MBB North Texas Names Grant McCasland Head Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team

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Letter From Wren Baker, Vice President and Director of Athletics

Mean Green Athletics Header
March 13, 2017
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,

Wren Baker Signature
Vice President & Director of Athletics

Media Coverage

Mean Green Sports Press Release

Denton Record Chronicle

North Texas Daily

Dallas Morning News

Fort Worth Star Telegram

ESPN

The Ticket

Coach Grant McCasland’s Resume

Coaching Experience:

· 1999-2001 Texas Tech, director of operations

· 2001-03 Northeastern JC, assistant coach

· 2004-09 Midland College, head coach

· 2009-11 Midwestern State, head coach

· 2011-16 Baylor, assistant coach

· 2016-17 Arkansas State, head coach

· 2017-pres. North Texas, head coach

Postseason Experience:

· 2004-05 NJCAA, Elite Eight (Midland)

· 2006-07 NJCAA, national champions (Midland)

· 2008-09 NJCAA, finals (Midland)

· 2009-10 NCAA Division II, Elite Eight (Midwestern State)

· 2010-11 NCAA Division II, Elite Eight (Midwestern State)

· 2011-12 NCAA, Elite Eight (Baylor)

· 2012-13 NIT, champions (Baylor)

· 2013-14 NCAA, Sweet 16 (Baylor)

· 2014-15 NCAA, first round (Baylor)

· 2015-16 NCAA, first round (Baylor)

Twitter: @AStateCoachMac

Hot Sports Opinion

On the outside this seems like a good hire. McCasland has a career record of 219-56 (79.6%) and has taken numerous teams into postseason play along the way. He is from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and has coached numerous Texas teams, including the Baylor Bears alongside Scott Drew.

It has been reported that the buyout to land McCasland is $500,000 to be payed to Arkansas State.

We’ll know more about the details and financial incentives of his contract once those are released by the university. North Texas is on spring break this week so it might be next week before we hear more on any specifics.

It will be interesting to see if he brings anyone along from Arkansas State. One name that was floated as a possibility was Ross Hodge, current Associate Head Coach for Arkansas State. Hodge is also a Dallas native.

Contract Details for Arkansas State

Base Salary: $350,000

Bonuses:

  • $10,000 if AState wins the conference regular season title and miss NCAA tournament
  • $30,000 if AState wins the regular season conference championship AND makes the NCAA tournament
  • $15,000 for making the NCAA Tournament without winning the regular season title
  • $20,000 for a first round NCAA win
  • $25,000 for second round win
  • $50,000 for Sweet Sixteen
  • $60,000 for Elite Eight
  • $100,000 for Final Four
  • One year of salary if AState wins the NCAA Tournament (the NCAA bonuses are not cumulative only receives the highest bonus earned)
  • $5,000 for an NIT bid plus $1,000 per win in the NIT
  • $5,000 for being coach of the year in Sun Belt
  • $10,000 for national coach of the year
  • $5,000 if ranked by AP or ESPN Coaches poll at any point in the season
  • $5,000 for a win over a top 10 team in AP or Coaches
  • $2,500 for a final RPI of 1-30
  • $5,000 any season where AState sells 3,000 or more season tickets
  • $2,500 each year the men’s basketball APR is 1000

Hopefully North Texas structures his contract such that the bonus structure is similar (but hopefully more) to what ASU was offering him alongside a larger base salary. North Texas needs to also protect its investment in McCasland and make sure there is a substantial buyout clause in the contract.

6:20 PM Update

There is a Press Conference scheduled for tomorrow, March 14th at 11:30 PM.

https://twitter.com/Conference_USA/status/841388946395410432

Also, here is a link to the Arkansas State Press Conference over the departure of Coach McCasland:

It sounds like the move from Jonesboro, AR to Denton, TX is largely driven by family. The Athletic Director mentions that Coach McCasland’s father had a stroke several years ago and it sounds like he wants to be closer to his family. The Arkansas State AD wouldn’t provide how much more North Texas is offering Coach McCasland but it sounds like like we are offering more than the base salary of $350,000 he was making at Ark. State.

More will be posted if anything significant comes out between now and the Presser tomorrow.