Texas Tech made a hefty addition to its roster on Wednesday that should help the Red Raiders return to prominence after an 18-13 campaign. Former VCU forward Marcus Santos-Silva announced he will finish his career with the Red Raiders after averaging 12.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game with the Rams last season.

The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Massachusetts native will have one season left to play and would be eligible immediately if he can graduate from VCU before the start of the new academic year.

Landing Santos-Silva is a big win for coach Chris Beard as Texas Tech is losing its top interior presence, T.J. Holyfield, to graduation. Aside from Holyfield’s departure and Jahmi’us Ramsey heading to the NBA Draft after a standout freshman season, Texas Tech is expected to return most of its contributors from last season’s squad.

Adding Santos-Silva along with three four-star prospects from the 2020 recruiting class should elevate Texas Tech back to the top tier of the Big 12 and keep the program’s momentum alive from a 2019 national title game appearance.

He’s slightly undersized at 6-7. But Santos-Silva still managed to block 1.3 shots per game while leading the Rams in scoring and rebounding as a workhorse down low this season. After declaring for the draft in early April, he announced he planned to transfer instead. He also considered, Georgia, Maryland, Ole Miss, Penn State and Arizona State.