Mark Adams always wanted to be a Red Raiders quarterback or part of the basketball team when he was growing up in a small farming community about 30 miles from the Texas Tech campus.

As a Tech student in the late 1970s, Adams asked former basketball coach Gerald Myers a lot of questions. When the Red Raiders made it to the national championship game three seasons ago, after an Elite Eight appearance the previous year, Adams was Chris Beard's top assistant.

At age 65, Adams is now head coach at his alma mater, his first season as the top guy at the Division I level in a coaching career spanning four decades with 554 wins at five lower-level schools. The season opener is Nov. 9 at home against North Florida.