BY JEFF WALKER l A-J SPORTS EDITOR

Five seniors, all with unique journeys, will take the United Spirit Arena floor for the last time tonight when the Red Raiders host No. 9 Kansas in their regular-season finale.

For one, his Tech career has been plagued by injuries. Yet, he still has accomplished more than he expected.

For another, a quiet kid from Plano with a confidence problem blossomed into the jack-of-all-trades, energizer-off-the-bench player in his final season that the coaches expected.

This coaching staff’s only 7-footer endured broken bones to his eye socket during his tenure in Lubbock, but he’s set to accomplish in his words, the best thing — graduating.

Perhaps epitomizing the typical college career, a 6-foot-3 guard steadily improved throughout his days in Lubbock, including his name among the top players in school history in several categories.
And then there’s Rogdrick Craig, who is just happy to be able to say that he finished his college basketball career.

“I went through some stuff that not a lot of players go through with my heart,” said Craig, who was missed his junior season while dealing with an irregular heart, only to receive clearance to play his senior campaign. “ … I didn’t know if I was ever going to play basketball again, at that time. Getting cleared was great and getting to come back and play with my teammates was like a dream come true because I’ve always wanted to play at this level.”

Damir Suljagic came to Tech with the bulk needed to play in the post and the ability to hit the 15-footer that this coaching staff craves. The Red Raiders advanced to the Sweet 16 his freshman season and he even got to play in front of his friends and family for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

Prior to his sophomore season, however, Suljagic tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was forced to redshirt. He’s battled knee and back injuries for most of the remainder of his three seasons. His biggest obstacle, perhaps, came prior to last season, when he learned of the suicide of his father while Suljagic was in Lubbock.

For the first time in his Tech career, Suljagic will have his mother and brother in Lubbock to watch today’s game.

“Lots of ups and downs as far as things I can’t control,” Suljagic said. “Lots of injuries, lots of road bumps, but aside from that, it was fun. I was treated very fairly, it was a good experience and the Sweet 16 my freshman year, I would have never expected that.”

Michael Prince reached double figures in scoring only once at Tech — Nov. 20 against Division II East Central (Okla.). The Plano West product wasn’t brought to Lubbock to score. Both Bob and Pat Knight have used the term, “garbage man” in reference to Prince, and at the start of his senior season, he appeared to be that. He scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in each of the first two games. A foot injury cost him six games toward the end of the non-conference season, and at times, the Red Raiders appeared to lack energy.

Most evident of that was when Prince returned, for the Big 12 Conference opener, and Tech got off to a big lead early with Prince in the starting lineup. He finished with six rebounds.

“I think I’ve learned a lot, not just about basketball, but about life from the different coaches,” Prince said. “I think that’s going to help me a lot when I graduate. As a player, I came in really with no confidence and I think coaches helped me gain some confidence as I’ve been here.”

Esmir Rizvic played two seasons at Gulf Coast Community College (Fla.) after coming over from Bosnia. His 2006-07 season was cut short after he took an elbow to the eye in the Red Raiders’ Big 12 opener. Tech petitioned the NCAA for an extra semester of eligibility, and after sitting out the non-conference season, Rizvic was back on the bench this season in Waco for the Big 12 opener against Baylor.

“It’s kind of overly emotional,” Rizvic said. “All the stuff that’s coming true is a big deal, like getting my degree. That’s very exciting for me.”

Alan Voskuil started five games as a freshman, six as a sophomore. He began to emerge as Tech’s primary outside shooter last season, when he started 25 of 31 games, and he’s started all 29 games this season and is first in minutes played.

Voskuil, already one of 32 players in Tech’s history to reach 1,000 career points, figures to be among the school’s leaders in 3-point shooting percentage and free-throw shooting percentage.

“I look at (my career) as a steady incline,” Voskuil said. “… That’s something I’ve looked forward to when I got here. I knew I wasn’t going be a stud as a freshman, but I figured if I just kept working at it I could get as good as I’ll be while I’m here and see what I can do with it.”

If these five seniors are to end their college careers with a win in their final home game, it won’t come easy. No. 9 Kansas can clinch its fifth consecutive regular-season title with a victory.

When asked of their fondest game experience at Tech, all five pointed to one of the last two visits to Lubbock by the Jayhawks — the 80-79 double overtime win in 2005 or the 69-64 victory in 2007.

“I want to win,” Prince said. “I want to win my last game here. I think that would be a good way to finish the regular season.”

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