Five minutes before the start of a basketball game in a Big 12 Conference arena, a nonconference coach takes in his surroundings.
His eyes wander around the arena and eventually come to a stop on a Daily Toreador reporter standing courtside.
He then asks the reporter where the student support is. The reporter struggles to find an answer.
When opposing coaches notice the lack of fans in attendance at a home football or basketball game, it’s time to admit you have a problem.
And by you, we mean Texas Tech students.
The purpose of this editorial is to urge you to attend the few home games that you, as students, are afforded during a given year.
Sure, a Jones AT&T Stadium attendance record was set when then-No. 6 Tech upset then-No. 1 Texas on Nov. 2, 2008. More than 56,000 people attended that game.
Now, fast forward one year and look at the attendance at the most recent home game when Tech beat Kansas: 47,291.
47,291? Really? That came after a record crowd of 57,733 showed up the week before as Tech lost to Texas A&M.
Of course students do not account for all or even a majority of attendance, but they do set the tone for fan support.
For example, if students are loud throughout the game, the season-ticket holders and ticketed attendees generally follow suit. But that fan support has to be consistent to be effective.
Students have to realize the administration decided to expand Jones AT&T Stadium not only because of the increase in performance of the football team, but because attendance was large enough that it seemed warranted.
Against Kansas, one week after the Texas A&M game, those expansion seats were bare.
If students want Tech athletics to be taken seriously on the level some of its Big 12 counterparts are, the movement has to begin with fan support.
When Tech played Nebraska in October, the Cornhuskers had sold out 301 consecutive games. By contrast, Tech has not had a game with capacity attendance this season.
Unfortunately, the same amount of support afforded to the football team (which is inconsistent at best) is not extended to Tech men’s or women’s basketball.
As in football, Tech basketball is at a disadvantage when trying to recruit players to the university. It has to compete with the likes of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and more recently Missouri and Baylor, among others.
When a recruit makes his or her respective visit to Tech and attends a game in an arena that is more than half empty, it is not a very solid display of support for what might be a future Red Raider.
Fans are integral in providing recruits with a reason to attend a school that doesn’t consistently compete on the same level as the Longhorns or Jayhawks.
If a recruit sees fans don’t even support current players, why would he or she have a reason to believe the fans would support them?
Coaches can only do so much in generating fan support.
Pat Knight interacts with the fans as much as any coach in the country. But if there are no fans in attendance to interact with, then it becomes a moot point.
Show up to the football game Saturday so Tech can avoid the embarrassment of having a regionally televised game littered with empty seats and non-existent cheers. You might be surprised to find that a little support can go a long way.
And when you’re done with that, pick up a basketball schedule and plan your next trip to the United Spirit Arena.
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