SAN FRANCISCO — Texas Tech guard Chance McMillian’s status for Thursday’s Sweet 16 game against Arkansas at Chase Center is up in the air.
An oblique injury has kept the Vallejo native and Texas Tech’s third-leading scorer on the sideline for the past three games, including two in the NCAA Tournament.
McMillian said Wednesday that his goal is to play, but second-year Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland told reporters that the senior’s availability will be a game-time decision.
“I’m getting better every day,” McMillian said. “I’ve been in the training room, doing a lot of pool workouts and breathing workouts because I strained my oblique pretty bad, but my goal is to play tomorrow.”
Whether he suits up or not, McMillian is hoping that his path to the Sweet 16 provides an example for the younger generation, just as he followed in the footsteps of Bay Area players he watched growing up.
“I feel like right now I’m just another role model like how Trevor Dunbar (St. Ignatius) and Jabari Bird (Salesian) were for me,” he said. “I feel like I’m just carrying on that role model status for the younger generation right now. I’m that person that they can look up to.”
Naturally, McMillian is excited to be back home.
“I went to school up until high school in San Francisco,” said McMillian, a 2019 graduate of Bethel High in Vallejo. “This is my first game in Northern California too, so I have a lot of people excited to watch this.”
McMillian played his first three high school seasons at St. Patrick-St. Vincent in Vallejo before transferring to Bethel for his senior year.
At Bethel, he averaged 28.2 points per game and won his third straight Tri-County Athletic League Stone Division MVP. He then played one season at Golden State College Prep before attending Grand Canyon University in Arizona.
At GCU, McMillian broke out as a junior in 2022, averaging 10.9 points per game. He transferred to Texas Tech last year and has been a steady scoring presence for the Red Raiders.
In two seasons in Lubbock, McMillian has averaged 12.4 points and four rebounds per game while shooting 41% from the three-point line.
“Chance McMillian is remarkable and I mean that in every way,” McCasland said. “He’s allowed us to coach him and to tell him the truth, but also to give him the path that we felt like gave him the best chance to help our team win.
“He’s told me several times after tough practice moments, ‘Coach, keep coaching us hard. Stay on this team and I will not let you lose the locker room.’ Nobody says that. He’s in the 1% of players that really want that, that can say it and then live it.”
McMillian isn’t the only player from Northern California who will be suiting up for the Red Raiders. Darrion Williams, Texas Tech’s second-leading scorer, played at Capital Christian in Sacramento for two seasons before transferring to Las Vegas powerhouse Bishop Gorman for his junior and senior seasons.
When asked what it’s like for two Texas Tech players to represent NorCal in the Sweet 16, Williams said, “It’s special. Having me and Chance go into (Texas Tech) made the transition a little bit easier, but it’s a blessing to come back and play in front of a bunch of family and friends.”
McMillian’s injury status has been on the minds of Arkansas as well. The 6-foot-2 guard is crafty and can shoot with consistency from beyond the arc, making him a difficult matchup for any opponent.
“They’re telling me Chance is playing,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said. “I’ve had to do tape work on Chance. He’s one of their best players. … He can play. He’s tough, a rebounder and can shoot the ball. Now I got to go back on tape and figure out who he is.”
But even if he can’t suit up on Thursday, McCasland has appreciated McMillian’s determination to return to the floor.
“He’s been remarkably resilient and he’s been as good as a guy on the bench as he was as a player and that’s because of his belief in what we’re doing,” McCasland said. “I think that’s what allows our team to win when he’s not playing.”