After Missouri parted ways with Cuonzo Martin on Friday, athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois is in search of a new basketball coach. Martin's replacement will take over a program that made the NCAA Tournament twice during his tenure, in 2018 and 2021, but went just 12-21 a season ago.
A list of potential replacements for Martin can be found within our most recent hot board. Each day, we'll go a little bit more in depth to break down candidates in whom Missouri has expressed interest.
Yesterday, we introduced Missouri fans to longtime Baylor assistant coach Jerome Tang. Today, we take a look at the resume of another former Baylor assistant in Grant McCasland. McCasland has spent the past five seasons as the head coach at North Texas.
Grant McCasland
Age: 45
Current position: North Texas head coach (fifth year)
Past experience: Arkansas State head coach (one year), Baylor assistant coach (five years)
Salary: $600,000
Buyout: unknown
McCasland has emerged as one of the hottest mid-major names in this year's coaching carousel because of his success at North Texas. A season ago, McCasland led the Mean Green to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 and their first ever victory in the Big Dance. North Texas upset 4-seed Purdue in the round of 64.
McCasland's success in Denton hasn't been limited to a single March run, however. When McCasland took over the North Texas program in 2018, the Mean Green hadn't experienced a winning season in five years and had just bottomed out at 8-22 in Tony Benford's final season. During McCasland's first year on the job, he led North Texas to 20 wins, a mark the team has reached in each of his five seasons except last year, when it played a shortened schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019-20, McCasland led North Texas to a 14-4 record in Conference USA, which earned the Mean Green their first regular-season conference title in 31 years. They would have entered the conference tournament as the top seed had it not been canceled due to the pandemic. A year ago, North Texas wasn't quite as successful during the regular season but won four games in four days to win the conference tournament title and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. North Texas then went 24-6 overall, 16-2 in Conference USA to win the regular season crown again this year before losing to Louisiana Tech in the league tournament semifinals. It will be a No. 2 seed in the NIT.
McCasland got his coaching start in the junior college ranks. He played college basketball at Baylor from 1995-99, then served as the director of basketball operations for two seasons at Texas Tech while earning his masters degree. McCasland spent a pair of years as an assistant coach at Northeastern Junior College, then got the head job at Midland College, which he held for five years. In 2007, McCasland's third season, Midland won the NJCAA national title. He then moved to Midwestern State for two years before returning to the Division I ranks as an assistant coach at Baylor.
McCasland worked under Scott Drew in Waco from 2011-2016. During that time, Baylor made four NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight run. McCasland then got hired to be the head coach at Arkansas State. He oversaw a jump from 11-20 the year before he arrived to 20-11, but he then left for North Texas after one season.
McCasland's calling card as a coach has been his team's defense. According to this story from CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, he employs a similar defensive philosophy to Texas Tech coach Mark Adams, whose Red Raiders lead the country in defensive efficiency. North Texas has ranked among the top 50 teams in defensive efficiency in each of the last two seasons, including a ranking of 15th this year. It ranks first nationally in points allowed per game.
McCasland has also embraced a slow style of play in recent years, although that hasn't always been the case for his teams. North Texas rated as the slowest team in the nation this season, according to KenPom. While that can result in some ugly-looking final scores, it has proven effective. North Texas had never finished among the top 100 teams nationally in KenPom's overall efficiency ratings before doing so each of the past three years.
McCasland signed a contract extension last summer that has him at North Texas through 2027-28. His base salary is $600,000. While the exact terms of his buyout are not known, it is not believed to be prohibitive.
McCasland's name has also been floated as a candidate to replace Bruce Weber at Kansas State. With his North Texas team not participating in the NCAA Tournament, interested suitors shouldn't have to wait to approach McCasland.
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