Lubbock, Texas — Grant McCasland has never been one to linger on a loss, but even he admits the final three minutes of the Elite Eight still visit him in flashes: an 84‑79 lead melting into a season‑ending 84‑79 defeat at the hands of top‑seeded Florida. The Red Raiders finished 28‑9 and one possession short of a first Final Four since 2019, their third Elite Eight trip in program history — a campaign good enough for national plaudits and an “A” on ESPN’s Big 12 report card, yet agonizingly shy of the ultimate prize.
The heartbreak lasted barely two weeks. On 13 June, McCasland met reporters again, suitcase half‑zipped and boarding pass to Colorado Springs on his phone. USA Basketball had tapped him as one of five assistants to Tommy Lloyd for this summer’s U‑19 World Cup push, and camp opened that night at 6,200 feet. “You go from the toughest loss of your life to assembling a roster that can win the next one,” he said. “It’s wild, but I wouldn’t trade it.”
His assignment is no token honor. The U‑19 staff—Lloyd (Arizona) flanked by McCasland (Texas Tech), Micah Shrewsberry (Notre Dame), Hubert Davis (North Carolina), Nate Oats (Alabama) and Mark Pope (Kentucky)—must trim an 18‑man finalist pool to 12, shepherd it through a nine‑day camp, then chase gold in Basel, Switzerland. Team USA opens against Cameroon on 28 June (10:45 a.m. ET) before group showdowns with Croatia and Latvia.
For McCasland the benefits are twofold. First, the clinic in elite‑talent management—“Every practice feels like an NBA combine,” he joked—should sharpen his own voice when Texas Tech reconvenes in August. Second, the role puts a national spotlight on a coach whose recruiting philosophy mirrors USA Basketball’s: find versatile, defense‑first players who hate to lose. “It’s the same gospel,” McCasland said. “Guard, rebound, share the ball, and the offense will follow.”
Back in Lubbock, the roster he left in strength‑and‑conditioning hands looks anything but depleted. Big 12 Player—and Newcomer—of the Year JT Toppin returns after averaging 17.4 points and 9.8 boards and earning West Region All‑Tournament honors beside transfer‑turned‑hero Darrion Williams. Sharpshooting sophomore Christian Anderson is back too. To that nucleus McCasland added length and switchability: 6‑6 Santa Clara wing Tyeree Bryan, Washington State shot‑blocker LeJuan Watts, UNC Greensboro sniper Donovan Atwell, Villanova stretch‑four Josiah Moseley, VCU pogo‑stick Luke Bamgboye, and 6‑10 Minnesota freshman Nolan Groves. The collective message? The Elite Eight was a start, not a ceiling.
Those pieces arrived in Lubbock barely 48 hours after spring finals ended, part of what McCasland calls the “90‑day tornado”—the transfer‑portal, NIL and draft‑decision window that now defines college off‑seasons. “The day after the tournament we were watching film of our Sweet 16 comeback and sliding a recruit’s clip right next to it,” he laughed, referencing Tech’s overtime rally from 16 down to beat Arkansas.
The university, convinced the 48‑year‑old is the long‑term answer, agreed. Four weeks ago it tacked another two seasons and performance escalators onto his original six‑year pact, boosting the deal to $31.5 million through 2031 and locking in a base staff salary pool that ranks top‑five in the Big 12. McCasland’s record in Lubbock now sits at 51‑20—numbers athletic director Kirby Hocutt pointed to as “proof of concept” at the extension press conference.
A gauntlet awaits. The newly trimmed 18‑game Big 12 slate hands Texas Tech home‑and‑home battles with reigning league champion Houston plus BYU and Colorado, while marquee single dates with Kansas, Arizona and Baylor loom. “If you want banners you have to go through the best,” McCasland said, noting the league’s 66.7 percent winning clip in last year’s NCAA tournament. “We owe Houston one, and frankly we owe ourselves one for Tampa.”
Yet no matchup, McCasland believes, will be tougher than the internal one: beating the version of Texas Tech that had Florida on the ropes. The summer with USA Basketball, he insists, is step one. “I’m chasing two trophies,” he said—one red, white and blue, one scarlet and black. “Bring gold back from Switzerland, bring crystal back from Glendale. That’s the vision.”
In other words, the Red Raiders are not merely reloading. They are learning to live in the thin air of expectation—both 6,200 feet up in Colorado Springs and in the sweltering plains of West Texas—where anything short of a national title will feel like unfinished business. And when McCasland finally unpacks his suitcase in August, he will do so armed with a summer’s worth of fresh ideas, a deeper recruiting rolodex, and perhaps a gold medal jangling next to the whistle around his neck. If that happens, the loss to Florida may well fade into the background, eclipsed by a season that writes a different kind of ending—one McCasland, his players, and a ravenous Raider Nation believe is only a matter of time.
