Arkansas State formally introduced Grant McCasland as the 15th head men’s basketball coach in program history today.

It’s no secret that A-State basketball has been on the decline the past two seasons, so when former coach John Brady announced he would resign in November, athletics director Terry Mohajir began the search for the program’s next head coach immediately.

“We were looking for someone that has had success on multiple levels,” Mohajir said. “We were looking for a gentleman that has had success as a head coach. That wasn’t the most important thing, but we’ll take the national championship. You can’t get much more successful that. We also wanted someone who had been around a program you had to turn around. 10 years ago Baylor got put on probation. That is one of the greatest turn-arounds in college basketball history. They are now a perennial powerhouse. We got a guy who is part of the success.”

“We wanted a coach that believes in the value of an education, and that by recruiting someone to Arkansas State, you give them the opportunity to change their environment,” Mohajir continued. “By getting a degree and getting them a job after they graduate, you give them an opportunity to change their families circumstances for life.”

The search firm for this coaching search was the same as the search firm for the searches that brought Bryan Harsin and Blake Anderson to Arkansas State. The firm consisted of Mohajir, System President Chuck Welch and Chancellor Tim Hudson.

“I want them to be part of the process,” Mohajir said. “They ultimately say it’s your decision, but listening to their council and feedback is tremendous. To do what we’re gonna do here, and build our program up, we have to have the buy in from our administration. There has never been an athletics director, a football coach or a basketball coach that has won a championship on his own. We have to have the support of our university to win championships.”

The search for a new coach comes at a pivotal time in Arkansas State basketball history. With the rapid decline of attendance at the Convo, and the lack of winning the past two seasons (the Red Wolves have compiled a record of just 22-38), A-State needed to make a “home run” hire for their next head coach. Mohajir, just like any fan that went and listened to McCasland today, believes that A-State made the right hire at the right time, and will now be a contender after this hire.

“It’s been very clear that we haven’t been satisfied with our men’s basketball over the last couple of years,” Mohajir said. “We have an opportunity to change the culture and that’s what we are going to do. Before we get started I want everybody to delete the pictures in their head from the last couple of years and create new pictures in your head of what you want this program to be. If you think it, you will believe it, and it will happen. It starts today in this room right now. A new era for men’s basketball.”

McCasland seemed to be the most excited guy in the room today. The current Baylor assistant coached JUCO and Division-II basketball for seven years before accepting an assistant job at Baylor in 2011-12. McCasland is 199-44 as a head coach, and won the NJCAA National Championship in 2007.

“The best part of my day so far was meeting with the players,” McCasland said “To me this is all about family. The one thing that was clear to me in this process was that there are amazing people in Jonesboro, Arkansas and at Arkansas State University. The people sitting up here, it was clear to me what the expectation is and how great this community is.”

McCasland, while excited to win basketball games in Jonesboro, made it very clear that his way of coaching was different than the previous coach. McCasland’s end goal as the coach of Arkansas State is to win the Sun Belt conference and play in the NCAA tournament, but he wants to go about it the right way.

“Our expectation is to go to the NCAA tournament,” McCasland said. “I told our guys this is a “we”. This is about our family. My expectation is that they’re your kids heroes, and people that our families can look up to. Our families our going to come to practices. We’re not going to be cussing and running around and acting crazy. We’re going to do this the right way. Our guys will always feel encouraged.”

McCasland envisions his teams at A-State playing at a fast pace, and he thinks this team will have a quick turn-around.

“We’re going to get after it,” McCasland said. “We are going to share the basketball. We’re going to evaluate who we have when we get them. My teams play fast and we share the basketball. It’s all been founded on getting stops. We’ll spend the majority of our practices working on defense. Everything is going to highly competitive.”

Before he fully inserts himself into the role of head coach at A-State, however, McCasland will finish the season at Baylor. The Bears are in the NCAA tournament and will play Yale tomorrow afternoon.

“I’ll be flying out of here to represent the Red Wolves tomorrow at 1:40 as we take on Yale,” McCasland said, smiling. “I’ll be wearing a red tie and we’ll be ready to roll. I think that’s a great way to start this, because that is our expectation. We are going to be in the NCAA tournament.”

“Tomorrow at 1:40 they are going to talk about Arkansas State on CBS,” McCasland added.

The most obvious connection McCasland had to A-State prior to accepting the job, was that he coached against the Red Wolves in November of 2015. But, what many people don't know is that he actually played against Arkansas State during his senior year at Baylor. McCasland played against the Red Wolves during the 1998-99 season, the only season a A-State basketball team has ever gone to the NCAA tournament.

“In 1998, I was a basketball player at Baylor and we came here to play A-State. There was a little guard named Chico Fletcher,” McCasland said, laughing. “It’s at the end of the game and this is my senior year. I didn’t play a lot because I was an ankle biter, but, I competed and earned time. We came to Jonesboro at the beginning of the season in November. I remember the Convo center. It was hopping and there was a great crowd. I told Coach Z and Terry that I have great memories of going into that game and seeing a phenomenal atmosphere. At the end of the game, I’m playing point and Chico rips me and goes and makes a layup and I foul him. He made a basket to put you guys up and end up beating us. That’s the memory I have of this place. Because of that experience I remember that and I will never forget the name Chico Flethcer.”

“That’s what we are going to do,” McCasland continued. “We are going to beat people we aren’t expected to beat. I’m not planning on this being a long process either.”

McCasland signed a five year contract at Arkansas State, with an annual base salary of $350,000. The contract provides moving expenses, a cell phone, an automobile, a country club membership, and 10 tickets to all home basketball games, among other incentives. The full list of bonuses is listed below. Courtesy of AStateNation.com.

$10,000 if AState wins the conference regular season title and miss NCAA tournament

$30,000 if AState wins the regular season conference championship AND makes the NCAA tournament

$15,000 for making the NCAA Tournament without winning the regular season title

$20,000 for a first round NCAA win

$25,000 for second round win

$50,000 for Sweet Sixteen

$60,000 for Elite Eight

$100,000 for Final Four

One year of salary if A-State wins the NCAA Tournament (the NCAA bonuses are not cumulative only receives the highest bonus earned)

$5,000 for an NIT bid plus $1,000 per win in the NIT

$5,000 for being coach of the year in Sun Belt

$10,000 for national coach of the year

$5,000 if ranked by AP or ESPN Coaches poll at any point in the season

$5,000 for a win over a top 10 team in AP or Coaches

$2,500 for a final RPI of 1-30

$5,000 any season where A-State sells 3,000 or more season tickets

$2,500 each year the men's basketball APR is 1000

At the end of the day, McCasland will be judged by how many games he wins, and whether or not he can lead A-State to post-season play. There is no such thing as winning a press conference, but, if there was, McCasland would be 1-0. He hasn't truly been on the job one day, as his contract doesn't go into effect until April 1, but, I think it is safe to say McCasland has already won the fan base over.

The future of A-State basketball appears to be in the right hands.