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McCasland Voted C-USA Coach Of The Year
3/11/2020 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DALLAS — North Texas head men's basketball coach Grant McCasland has been named the 2020 Conference USA Men's basketball Coach of the Year.
The third-year Mean Green head coach led UNT, who was picked to finish seventh in the 2020 C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll, to the C-USA regular season title, the program's first in 31 years. North Texas is 20-11 on the year and its 14-4 conference record is a program-record.
McCasland is the first North Texas men's basketball head coach to be named a conference coach of the year since Jimmy Gales in 1989.
When McCasland took over the program in May of 2017, the Mean Green were coming off back-to-back 20-loss seasons and three straight losing seasons.
Now in his third year at UNT, McCasland has led the Mean Green to three straight 20-win seasons and compiled a 61-41 overall record. North Texas won the 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship in his first season, had the best start to a season in program history last year at 16-1 and now has a conference championship just three years in.
McCasland and North Texas have one of the nation's most efficient offenses. For a majority of this year, they've ranked in the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. They went on an eight-game conference winning streak and played a one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation. UNT faced three nationally ranked opponents and six teams who have been projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Furthermore, McCasland has accomplished all this in 2019-20 while taking in eight newcomers to its roster. One of those newcomers is point guard Javion Hamlet. McCasland guided Hamlet to C-USA Player of the Year honors as well as many more despite Hamlet's struggles early on. Hamlet averaged just eight points per game and had 24 turnovers to just 15 assists through the first seven games of the year. But through McCasland's coaching, Hamlet averaged 17.9 points per game in conference and averaged a league-best 5.3 assists per game with a league-best 2.7 assist/turnover ratio.
Hamlet is the first UNT player to be named a league's player of the year since Deon Hunter in 1989 when the Mean Green played in the Southland Conference. Hamlet was also voted C-USA First Team All-Conference this year. He's the first North Texas player to earn that honor. UNT joined C-USA for the 2013-14 season.
The third-year Mean Green head coach led UNT, who was picked to finish seventh in the 2020 C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll, to the C-USA regular season title, the program's first in 31 years. North Texas is 20-11 on the year and its 14-4 conference record is a program-record.
McCasland is the first North Texas men's basketball head coach to be named a conference coach of the year since Jimmy Gales in 1989.
When McCasland took over the program in May of 2017, the Mean Green were coming off back-to-back 20-loss seasons and three straight losing seasons.
Now in his third year at UNT, McCasland has led the Mean Green to three straight 20-win seasons and compiled a 61-41 overall record. North Texas won the 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship in his first season, had the best start to a season in program history last year at 16-1 and now has a conference championship just three years in.
McCasland and North Texas have one of the nation's most efficient offenses. For a majority of this year, they've ranked in the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. They went on an eight-game conference winning streak and played a one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation. UNT faced three nationally ranked opponents and six teams who have been projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Furthermore, McCasland has accomplished all this in 2019-20 while taking in eight newcomers to its roster. One of those newcomers is point guard Javion Hamlet. McCasland guided Hamlet to C-USA Player of the Year honors as well as many more despite Hamlet's struggles early on. Hamlet averaged just eight points per game and had 24 turnovers to just 15 assists through the first seven games of the year. But through McCasland's coaching, Hamlet averaged 17.9 points per game in conference and averaged a league-best 5.3 assists per game with a league-best 2.7 assist/turnover ratio.
Hamlet is the first UNT player to be named a league's player of the year since Deon Hunter in 1989 when the Mean Green played in the Southland Conference. Hamlet was also voted C-USA First Team All-Conference this year. He's the first North Texas player to earn that honor. UNT joined C-USA for the 2013-14 season.
Players Mentioned
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