MINNEAPOLIS — When Matt Mooney was refurbishing used basketball shoes and selling them out of the trunk of his car in high school, that entrepreneurial streak looked as if it would carry him further than basketball. At the time, he had only one Division I scholarship offer.

When Tariq Owens was at a renowned prep school, as a bouncy, loose-limbed, four-star recruit, an N.B.A. career seemed less like a pipe dream than a reasonable career path. College would serve as finishing school.

But several years (and universities) later, there they were last weekend in Anaheim, Calif., with fists clenched and arms raised triumphantly overhead, as unlikely teammates — and improbable one-season catalysts — in helping Texas Tech reach the Final Four for the first time.

Mooney and Owens arrived at Texas Tech less than a year ago as a less heralded type of one-and-done player, having taken advantage of the N.C.A.A.’s graduate transfer rule, which allows athletes who have earned a degree and have eligibility remaining to switch colleges without having to sit out a year.