Texas Tech Women’s Basketball: 5 Big Changes

Texas Tech women’s basketball is entering the 2026-27 season with a dramatically different identity.

After producing one of the strongest campaigns in the program’s recent history, the Lady Raiders face a difficult challenge: replacing a large senior class while attempting to maintain the momentum created by last season’s breakthrough.

Texas Tech finished the 2025-26 season with a 26-8 overall record and went 12-6 in Big 12 play. The Lady Raiders also returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, won an NCAA Tournament game and finished fourth in the conference after being picked 13th in the preseason Big 12 poll.

Now, head coach Krista Gerlich has to build a new team.

The transition is significant. Nine seniors graduated from last year’s roster, leaving Texas Tech with just a small number of returning players and a large group of newcomers. The program has responded by leaning heavily on recruiting, player development, staff restructuring and additional offseason preparation.

Here are five major changes shaping the next chapter of Texas Tech women’s basketball.

Texas Tech Women’s Basketball Faces a Major Roster Reset

The most obvious change is the composition of the roster.

Texas Tech’s successful 2025-26 team relied on a group of experienced players who helped the Lady Raiders make their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years. That experience is now largely gone.

Nine seniors departed after the season, creating a major rebuilding project for Gerlich and her staff.

The coaching staff recognized the challenge early.

Instead of treating the offseason as a normal transition, Texas Tech made a deliberate effort to give its new players more opportunities to practice and compete together.

The result was an unusually busy summer.

The Lady Raiders spent time together on campus before traveling to Canada for two exhibition-style summer games. Gerlich explained that the program wanted the additional time together because of the number of new players entering the team.

That approach reflects the scale of the rebuild.

Chemistry cannot be assumed when most of the roster is new. Players need time to understand one another’s tendencies, learn the defensive system and develop trust in pressure situations.

For Texas Tech, those details could become just as important as individual talent.

A New Generation Is Taking Over

The 2026-27 roster is not simply a replacement group.

It is a new generation of Lady Raiders.

Texas Tech added five players through the transfer portal while also bringing in a large group of younger players. Yahoo Sports previously reported that the program expected to need veteran experience after losing nine seniors, making the transfer portal a central part of its offseason strategy.

The new roster includes a mixture of transfers and freshmen.

That combination gives Gerlich different tools to work with, but it also creates another challenge.

Freshmen need development.

Transfers need integration.

And experienced players must establish leadership.

The coaching staff therefore has to find the right balance between immediate competitiveness and long-term development.

That process could determine how quickly Texas Tech moves from rebuilding mode to genuine Big 12 contention.

Texas Tech Women’s Basketball Is Investing in Chemistry

The decision to travel internationally was more than a promotional opportunity.

It was also a basketball decision.

Texas Tech traveled to Canada in August, playing the University of British Columbia and UBC Okanagan at the Langley Events Centre in British Columbia. The trip followed a similar international experience in 2025, when the Lady Raiders represented the United States at the FISU World University Games in Germany and won a silver medal.

For a team with so many new players, the timing was particularly valuable.

International travel creates situations that ordinary practices cannot replicate.

Players spend more time together away from the court. They have to adjust to unfamiliar environments and opponents. Coaches also get additional opportunities to evaluate combinations before the official season begins.

Gerlich specifically emphasized the importance of team togetherness and additional practice time.

That emphasis could prove crucial.

The 2025-26 Lady Raiders established their identity through consistency and collective effort. They began the season 19-0 and eventually spent 12 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25.

The challenge now is recreating that collective identity with a substantially different group.

Staff Changes Give the Program a New Structure

The transformation is not limited to the players.

Texas Tech has also reshaped its basketball staff.

In September, the program promoted Erik DeRoo to general manager while he continues serving as associate coach. Ashlee Villarreal was also elevated to assistant athletic director for basketball operations.

Those changes are significant because college basketball roster management has become increasingly complex.

DeRoo’s expanded role will focus on roster construction, talent acquisition, scholarship allocation and personnel evaluation. Texas Tech also said he will incorporate analytics into roster decisions and help identify opportunities for long-term program development.

In practical terms, that means Texas Tech is building a more structured approach to roster management.

The traditional coaching model has changed dramatically.

Recruiting is no longer limited to high school prospects. Coaches must monitor transfers, manage scholarship numbers, evaluate player development and anticipate roster movement.

A dedicated general manager can help organize those responsibilities.

For Gerlich, the arrangement also allows her to focus more heavily on coaching, development and the team’s competitive identity.

Texas Tech Women’s Basketball Has Added New Coaching Talent

The staff transition goes even deeper.

