College hoops analyst says Grant McCasland should be national Coach of the Year

[Jonnyeagle]

There is no doubt that Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland has done a fantastic job in 2024-25. In fact, one college basketball analyst believes he should be the national Coach of the Year.

Robbie Hummel, a former college basketball star at Purdue and a current college basketball analyst, recently said on the "Goodman and Hummel" podcast with Jeff Goodman that he would give the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year Award to the second-year Red Raider head man.

"I'll go with Grant McCasland," Hummel said. "I think he's done a great job in Lubbock. And especially the fact that they are a team that can score. We knew that his teams could defend at North Texas, but the fact that he's got the No. 9 offense in college basketball, that's pretty impressive. I'm going to go with McCasland."

Hummel makes an interesting point about the evolution of McCasland since he arrived in Lubbock. As head coach of North Texas from 2017 to 2023, he coached a very deliberate offensive style designed to keep games low-scoring because he knew that he didn't have the offensive firepower to out-gun teams on a consistent basis. That approach has evolved in the Hub City.

LINK:  https://wreckemred.com/college-hoops-analyst-says-grant-mccasland-should-be-national-coach-of-the-year

[untbowler]

any good pub for Grant at TX Tech actually is good for UNT as well, since we will get some mentions from his stint. 

Love seeing him doing so well and justifying the hire Tech made, even though it sucked for UNT in the short term

[Wag Tag]

Outstanding! GMG

[Jonnyeagle]

18 minutes ago, untbowler said:

any good pub for Grant at TX Tech actually is good for UNT as well, since we will get some mentions from his stint. 

Love seeing him doing so well and justifying the hire Tech made, even though it sucked for UNT in the short term

Agreed and I love how we get free publicity everytime they write about his coaching style and history.  It is truly the gift that keeps on giving!

[BigWillie]

1 hour ago, Jonnyeagle said:

There is no doubt that Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland has done a fantastic job in 2024-25. In fact, one college basketball analyst believes he should be the national Coach of the Year.

Robbie Hummel, a former college basketball star at Purdue and a current college basketball analyst, recently said on the "Goodman and Hummel" podcast with Jeff Goodman that he would give the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year Award to the second-year Red Raider head man.

"I'll go with Grant McCasland," Hummel said. "I think he's done a great job in Lubbock. And especially the fact that they are a team that can score. We knew that his teams could defend at North Texas, but the fact that he's got the No. 9 offense in college basketball, that's pretty impressive. I'm going to go with McCasland."

Hummel makes an interesting point about the evolution of McCasland since he arrived in Lubbock. As head coach of North Texas from 2017 to 2023, he coached a very deliberate offensive style designed to keep games low-scoring because he knew that he didn't have the offensive firepower to out-gun teams on a consistent basis. That approach has evolved in the Hub City.

LINK:  https://wreckemred.com/college-hoops-analyst-says-grant-mccasland-should-be-national-coach-of-the-year

I love hearing that Grant was the architect of the deliberate offense, when we all know it was Hodge.

No arguing that Grant is an amazing coach and I would vote for him as Coach of the Year. He started the culture on the court that we continued under Boss Hodge.

[Ross Hodgeson]

15 minutes ago, BigWillie said:

I love hearing that Grant was the architect of the deliberate offense, when we all know it was Hodge.

No arguing that Grant is an amazing coach and I would vote for him as Coach of the Year. He started the culture on the court that we continued under Boss Hodge.

Absolutely.  Ross deserves a lot of the credit.  He is a fantastic coach as is McCasland.  Our basketball program is very blessed.

[wardly]

ESPN ranks Ross Hodge  #12 of top 20 mid major coaches ready to make the jump to a P4 program. Personally I expect him to win the AAC "Coach of the Year" and move onward and upward.

[DeepGreen]

Any chance we can keep Boss Hodge?

[MeanGreen_MBA]

19 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

Any chance we can keep Boss Hodge?

