After heavy turnover on the basketball staff this off-season with assistants moving up the ranks in other programs, Coach Chris Beard has been busy recruiting players and new coaches. He's gotten some serious talent on the court, and is now announcing some serious talent on the bench.

Glynn Cyprien was announced as an assistant coach, replacing coach Al Pinkins, who accepted a job at the University of Florida this off-season.

Cyprien has most recently been in the NBA as a coach with the Memphis Grizzlies and was the G-League affiliate coach in 2017-18 for the Memphis Hustle, where he says they played a "grimy, defensive-style, with pace."

That sounds familiar.

Before his stint in Memphis, Cyprien was all over college basketball, most notably with the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2000 to 2004. Sean Sutton was an assistant coach on that team and is now on the staff at Texas Tech as an adviser to Chris Beard. Cyprien was also part of the during Billy Gillispie's run in Kentucky.

Cyprien has also coached at Texas A&M, UNLV, Memphis and Arkansas.

The road warrior no doubt has a ton of contacts after being in the business since 1987 and will be a valuable coach with collegiate and professional experience. He also played college basketball at Southern University in New Orleans.

In total, Coach Cyprien has recruited the country for 11 schools in the last 30 years, with most of the schools reside in the south and in basketball rich areas. Add in the recruiting value and the contacts he's made with great coaches in the past, along with the perspective of coming from the professional level, and Cyprien is truly a major hire for Coach Beard.

Texas Tech's coaching staff is looking solid heading into the 2018-19 season.

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