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BATON ROUGE, La. — Adlee Blacklock feels like she's seen this before.
An overlooked team. No expectations from outside the locker room.
It's not just this year's Texas Tech women's basketball team. The senior guard had an eerily similar experience in her second season at Oregon State.
Picked to finish near the bottom of the Pac-12, the Beavers shocked pundits with a breakout season that ended in the Elite Eight. NCAA Tournament run pending, the Lady Raiders are living out their own underdog story.
Texas Tech women's basketball: Complete coverage of the Lady Raiders from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Coaches voted Tech 13th in the preseason Big 12 poll. The team responded with a turnaround that saw it finish tied for fourth in the conference.
The Lady Raiders will see how closely they can duplicate OSU's surprise when they open the NCAA Tournament against Villanova on Friday.
"I have a lot of deja vu from this year," Blacklock said. "My Oregon State team, we missed the tournament my freshman year. Then sophomore year, we were picked third-to-last in the conference. We ended up finishing fourth in the conference."
It became Blacklock's mission to help her hometown school get back to the big dance.
More: Bristow siblings enjoying successes of Texas Tech women's, Alabama men's basketball
In what Tech coach Krista Gerlich called "divine intervention," the Pac-12 dissolved in 2024, leaving OSU's roster searching for other options. Gerlich had recruited Blacklock while coaching at UT-Arlington, and she told the Lubbock native the door was always open at Tech.
Blacklock didn't hesitate. She recalled a discussion in Gerlich's office soon after committing to contributing to the coach's vision.
"I know what it's like to be on a team that doesn't necessarily have success," Blacklock told Gerlich, "but I can see how quickly it can turn around with the right people and the right people that are bought in. I remember telling her I'm bought in to whatever you're building here, and I believed that she could do it."
The chance to come home didn't hurt, either. A Lubbock-Cooper graduate after spending three years at Trinity Christian, Blacklock said she loses track of how many supporters come to United Supermarkets Arena for her. Oftentimes, she'll have to ask teammates for extra tickets, too.
"I'm super close to my family," Blacklock said, "so being able to be a 20-minute drive versus a 28-hour drive is always nice. … My teammates joke with me because I always have to ask our international teammates for tickets because they have extra."
Blacklock never knows who she might see. She said she'll spot teachers or other significant figures from her childhood in the crowd, a feeling that never gets old.
"It's just super cool for me to see people like that," Blacklock said, "or mentors that have been in different seasons of my life. Now I'm all grown up. Still seeing them in the stands is just surreal for me."
Blacklock's family was in the stands long before she joined the program. She grew up going to Lady Raiders games, but even she doesn't have memories of their last appearance in the NCAA Tournament 13 years ago.
No doubt she'll remember this time.
"For as long as I remember going to games, I don't remember being a fan when they made it to the NCAA Tournament," Blacklock said. "So, being able to be a part of the first team that's done that in 13 years is obviously a little surreal for me. I'm just super excited to be a part of it, and there's no other team I would want to do it with."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech's Adlee Blacklock sees similarities with Oregon State run
Continue reading...
An overlooked team. No expectations from outside the locker room.
It's not just this year's Texas Tech women's basketball team. The senior guard had an eerily similar experience in her second season at Oregon State.
Picked to finish near the bottom of the Pac-12, the Beavers shocked pundits with a breakout season that ended in the Elite Eight. NCAA Tournament run pending, the Lady Raiders are living out their own underdog story.
Texas Tech women's basketball: Complete coverage of the Lady Raiders from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Coaches voted Tech 13th in the preseason Big 12 poll. The team responded with a turnaround that saw it finish tied for fourth in the conference.
The Lady Raiders will see how closely they can duplicate OSU's surprise when they open the NCAA Tournament against Villanova on Friday.
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"I have a lot of deja vu from this year," Blacklock said. "My Oregon State team, we missed the tournament my freshman year. Then sophomore year, we were picked third-to-last in the conference. We ended up finishing fourth in the conference."
It became Blacklock's mission to help her hometown school get back to the big dance.
More: Bristow siblings enjoying successes of Texas Tech women's, Alabama men's basketball
In what Tech coach Krista Gerlich called "divine intervention," the Pac-12 dissolved in 2024, leaving OSU's roster searching for other options. Gerlich had recruited Blacklock while coaching at UT-Arlington, and she told the Lubbock native the door was always open at Tech.
Blacklock didn't hesitate. She recalled a discussion in Gerlich's office soon after committing to contributing to the coach's vision.
"I know what it's like to be on a team that doesn't necessarily have success," Blacklock told Gerlich, "but I can see how quickly it can turn around with the right people and the right people that are bought in. I remember telling her I'm bought in to whatever you're building here, and I believed that she could do it."
The chance to come home didn't hurt, either. A Lubbock-Cooper graduate after spending three years at Trinity Christian, Blacklock said she loses track of how many supporters come to United Supermarkets Arena for her. Oftentimes, she'll have to ask teammates for extra tickets, too.
"I'm super close to my family," Blacklock said, "so being able to be a 20-minute drive versus a 28-hour drive is always nice. … My teammates joke with me because I always have to ask our international teammates for tickets because they have extra."
Blacklock never knows who she might see. She said she'll spot teachers or other significant figures from her childhood in the crowd, a feeling that never gets old.
"It's just super cool for me to see people like that," Blacklock said, "or mentors that have been in different seasons of my life. Now I'm all grown up. Still seeing them in the stands is just surreal for me."
Blacklock's family was in the stands long before she joined the program. She grew up going to Lady Raiders games, but even she doesn't have memories of their last appearance in the NCAA Tournament 13 years ago.
No doubt she'll remember this time.
"For as long as I remember going to games, I don't remember being a fan when they made it to the NCAA Tournament," Blacklock said. "So, being able to be a part of the first team that's done that in 13 years is obviously a little surreal for me. I'm just super excited to be a part of it, and there's no other team I would want to do it with."
You must be registered for see images attach
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech's Adlee Blacklock sees similarities with Oregon State run
Continue reading...