We really haven’t won anything yet with Hodge.  I know if is similar to the style of play we had with Grant, but not sure it has shown as well. Give him 2 more years of winning and then we worry about losing him. 

[DeepGreen]

Agree.  Grant had some really good players at UNT while he was here.  Hopefully Hodge can recruit quality replacements for the players we will lose after the season.

[Tommy Gadberry]

40 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

We really haven’t won anything yet with Hodge.  I know if is similar to the style of play we had with Grant, but not sure it has shown as well. Give him 2 more years of winning and then we worry about losing him. 

Ah mean waddya want with this guy already?  He's won like 40 games in two seasons fur christ's sake.  He made it the 2nd round of nit in his virgin beatin LSU along the way and in contention to win the AAC again this year.  Yer  taking Ross for Granted methinks.

[97and03]

1 minute ago, Tommy Gadberry said:

Ah mean waddya want with this guy already?  He's won like 40 games in two seasons fur christ's sake.  He made it the 2nd round of nit in his virgin beatin LSU along the way and in contention to win the AAC again this year.  Yer  taking Ross for Granted methinks.

Raise your standards. Conference titles and NCAA wins should be the bar, not runner up consolations and 20 wins. 

[meangreenfaninno]

3 minutes ago, Tommy Gadberry said:

Ah mean waddya want with this guy already?  He's won like 40 games in two seasons fur christ's sake.  He made it the 2nd round of nit in his virgin beatin LSU along the way and in contention to win the AAC again this year.  Yer  taking Ross for Granted methinks.

Dusty would like a word with you.

 

[wardly]

2 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

Agree.  Grant had some really good players at UNT while he was here.  Hopefully Hodge can recruit quality replacements for the players we will lose after the season.

Lack of fan support doesn't help.

[UNTLifer]

5 hours ago, wardly said:

ESPN ranks Ross Hodge  #12 of top 20 mid major coaches ready to make the jump to a P4 program. Personally I expect him to win the AAC "Coach of the Year" and move onward and upward.

Yes and then no.  I don't expect him to move along.

Speaking of moving along, why isn't Andy Kennedy ever mentioned as a candidate to move along?

[Jonnyeagle]

5 hours ago, wardly said:

ESPN ranks Ross Hodge  #12 of top 20 mid major coaches ready to make the jump to a P4 program. Personally I expect him to win the AAC "Coach of the Year" and move onward and upward.

I respectfully disagree with you.  Ross isn't like Mac.  He will be loyal to UNT.  We gave him a shot and he likes it here.

[wardly]

46 minutes ago, Jonnyeagle said:

I respectfully disagree with you.  Ross isn't like Mac.  He will be loyal to UNT.  We gave him a shot and he likes it here.

Hope you are right, but we gave Mac a shot and he liked it here. Despite our record I think our men's attendance is down significantly and when opportunity knocks you need to listen. Your first loyalty is to your family, not your employer.

[UNTFan23]

1 hour ago, Jonnyeagle said:

I respectfully disagree with you.  Ross isn't like Mac.  He will be loyal to UNT.  We gave him a shot and he likes it here.

The reason why, in part, he got the HC gig and didn't leave with Grant is his kids are older and they want to stay here with their friends. He may eventually leave for a better gig but not while his kids are still in school.

[greenminer]

7 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Speaking of moving along, why isn't Andy Kennedy ever mentioned as a candidate to move along?

 

[DentonLurker]

Coach Hodge has done a good job here, and I’m curious what the next few years might look like.

BUT you guys who think he’s not going anywhere because of loyalty to UNT or because his kids like it here are living in a dream world. All coaches are loyal until they’re not. If we were packing the pit and paying him a couple mil, maybe…

BUT we’re not

Edited 4 hours ago by DentonLurker

[greenminer]

6 hours ago, UNTFan23 said:

The reason why, in part, he got the HC gig and didn't leave with Grant is his kids are older and they want to stay here with their friends. He may eventually leave for a better gig but not while his kids are still in school.

So, no parents ever take a 300-500% (or more) increase in salary because their kids like their school?