Texas Tech added another piece to its 2025/26 roster on Saturday evening with the commitment of Long Lake (MN) Orono guard Nolan Groves.
Groves was the Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 34.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game.
Groves, a long time Yale pledge who decided to open things up on April 12th, picked up offers and interest from several schools right away, most notably Texas Tech, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa among others.
"Yeah, you know, it's been crazy. Almost the moment I announced that I was decommitting from Yale my phone started buzzing like crazy, and I really haven't gotten a break this entire week. But yeah, I got down to Lubbock on my official visit, and I just instantly could tell there was a special connection with not only coach (Grant) McCasland, but also the entire coaching staff.
He had me to his house for dinner. He had my entire family actually over to his house for dinner. So yeah, I just felt the genuine connection there. I see coach McCasland's vision in me coming in as a freshman. I'm just really, really excited about it."
Texas Tech's connection with Groves initially came via his agent, Teddy Archer of TAA. Archer also represents Christian Anderson as well as former Red Raiders Eemeli Yalaho and Federiko Federiko, so the ties between Archer and the Red Raiders go back.
From there the Texas Tech staff took over and was able to show Groves what they had planned for him in the future.
"So I'm represented by Teddy Archer, who's my agent, and he's really tied in with entire Tech coaching staff. So that's kind of how I got tied in with them. And then the first coach to reach out was coach AC (Achoki Moikobu), one of the assistants. And then after that I think it was coach (Jeff) Linder, and then I FaceTime'd coach Grant McCasland earlier last week. But then once I got down there on the visit I was with the entire coaching staff the whole time, and again, like I mentioned earlier, we went to Grant McCasland's house for dinner, and it was fantastic."
While on his visit Groves also got to meet with guys such as Christian Anderson, Kerwin Walton and Elijah Hawkins, and he's looking forward to getting down to Lubbock and connecting with all of his future teammates.
"Yeah, you know, Christian Anderson was there. That's obviously a cool connection we have because I'm in the same position that he was last year right now. So that was pretty cool to kind of meet him. I met Kerwin Walton briefly. I also met Elijah Hawkins, just pretty quick. So yeah, it was cool. I loved all the guys that I met, and I'm excited to meet the rest and strengthen my relationship with them."
Being from Minnesota, Groves admits passing on his offer from the hometown Golden Gophers was tough, but his decision was made a lot easier once he saw everything Texas Tech and Lubbock had to offer.
"Obviously, like me, growing up in Minnesota, the Gophers have a huge hometown pull. Everyone in Minnesota growing up wants to be a Golden Gopher when they're older. So having that Gophers offer was definitely one that I was considering but once I got down there to Lubbock and I just saw the facilities and I kind of felt the vibe, and got to meet the coaches in person, it just occurred to me that you couldn't beat that place. It really felt like home that's why I made my decision to commit on the visit."
Above anything else Grant McCasland is looking to recruit players that are competitors, which is exactly how Groves would describe his game.
"Yeah, well, I always describe myself as a physical guard who's always willing to make the right play. And most importantly, and the reason why Grant McCasland recruited me, is because I'm a competitor. So you'll never see me back down from a challenge. I could do whatever coach asks me to do to be honest. I can shoot, I can take it to the hole, I get fouled a lot, I can play defense. I can do a little bit of everything."
Now solidly committed, Groves is looking to accomplish the program's primary goal - to win a national championship.
"Well, Grant McCasland made it very clear to me that there's one goal with this team, and that's to win a national championship. That's kind of the goal that we're gonna set out to try to accomplish and I think that we can pull it off."
Groves will join a Texas Tech roster that includes returnees JT Toppin, Christian Anderson, Leon Horner and Marial Akuentok, as well as fellow new additions Tyeree Bryan (Santa Clara), LeJuan Watts (Washington State), Donovan Atwell (UNC-Greensboro) and Josiah Moseley (Villanova).
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