North Texas to hire Arkansas State’s Grant McCasland

The NCAA Tournament is the focus of the college basketball world right now, but the coaching carousel never rests. According to a report from FanRag Sports’ Jon Rothstein, North Texas will hire Grant McCasland to fill their vacancy.

This hire comes as a bit of a surprise, but makes sense for a couple of reasons. McCasland is a Texas native who grew up in nearby Irving, which is about 50 miles from Denton. Before landing at Arkansas State last season, he was an assistant under Scott Drew at Baylor for five seasons, so one would think McCasland will know the recruiting area very well.

Rumors were circulating last week that North Texas was very close to hiring current Jacksonville State head coach, Ray Harper. I believe Wren Baker made a much better decision going the way of McCasland who not only knows the greater Dallas area well, but will bring along less baggage.

Per McCasland’s Arakansas State contract:

“If McCasland leaves before the end of the contract he will owe A-State $500,000 if during the first year, $300,000 in the second year, $200,000 in the third year, and $100,000 in each of the last two years.”

Not only will North Texas have to pony up the buyout cash, but you’d have to think they’ll be paying him a good deal more per year for him to leave Jonesboro after just one season.