussaint, who scored five points and had two assists in his debut, has since been to two other NCAA Tournaments, one more with Iowa and another last year with West Virginia.

Walton has the most significant NCAA Tournament run of all current Red Raiders. Being part of the Tar Heels' trip to the national championship game is something the Hopkins, Minn., native said he'll cherish forever. It's also something he wants his teammates to experience.

"Their first experience is gonna be. ... they're gonna be shocked by it," Walton said. "Just seeing all the people and all those fans, all the teams that are in the same area, it's something different."

Walton is the only Red Raider to have made it to the Sweet 16 or beyond. Williams, Washington and McMillian are still in search of their first NCAA Tournament wins outside of the First Four. Toussaint, making his fourth appearance, is now the starting point guard for a tourney team rather than a spark plug off the bench.

McMillian stuck to his word. Going scoreless against Toussaint and co., he and the Antelopes returned to the tournament last year and McMillian scored 16 points against Gonzaga. Again, though, it was in a losing effort.

"This time, I'm just ready to actually win a game and then just go from there," McMillian said. "Just take it one game at a time."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech basketball players have unique blend of NCAA Tournament experiences