New Big 12 Basketball Coach Listed on Hot Board for Indiana Coaching Search

With Indiana head coach Mike Woodson working toward a departure as head coach of the Hoosiers basketball team, many have begun to wonder what the future of the historic program will hold.

In a recent hot board list from 247Sports’ Trevor Andershock, one name from the Big 12 Conference popped up that hadn’t previously been mentioned in the search.

Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland emerged as a potential candidate to watch, alongside Baylor’s Scott Drew, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens, Michigan’s Dusty May, Ole Miss’ Chris Beard, UCLA’s Mick Cronin, Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington, Drake’s Ben McCollum, and Northwestern’s Chris Collins.

“In his second season at Texas Tech, McCasland, 48, has had the Red Raiders in the top-15 of the national rankings both seasons, has beaten a number of AP top 25 teams over his careers, and has pulled NCAA Tournament upsets,” Andershock wrote. “An assistant to Scott Drew at Baylor from 2011-16, McCasland led Texas Tech to a 78-69 upset of fourth-seeded Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He went 23-11 and led Texas Tech to the 2024 NCAA Tournament in his first season with the Red Raiders. His 2023-24 Texas Tech team beat six AP top-25 teams, including 79-50 over No. 6 Kansas and 78-68 over No. 11 Baylor.”

While McCasland has more than earned recognition as one of the hottest up-and-coming coaches in college basketball, the article’s author feels that there could be a pretty large hurdle to getting the Red Raiders’ coach on board.

“McCasland is from Irving, Texas, has been in or around Texas his entire life, received his undergraduate degree from Baylor (1999), master’s degree from Texas Tech (2001), his wife was a soccer player at Texas Tech, so does he want to leave Texas for Indiana?”

With the Red Raiders nationally ranked and in the driver’s seat toward a top seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, it’s hard to imagine McCasland stepping away. That being said, Texas Tech fans have seen several head coaches come and go in the past few seasons and will likely have to fight off multiple notable programs this summer to keep their head coach in town.