Texas Tech announced six full-time staff additions in June, including a video coordinator and several coaching assistants. The additions were part of an effort to strengthen the program heading into a season with a substantially different roster.

Jackson Davis joined as video coordinator after spending five seasons with North Texas women’s basketball.

His responsibilities at Texas Tech include video operations, analytics, scouting support and player development initiatives.

The program also added Ryan McMinn, Isaiah Fernandez, Kaden Cleavinger, Hazuki Inamine and Shantavia Dawkins in coaching-assistant roles.

The timing of those hires is important.

The NCAA changed its rules during the offseason, allowing full-time staff members to coach student-athletes directly. That creates additional flexibility for programs building larger and more specialized staffs.

Texas Tech is taking advantage of that environment.

The goal is not simply to add more people.

It is to create a staff capable of handling modern college basketball’s expanding demands.

Krista Gerlich Has Raised the Standard

Perhaps the biggest reason expectations remain high is Gerlich herself.

Last season represented a major breakthrough for the Texas Tech coach.

The Lady Raiders were picked 13th in the Big 12 preseason poll but finished fourth with a 12-6 conference record. Their 26 victories were the program’s most since 2002-03, while their 12 Big 12 wins were the most since 2004-05.

Gerlich was subsequently named Big 12 Coach of the Year.

She also signed a four-year contract extension following the season, giving the program continuity at the top as it enters a major rebuilding phase.

That stability matters.

A coaching change would have created another layer of uncertainty after losing so many players.

Instead, the Lady Raiders have the same head coach who helped establish the winning culture that produced the 19-0 start and NCAA Tournament return.

The question is whether she can reproduce that success with a completely different group.

The 2026-27 Schedule Will Test the New Team

Texas Tech will not have an easy runway into the new season.

The Lady Raiders open their regular-season schedule at home against Charlotte on Nov. 5. They will also host Lamar, Auburn, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas Southern and North Florida during nonconference play.

The schedule then becomes considerably more demanding.

Texas Tech will participate in the WBCA Showcase in Orlando, where it is scheduled to face North Carolina, Purdue and South Florida.

The games are particularly useful for a young or rebuilt team because they provide high-level competition before Big 12 play begins.

Texas Tech will also participate in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

That gives the new roster several opportunities to discover where it stands against different styles of basketball.

For Gerlich, those games will be valuable evaluation opportunities.

The goal is not necessarily to dominate every early matchup.

It is to determine which players can handle pressure, which combinations work and where the team’s biggest weaknesses remain.

Can the New Texas Tech Women’s Basketball Team Repeat Last Year’s Success?

That is the central question surrounding the program.

Last season’s success changed expectations.

A team picked near the bottom of the Big 12 finished fourth.

A program that had not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2013 returned to March Madness.

A 19-game winning streak matched the longest single-season winning streak in program history.

Those accomplishments create momentum.

But they also create pressure.

Opponents will no longer overlook Texas Tech.

The Lady Raiders will enter the new season with considerably more attention than they received a year ago.

Meanwhile, the roster has to prove that last season was the beginning of a new era rather than an isolated breakthrough.

The answer will depend on several factors.

First, the newcomers must adapt quickly.

Second, returning players must become leaders.

Third, Gerlich and her staff must develop a reliable rotation.

Finally, the program must maintain the defensive toughness and collective identity that helped drive last season’s success.

A Reshaped Program With Bigger Ambitions

The story of Texas Tech women’s basketball heading into 2026-27 is not simply about replacing nine seniors.

It is about attempting to turn a breakthrough season into sustained success.

The Lady Raiders have reshaped their roster, expanded their staff and created a new general-manager role focused on roster construction. They have also invested heavily in summer preparation, including an international trip designed to accelerate team chemistry.

Those moves suggest that Texas Tech is thinking beyond one season.

The program’s goal is to build a structure capable of competing consistently in the Big 12 and returning to the NCAA Tournament.

The challenge is that success is harder to repeat than to achieve for the first time.

The 2025-26 team had experienced players who understood Gerlich’s system and played together for an entire season.

The new group must develop that chemistry from scratch.

Still, there are reasons for optimism.

Gerlich remains in charge. The program has added experienced staff members. The roster includes both transfers and young talent. And the coaching staff has already recognized the importance of giving the players extra time together.

The 2026-27 season will therefore be a test of whether Texas Tech can turn momentum into a sustainable program.

The Lady Raiders may look different when they take the court.

But the expectations are no longer the same.

After ending a 13-year NCAA Tournament drought, Texas Tech has established a new standard.

Now, the challenge is to keep climbing.