Lady Raiders Land Ole Miss Sharpshooter Snudda Collins: Instant Fan Favorite — or Krista Gerlich’s Opening Salvo in a Big 12 Power Play?

LUBBOCK, Texas — Just a few weeks after watching her program grind its way to a 19‑18 finish and a WBIT quarter‑final in Year 5 of her rebuild, head coach Krista Gerlich wasted no time firing the first off‑season cannon shot. On 8 June, Texas Tech officially announced the signing of Ole Miss graduate transfer Snudda Collins, a 6‑foot‑1 wing whose résumé screams “big‑game ready.”

For Lady Raider die‑hards, the move has obvious curb appeal. Collins is the walking definition of a crowd‑pleaser: she shattered the Ole Miss freshman debut scoring record with 23 points, nailed 43.0 percent of her threes that season and never relinquished her status as the Rebels’ perimeter bell‑cow. Across 118 career appearances (73 starts), she buried 175 triples on 574 attempts — good for fifth and fourth, respectively, on the program’s all‑time lists.

That single statistic alone addresses the Red & Black’s most glaring weakness from a year ago, when Tech finished bottom‑three in the Big 12 for three‑point makes (5.2 per game) and accuracy (29.7 percent).

But step back from the fireworks for a moment and the acquisition looks even more strategic. Texas Tech stumbled to a 4‑14 league mark last season, tying for 12th in an expanded Big 12 that now includes Utah, Arizona, and Colorado.

 Despite flashes of brilliance from dynamic guard Jasmine Shavers (14.9 ppg) and the energy of rim‑protector Sarengbe Sanogo, Gerlich’s squad struggled to manufacture spacing late in games; defenders routinely collapsed on drives, daring Tech’s wings to shoot. Collins shifts that geometry overnight. Skip a rotation against her and she will turn the United Supermarkets Arena into her personal one‑woman light show.

The modern Big 12 is a nightly gantlet of multiple‑defense presses, four‑out motion offenses and 6‑foot wings who close space like NFL cornerbacks. Collins has already survived—and thrived—in an SEC that churned out NCAA Tournament mainstays each of her four seasons. She played 27 minutes a night as a sophomore on an Ole Miss squad that stunned Stanford on its way to the Sweet 16, then upped her minutes and scoring in 2023‑24 while the Rebels cracked 24 wins and a third‑place SEC finish.

While the headline is the jumper, Collins’ 6‑foot‑1 frame and 6‑4 wingspan (per Ole Miss strength data) allow her to switch across three positions. She logged 16 blocks and 17 steals last season by simply reading passing lanes and baiting wings into pick‑six passes. Those instincts fit nicely beside Shavers, whose offensive burden sometimes limits her defensive juice late in games.

The Lady Raiders will have only two seniors on the 2025‑26 roster. Collins has already spent four years in film rooms dissecting SEC scouting reports and owns two SEC All‑Academic nods to prove she digests them. Gerlich’s locker room just gained a translator who can turn white‑board scribbles into on‑court accountability.

Assuming Collins slides into the starting three‑spot, look for sophomore slasher Bailey Maupin—Tech’s assists leader last year—to enjoy newly unclogged lanes. Maupin’s drive‑and‑kick game produced 2.2 assists per night despite minimal shooting gravity around her; flank her with a 37‑percent career sniper and those kick‑outs suddenly become hockey assists. Freed from constant traps, Shavers can conserve energy for her disruptive on‑ball defense, and Sanogo gets an extra half‑step of roll room when weak‑side dig defenders hesitate.

Gerlich also imported Iowa State transfer Jalynn Bristow and Baylor grad guard Denae Fritz, adding length and toughness on the perimeter. Yet neither newcomer combines Collins’ volume shooting with the been‑there composure of a four‑year SEC starter. If chemistry clicks quickly, Tech’s spacing could resemble Gerlich’s high‑octane Tarleton squads rather than last year’s rock fights.

The million‑dollar question is whether Collins is merely a cosmetic boost or the vanguard of a larger push. Texas Tech’s 2025 signing class already ranks top‑40 nationally, but powerhouse Baylor reloaded with a pair of McDonald’s All‑Americans and Utah returns three double‑figure scorers. To crash that party, Gerlich needs more than moral victories—she needs statement road wins and a résumé the NCAA committee can’t ignore.

Collins alone doesn’t guarantee that leap, but she does give Tech a card it has not held since Vivian Gray: a player opponents must scheme for from the moment they crack open Synergy. Force the Big 12’s upper tier to dedicate a defender to her, and suddenly Shavers finds herself facing single coverage; Maupin’s downhill burst becomes a nightmare to tag; freshman post Aaliyah Chambers can duck‑in against scrambling rotations instead of planted shot‑blockers.

If the Lady Raiders translate that theoretical advantage into tangible February victories, historians may circle 8 June 2025 as the day Gerlich’s rebuild turned a corner. If not, at worst she has added fireworks that will keep tickets moving and provide her young locker room a masterclass in professionalism.

Snudda Collins checks every box on paper: scoring pedigree, Power‑Five battle scars, classroom maturity and an infectious motor. She thrills fans by launching threes from the Jones AT&T Stadium logo, yet her value to Gerlich lies deeper—in the film sessions where her voice can steady freshmen, in the fourth‑quarter possessions where her court gravity tilts entire defenses.

Is the signing mostly about pumping adrenaline into a fan base itching for NCAA relevance? Absolutely. But it is also chess, not checkers: Gerlich has quietly assembled a roster with switchable length, multiple playmakers and now, at last, a proven floor‑spacer. Whether that alchemy forges a genuine Big 12 dark horse or just a more watchable middle‑tier squad will play out between November and March.