Texas Tech rewards a breakthrough 26-win season by expanding Erik DeRoo and Ashlee Villarreal's roles as Krista Gerlich pushes for more in 2026-27.
Texas Tech women’s basketball isn’t treating last season’s breakthrough like a happy accident.
After a 26-8 campaign that pushed the Lady Raiders back into the national conversation, head coach Krista Gerlich is restructuring her staff for 2026-27.
Erik DeRoo has been elevated to General Manager while continuing as Associate Coach, and Ashlee Villarreal has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Basketball Operations.
Those aren’t cosmetic title changes. They’re a sign Texas Tech intends to build on its best season in years.
The Lady Raiders finished 12-6 in Big 12 play after being picked 13th in the preseason conference poll.
Instead, Tech tied for fourth, its highest conference finish since 2012-13. The 26 victories were the program’s most since 2002-03, while the 12 Big 12 wins were its highest total since 2004-05.
Texas Tech also ripped off a 19-0 start, matching the longest single-season winning streak in program history.
That run earned the Lady Raiders their first AP Top 25 ranking since January 2012, and they remained ranked for 12 consecutive weeks.
Now Gerlich is making sure the operation behind the wins keeps evolving.
DeRoo enters his sixth season in Lubbock after initially joining the program as Director of Player Development in 2021. He later became an assistant coach and was promoted to Associate Coach before last season.
His new General Manager duties put him directly into one of the most important areas of modern college basketball: building and maintaining a roster.
DeRoo will oversee roster construction, talent acquisition and scholarship allocation while adding analytics, scouting and long-term personnel planning to his responsibilities.
That’s a significant amount of influence ... and it shows how much trust Gerlich has placed in him.
Villarreal’s rise has been even faster.
After spending her first season at Texas Tech as Director of Operations, she’ll now handle an expanded role involving strategic planning, resource management, donor and alumni relationships and the Lady Raiders’ 3 Point Club.
In other words, Texas Tech is strengthening both sides of the operation.
DeRoo will help determine how the roster is built. Villarreal will help make sure the infrastructure around that roster operates at a higher level.
The Lady Raiders surprised plenty of people in 2025-26. The next challenge is harder: proving it wasn’t a one-year spike.
Gerlich’s latest moves suggest Texas Tech isn’t interested in simply celebrating 26 wins. It’s trying to build a program capable of expecting them.
