Last week TownTalk brought you a story that the University of North Texas Head Basketball Coach Grant McCasland could possibly be the new Texas Tech Head Basketball Coach to replace Mark Adams. According to breaking news last night around 10:38 pm, KCBD Channell 11 Lubbock, had reports of multiple sources confirming to KCBD that North Texas men’s head basketball coach Grant McCasland will be the new men’s head coach for the Texas Tech Men’s Basketball program.
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According to KCBD, sources say an official announcement will not come until after tonight’s NIT Championship game which features North Texas and UAB. Something to note with McCasland is that his Mean Green team was second in Conference USA behind Florida Atlantic University which is in the Final Four of the NCAA Tourney. Also, UNT will play conference foe, the University of Alabama of Birmingham (UAB), the third-place team out of C-USA, tonight Thursday, March 30, 2023, in the NIT Championship game.
McCasland owns a record of 130-65 in six seasons with the Mean Green, a run that includes one NCAA Tournament appearance and an upset of Purdue in the 2021 edition of March Madness. Inside the Red Raiders, a 247Sports affiliate listed McCasland atop its most recent Hot Board.
McCasland has deep roots in Texas as a former point guard at Baylor who also coached Midland College and the Division II program at Midwestern State. Before taking the job at North Texas, McCasland served as head coach at Arkansas State during the 2016-17 season. North Texas won the Conference USA regular-season title in 2020 and 2022 and remains alive in the NIT quarterfinals as of Tuesday afternoon.
If hired, McCasland replaces Mark Adams at the helm of Texas Tech’s program. Adams resigned from his position after allegedly making a “racially insensitive comment” to a player according to the university. Adams initially was suspended before Texas Tech opened an official inquiry to discover the nature of Adams’ comments.
According to a release from Texas Tech University, “Following this inquiry, Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt determined that the racially insensitive comment was unintentional and an isolated incident. Following the comment, Adams immediately apologized to the team.”
Adams addressed his departure in a press release.
“My lifelong goal was to help and be a positive influence on my players, and to be a part of the Texas Tech men’s basketball team,” Adams said. “However, both the University and I believe this incident has become a distraction for the Texas Tech men’s basketball team and the University, which I care about so deeply.”
Texas Tech went 16-16 this past season, failing to make the postseason. The Red Raiders tied with Oklahoma for last place in the Big 12 with a league record of 5-13.
Considered the top league in college basketball by most experts, the Big 12 would represent a major step up in competition for McCasland. A handful of coaches with deep ties to the state of Texas, however, have succeeded on the court recently during their first stops in the conference — including Chris Beard at TexasTech and Jerome Tang at Kansas State. The Red Raiders earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament as recently as last year but could lose a fair amount of talent this offseason to the NCAA transfer portal. Texas Tech also faces a new conference schedule in 2023-24 with Cincinnati, BYU, UCF, and Houston joining the league.
