Texas Tech Names Grant McCasland Head Coach

Texas Tech on Friday named former North Texas coach Grant McCasland as its new men’s basketball coach.

McCasland, who led North Texas to the NIT championship over Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday and a 31-7 record this season, will be formally introduced at a press conference on Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

McCasland replaces Mark Adams, who stepped down last month after making a racially insensitive remark.

“I want to thank President Lawrence Schovanec and Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt, and the committee for the opportunity to coach at Texas Tech,” McCasland said in a statement. “The commitment and vision for Texas Tech has no limits and we look forward to loving our team everyday with a greater purpose. We will strive daily for excellence in every aspect of our program, do things the right way, winning championships that values relationships throughout. Our family looks forward to joining the Red Raider nation and can’t wait to get started in Lubbock.”

McCasland’s teams have led the nation in scoring defense the past two seasons after limiting opponents to just
just
55.7 points per game in both seasons. UNT held 27 of its 38 opponents under 60 points this season. He is 210-89 in his career as a head coach.

“We’re excited to welcome in the next era of Red Raider Basketball under the leadership of Coach McCasland,” Hocutt said. “This position received tremendous interest nationally as we firmly believe this program is one of the best jobs in college basketball. Our search committee was immediately impressed not only by Coach McCasland and his ability to win at every level of college basketball, all while creating a positive culture built upon toughness, but also his passion for Texas Tech and his vision for our basketball program. We are pleased to welcome Coach McCasland, his wife, Cece, and their entire family back home to Texas Tech.”

McCasland started his coaching career as the Texas Tech Director of Operations for two seasons under head coach James Dickey and took his first head coaching job at Midland College where he won a NJCAA National Championship in 2007. The Red Raiders will be the 46-year-old McCasland’s fifth head coaching job in a journey back to Texas Tech which includes leading Midland College from 2004-09, two years as the head coach at Midwestern State (2009-11), five seasons as an assistant coach at Baylor (2011-16), and one as the head coach at Arkansas State (2016-17) before amassing a 135-65 (.675) record at UNT.