Texas Tech Basketball now... and where its going

Mar 6, 2023 - 4:00 AM

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By now, you have probably heard the news that Mark Adams has been suspended by Texas Tech for what has been characterized as an “inappropriate comment to a player”. KCBD was the first to break the news and I’ll link their story here.

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With all of this being said, I find it hard to see any circumstance or situation where Mark Adams is the Head Coach at Texas Tech for another game. I for one don’t think the comment was meant inappropriately, but extremely tone-deaf is an understatement if the reports of what was said are true. There is no excuse for what happened. Period.

Either way, at this point in time, The basketball program is at a crossroads. This team has been the center of speculation for off the court distractions all season long. Rumors have spread like wild fire about the state of the locker room, the coaching staff, personal lives, and literally everything in between. I won’t speculate on all of that here, because I firmly believe that everyone deserves to tell their side of the story- a story that we probably will never get nonetheless- but still that is my belief.

If Kirby Hocutt decides to move on, a move that seems imminent at this point in time, there is a list of coaches that should be on the shortlist, and some that I’ve thrown in just to spice things up a bit.

Grant McCasland

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Grant McCasland is the current coach at North Texas. Over the last three seasons he has a record of 68-23, and in five seasons he has an overall record of 104-58. He received his master’s degree from Texas Tech in 2001. From 1999-2001, McCasland was the director of operations for James Dickey at Texas Tech. He’s coached in the area, having been the coach at Midland College from 2004-2009 when he got the job at 27 years old, Midland College won the JUCO National Championship in the 2006-2007 season. He also served as an assistant at Baylor from 2011-2016 under Scott Drew. In 2016 he took the head coaching job at Arkansas St for one season (20-11) before taking the head job at UNT in 2017.

Rodney Terry

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Hear me out. If Texas decides to move on from Terry after the season, which is very possible, Tech should make every effort to talk to him. I hate the Longhorns as much as the next guy, but I admit, what he has done with that program since the firing of Chris Beard, has been remarkable. There is a reason that he was chosen by Beard, and CDC to be the guy after Beard. He has kept the program at Texas in an elite category after being dealt a pretty crappy hand. This season, Texas is 23-8 and just beat #3 Kansas at the Moody Center by 16 points.

Ulric Maligi

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When Chris Beard left Lubbock to go to Austin, he took his main recruiter Maligi. He was instrumental in recruiting a lot of the top talent to Lubbock during the Beard era. Mac McClung, Terrence Shannon Jr., Jahmius Ramsey, Tariq Owens, Matt Mooney and Micah Peavy just to name a few.

Needless to say, Maligi can recruit to Lubbock. You see what he did in getting Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr to Texas prior to this year, and you see what he has done in getting Keyontae Johnson and Desi Sills to Manhattan for this year. He has deep ties in Texas and obviously Texas Tech.

I’m not sure Coach Maligi would take the position, but it wouldn’t hurt to call on a coach who has outstanding recruiting ties to Texas, I mean its worked pretty well in football.

Kurtis Townsend

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Townsend has been an assistant on Bill Self’s staff in Lawrence since 2004. He is the longest tenured assistant in Kansas Basketball history. So think about all of the success and Big 12 experience that he has over the last 19 seasons, including two national championships, three title games, four final fours, eight elite eight appearances, and ten sweet sixteens.

I don’t know if he’d have any interest, but, this is a guy that you have to make say no. I’m sure he has been approached by other teams, but with top facilities like Tech has, I think you at least make him listen with an offer.

Shaka Smart

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A few of the writers on staff here like the thought of Shaka Smart. I don’t know if I’m there yet personally, but they like him because he embraces the underdog mentality that Tech has somewhat adopted over the last 7 or 8 years. Marquette went 19-13 last season and exited the NCAA Tourney in the 1st round, this year they are 25-6.

Would Smart leave Marquette (after a great season) after just two years? I don’t think so. But it is an option to consider.

All things considered I want to say this: What has come to light this season is disappointing. We’ll see what happens in the coming days, but it sucks that we are potentially going to have another coaching search again. These options are all outside of the current staff and I don’t know if you would consider Corey Williams, Steve Green, or Al Pinkins.

This has been a long season, and Tech will have to win the Big 12 tournament in order to get in to the NCAA tournament. The Red Raiders will almost certainly host an NIT game if they don’t make the tournament.

If the job comes open, with it comes top tier facilities, an elite arena atmosphere, and an elite fanbase with unrelenting love for basketball. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of all of that?

Texas Tech Basketball is at a crossroads. Where do they go from here?