Grant McCasland is headed back to his home state after one season at Arkansas State University.
The Red Wolves' men's basketball coach was announced Monday as North Texas' new coach, replacing Tony Benford.
The Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle first reported McCasland's hiring Monday afternoon. North Texas confirmed it in a news release later Monday.
McCasland's buyout after leaving ASU one year into his contract is $500,000. He was making a base salary of $350,000 in a five-year contract at ASU signed in March 2016.
Zachary Babb of KNTU-FM reported Monday night McCasland's contract at North Texas is worth $3.5 million over five years, which would be the second-highest in Conference USA.
North Texas fired Benford on March 5 after the Mean Green went 8-22 this season, including 2-16 in Conference USA.
Arkansas State Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said in a news release that due to McCasland's family situation in Texas, "He has accepted a job at another institution." Mohajir said later Monday in a news conference that McCasland's father suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and that the coach wanted to be closer to him in Texas.
McCasland told his team Monday he was going to leave ASU for North Texas. After McClasland's meeting, Mohajir spoke with ASU's players for an hour Monday to discuss their concerns with McCasland's departure.
"Anytime you talk about being all in, talk about team, love and all that stuff and the leader of that team leaves, it's hard," Mohajir said Monday in a news conference at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro. "Whether you say it's personal or not, it becomes personal.
"That's when our administration has to come in and explain, 'You know what? This is not necessarily about the head coach. This is about you and what you do on the court and how you take care of the business. Change is inevitable. You're going to have change in your life. It's how you respond to the changes. It helps you grow in life.' That really resonated with them. By the end, they were a little better."
McCasland posted on Twitter on Monday night, thanking ASU and fans for embracing him and his family over the past year.
"Words cannot express how thankful my family and I are for our time at Arkansas State," McCasland said. "You embraced us wholeheartedly, you believed in us and you supported our team. We are so proud of the work that everyone did to make men's basketball better and we know that this program will continue its rise and compete for championships.
"My family is forever grateful to [ASU President] Dr. Chuck Welch, Terry Mohajir and the rest of the leadership for entrusting us, and we will always have a howl in our heart for Arkansas State, Jonesboro and northeast Arkansas."
ASU went 20-12 this season, losing to Louisiana-Monroe in overtime last Wednesday in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans. McCasland led the Red Wolves to nonconference victories at Georgetown and Army. But after ASU started 9-2 in the Sun Belt, the Red Wolves lost five of their last seven games entering the conference tournament.
Mohajir said he found out about McCasland's interest in the North Texas job Friday. He offered McCasland a new contract late last month without knowledge of McCasland's interest in other coaching positions, which would have been for $400,000 and one more year to his five-year contract.
McCasland, 40, is a native of Irving, Texas, and played at Baylor, where he was an assistant coach for five seasons before arriving at ASU last year.
"I am excited about what he will bring to the program," North Texas Athletic Director Wren Baker told the Record-Chronicle. "He knows the state and the area."
Mohajir told reporters Monday he wants the next ASU coach to be one who wants to win, lead young people and get to the NCAA Tournament. The Red Wolves' last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 1999 under Dickey Nutt.
"Guys, we've been to the NCAA Tournament one time," Mohajir said. "In 89 years, one time. I don't think it's an unfair expectation to say we want to be in the NCAA Tournament. We're not going to settle for anything less than the NCAA Tournament."
Sports on 03/14/2017