North Texas head coach Grant McCasland will be hired by Texas Tech to the same position in Lubbock, per multiple sources.

McCasland comes over after a successful six year run with the Mean Green which saw his squad go 155-77 and set several school records in the process.

In order to learn more about McCasland we caught up with John Fields of the Denton Record-Chronicle. Fields covered North Texas men's basketball for two seasons, first for the campus newspaper, the North Texas Daily, and then later for North Texas' 247Sports site MeanGreen247. Fields has been closely following the program since he got on the UNT campus in 2019 and just graduated back in December.

For more context on McCasland's background, check out Fields' feature he wrote on Texas Tech's new head coach from back in February 2022.

"It all goes back to the culture and identity he and his staff have established since arriving at the program in the summer of 2017. There’s a famous video clip that circulates sometimes from a practice that first summer where after watching a poor ball screen coverage he tells players, “I don’t want to win 15 games. Am I clear? I want to win a championship. You have to go over the top if we’re going to win a championship.” McCasland adds in the same sequence that he’s “not interested in being average.” That really sums up the culture he and the staff have instilled at UNT since Day 1, and they’ve lived it out. They won the CBI that first year in 2017-18, went 21-12 the next year, then won 3 straight Conference USA titles (tournament or regular season) before missing out on one this year.

All of that success owes to the culture and identity they’ve established. It’s very much a defense-first team that prides itself on making teams work hard for good looks. They play a no-middle scheme that’s become popular across the country over the last handful of years. There’s always a help defender at the rim as on-ball defenders force drivers toward the baseline and away from the middle of the lane. As the quote above reflects, they like to fight over screens and just generally be pesky defensively with active hands and strong positioning that force plenty of deflections and turnovers."

"Having an elite guard who can make something out of nothing when plays break down has certainly been a defining trait of McCasland’s time at UNT. Umoja Gibson came in a bit before my time as part of McCasland’s first recruiting class, so I don’t have as much knowledge on his background, but Hamlet and Perry certainly fit the bill of under-the-radar guards to flourish at UNT after both started their careers in the JUCO ranks. Perry led an NJCAA national champion team at Coffeyville CC, while Hamlet had strong seasons at Motlow State and Northwest Florida State.

I think it’s safe to say McCasland’s background in coaching junior college ball gives him connections on that level that facilitate recruiting some of the top players from there. He also looks for a certain type of player that’s willing to go all-out defensively and often has that same underdog mentality in one form or another. That’s manifested itself in stalwarts over the years like James Reese, Thomas Bell and Tyree Eady who all came from perhaps overlooked backgrounds and helped anchor the defensive side of the ball."

"They certainly do run what they’d describe as a methodical offense that often works deep into the shot clock in search of the best possible look. That slow tempo can cause ugly possessions at times, but at its best it perfectly compliments the stout defense in dictating the tempo to their liking and grinding opponents to a halt (both sides of the coin were evident against Oklahoma State). It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing all the time, but the success speaks for itself.

McCasland’s offenses haven’t always been quite this way, though, even at UNT. The philosophy has shifted and morphed based on the personnel on the team. UNT played at a significantly higher tempo in 2018-19 and even in 2019-20 when they averaged 69.8 and 71.1 points per game as players like Ryan Woolridge, Gibson and Hamlet helped those teams go to more tempo at times with their prowess in transition. Perry is best suited to a half-court setting, though he can make the most of some transition opportunities, so the scheme has adjusted accordingly. It’s all generally been on the slower end of the spectrum nationally, but nuanced changes have produced very different kinds of teams to watch."

"Players like Hamlet and Perry are reflective of the underdog mentality McCasland brings to coaching. McCasland is certainly not the largest in stature, a reality that he grappled with even during his collegiate playing days. He walked on at Baylor and was cut from the team at one point before working his way into becoming an integral figure in practices and eventually earning game time. This is conjecture on my part, but it feels like that background and mindset could make him more relatable to players like Hamlet and Perry who might feel similarly undersold and approach the game with that same point to prove.

That underdog spirit also makes him a fiery personality on the sideline who’s been known to really get into players after costly miscues, tying back to his high expectations. He’s certainly animated on the sidelines, which can be an endearing trait to fans even if it can feel a tad much at times. That fire is infectious with his players, though, and galvanizes the team’s defensive identity in key moments.

As for student and community engagement, he’s felt pretty engaging to me. I still remember a speech he made during my Orientation at UNT, not for what he said but how it inspired me and made me feel ready to run through a brick wall. For a more recent example, there were several times he and the team climbed into the student section in the stands to sing the school song after games to try and make students feel like more of a part of the program. Attendance hasn’t always been the greatest, which has been a longtime dilemma at UNT since before McCasland, but he and the program have done about all they could to engage with those who did come out."

"Plenty has been said on this already, but Texas Tech genuinely feels like a readymade fit for McCasland. His wife played college soccer there while he was playing college hoops at Baylor and he was on the staff at Tech as director of operations for two years as he earned his masters degree from there. He’s also coached elite-level junior college ball in West Texas at Midland College and Midwestern State, and has Big 12 experience from spending five years on Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor. Plus, his defense-first style feels to me like it would be more palatable at Texas Tech than many other major conference programs. Who knows how it pans out at this point, but given his track record I’d be more surprised if it didn’t work out than if it ultimately does."