The next step of The Process is official for Zhaire Smith as Texas Tech’s first one-and-done player was acquired during a NBA Draft night trade by the Philadelphia 76ers after being selected with the 16th overall pick by the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. 

Smith is the second player in program history to be selected in the NBA Draft First Round. Tony Battie was chosen with the fifth overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in 1997. 

Smith dialed up 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per game over his 37 appearances during his freshman season. His 417 total points were a program single-season freshman record. The Garland native also was the first freshman to tuck away All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and USBWA All-District 7 First-Team status. 

Smith reached double figures in 27 games which was second on the team only behind Keenan Evans. He connected on 55.6 percent of his field goal attempts, good enough for fourth place on the Big 12 leaderboard. His 185 rebounds, 42 blocks and 42 steals led the team. The 1.1 blocks per game were tied for 10th and the 1.1 steals per game were 15th in the Big 12 rankings.

The Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office is selling season tickets for as low as $135 and taking season ticket renewals for the upcoming 2018-19 season online at www.TexasTech.com. Fans also can renew their season tickets or purchase season tickets in person at the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office located on the East Side of Jones AT&T Stadium or over the phone at (806) 742-8324 (TECH). Information on single-game tickets and mini-plans will be announced at a later date by the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office. 

Texas Tech is coming off the program’s first NCAA Elite Eight trip and a program-best second-place Big 12 finish en route to a 27-10 record in 2017-18. The 27 wins were the second-highest total in program history for a season only behind the 30-2 mark put together by the 1995-96 squad under James Dickey.

The Red Raiders also set a program single season record with eight victories over Associated Press Top 25 opponents and captured a program-best No. 6 final ranking in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 poll.   

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men’s basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. 

Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics Communications Department