Message from Wren Baker regarding new basketball hire

[Harry]

Dear Mean Green Family, I am writing today to inform you that we have found the next head coach for your Mean Green men’s basketball program. It is with great excitement that I announce that Coach Grant McCasland will be the 18th Head Men’s Basketball Coach in our history. As you are a loyal supporter of the program, I wanted to share this information with you first.  Coach McCasland is an 18-year coaching veteran and arrives at North Texas after leading Arkansas State to a 20-win season for only the fourth time in ASU history. McCasland’s career winning percentage is an eye-popping 80 percent. The 20-12 record during his inaugural season at ASU is a 10-win improvement, which is the second-best turnaround in NCAA Division I basketball this year.  The press release with more information on Coach McCasland is available on MeanGreenSports.com. We would love for you to join us next week on Tuesday, March 21st at noon in The Union as we welcome Coach to campus. Let’s give Coach McCasland and his family a warm welcome to the Mean Green family.   The future of North Texas Basketball is bright.   Please share this great news with all basketball fans across the region.  Together, we will light the tower and work relentlessly to bring men’s basketball championships back to UNT. Thank you as always for your continued support. North Texas We Love,

Vice President & Director of Athletics

[greenjoe]

I like the "North Texas We Love" phrase instead of sincerely.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

[Matt from A700]

I know Wren Baker was being pressured daily to pull the plug on Benford, but I can understand his reasoning. And I have to hand it to him, this was a great hire. North Texas athletics are finally on the rise, I believe.

[Mad Hatter]

I like the hire, but doesn't it seem REALLY quick?  I guess we skipped the hired consultants this time around?  Glad to see we're not spending a lot of time, but definitely not what we're used to.

Go Mean Green!

[TreeFiddy]

20 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I like the hire, but doesn't it seem REALLY quick?  I guess we skipped the hired consultants this time around?  Glad to see we're not spending a lot of time, but definitely not what we're used to.

Go Mean Green!

Here is one possible scenario:  Baker may not have waited until the end of the season to start looking like many tried to make us believe. 

[Travis]

13 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

 North Texas athletics are finally on the rise, I believe.

I truly don't mean to sound condescending or rude at all.  I sincerely want to know, what gives you the impression that we are finally on the rise?

[TreeFiddy]

I would say that the investment level and public comments in support of athletics seems more pronounced that in recent memory, or maybe ever.  For me, these actions lead me to higher expectations and a general feeling of things "being on the rise".  Results will need to follow so that we can capture more alumni/fan support through donations, ticket sales, etc...

It is almost as if we are re-launching a product that has been around a while, has a little name recognition, but has fallen out of favor in recent years.  We seem to be trying to make a splash by pumping money into the program much like any business might do to revive a a brand.  A product like Old Spice comes to mind for me as a visible recent example.  A few years back the brand was showing its age and limping along.  The company pumped money into it with lots of new marketing and re-packaging.  Nowadays you don't see the same amount of marketing, but you definitely see the product on the shelf and its sales increased as a result of the campaign.

Maybe we can hire Isaiah Mustafa.

 

[EagleMBA]

This was apparently (to this guy) all well strategized and timed to maximum benefit to all concerned. It was executed with Seal Team Six precision! My hat is off to TheWren for a job well done.

[hickoryhouse]

This is a great hire.  It sounds to me like Wren had something like this in mind the day he said that we could hire a acting D1 head coach.   Shows me that he had something planned for months now and that letting TB's contract run its course was a good plan, not the actions of a lame duck AD as some would have us think.   

 

financially, strategically and PR wise this hire shows that the AD is not willing to just "go along to get along" anymore and I for one couldn't be more pumped!  My old man played D1 ball in the 60's and taking him up to denton to catch a game these past few years has been less than entertaining.   I am looking forward to GM changing that and quickly!

[Matt from A700]

2 hours ago, Travis said:

I truly don't mean to sound condescending or rude at all.  I sincerely want to know, what gives you the impression that we are finally on the rise?

We obviously don't know what will happen this next basketball season, but as of right now it seems we finally have great coaches across the board in the three money sports. I think the football team has a legitimate shot of winning 8 games this year. There wasn't as much progress in Jalie Mitchell's second season as we would have liked but I still like how she's coaching the lady basketballers. We have an athletic director who is getting things done, making a great hire, and giving us reason to be excited for North Texas basketball again. If you want to dig deeper, the women's soccer team is still awesome, and our softball team is finally coming into their own, currently with a 14-9 record and wins over Baylor and Texas Tech already.

[VideoEagle]

I saw in one of the articles that Baker had told the AState AD that AState hired a great coach and "beat him to it." McCasland was hired by AState last March and Baker didn't take over here till July. I wonder if would have been retained for a 5th year if McCasland had still been available? 

 

[Army of Dad]

5 hours ago, hickoryhouse said:

not the actions of a lame duck AD

I think you are misusing that term.

3 hours ago, VideoEagle said:

I wonder if would have been retained for a 5th year if McCasland had still been available? 

That would have been pretty nice...