NCAA Basketball: 10 best head coaching hires of 2023 offseason

5. Grant McCasland (Texas Tech)

It’s been a bizarre turn of events at Texas Tech in recent years. Hiring Billy Gillispie and Tubby Smith didn’t work out, nor did the recent promotion of Mark Adams, who flamed out after just two seasons leading the Red Raiders. However, this program recently had their best success in their history under Chris Beard, but he bailed for Texas in 2021 and has seen his own career filled with tumult. Texas Tech was looking for a new leader once again and nailed this hire.

After he played point guard at Baylor, McCasland actually worked on the Texas Tech staff. He’s been a head coach at four different colleges and had a successful stint under Scott Drew at his alma mater. He won plenty of games at his first three jobs, but really developed into a head coach on the rise at North Texas. He lead the Mean Green to a first round Tourney upset in 2021, an NIT title, a CBI title, and averaged more than 22 wins a season across six years.

He’s won big and spent nearly his entire career coaching and recruiting in the state of Texas. It’s not just that McCasland knows how to win games, but he’s worked at Texas Tech and has a ton of experience in the Big 12. While going from Conference USA to the Big 12 is certainly a step up, he’s proven what he’s capable of after inheriting a rundown North Texas program and turning them into one of the best mid-majors in the country.