Size a focus in transfer portal for Texas Tech basketball coach Grant McCasland
As things stand now, Grant McCasland is excited about what the 2024-25 edition of the Texas Tech basketball team looks like.
McCasland's second offseason leading the Red Raiders looks a bit different than his first. While he does have plenty of moving pieces to navigate through, the head coach doesn't have to instill a culture, a system and a way of building a program. Those things have been done over the past 14 months.
This offseason, McCasland said he's been able to focus on who fits the vision he has for the team rather than trying to get guys to believe he can lead them to success.
"It took us some time to make sure that everybody that was staying," McCasland said Tuesday, "knew the direction that we wanted to go. ... The real difference was just we had guys coming to us, when we had guys come visit, like, hey, we don't think this guy's a great fit."
McCasland continued to say that the players, those who are sticking around for another year, have been the best recruiters on the team.
"Just the belief and excitement of the current roster," McCasland said, "is really the biggest difference. They know what's expected and what fits our team and those guys have been the biggest, a resource for our ability to make sure we get the right guys here."
Eight players from last year's opening-game roster entered their names into the transfer portal, all of them either expected or understandable. Two others — Joe Toussaint and Warren Washington — exhausted their eligibility.
The biggest recruiting wins of the offseason, though, may have been keeping the core of Darrion Williams, Kerwin Walton and Chance McMillian. Williams, especially given how he closed his sophomore season before an ankle injury in the Big 12 Tournament, was considered the centerpiece to how McCasland and his staff filled out the next year's roster.
Also returning are Devan Cambridge — who McCasland hopes to have back at full health sometime in the fall semester — and Eemeli Yalaho, who showed flashes with expanded minutes late in the year.
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To add to the returning players, the Red Raiders have signed three players out of the portal thus far. Point guard Elijah Hawkins was second in the nation in assists at Minnesota. Guard Kevin Overton had a solid freshman campaign with Drake. Center Federiko Federiko, standing at 6-foot-11, adds size to what is otherwise a small team.
That is where McCasland said the staff will focus efforts throughout the rest of the offseason. Including the signings of incoming freshmen Christian Anderson — a four-star guard who officially signed on Tuesday — and Leon Horner III, the Red Raiders have solid depth in the backcourt.
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With 10 slotted scholarships accounted for, Texas Tech has three more spots available to add more through the transfer portal. McCasland said the plan is to fill all 13 spots, but only if the right players present themselves. No giving spots away just to fill a roster spot.
Given Cambridge's knee, Yalaho still adapting to the college game and this past season's struggles with depth, McCasland said how the Red Raiders use those final three roster positions is obvious. Yalaho, listed at 6-foot-8, is the only other player outside of Federiko taller than 6-6.
"We experienced the Big 12," McCasland said, "and you've got to have size. I think if we're going to add any depth, it's really going to be at the size. ... I think we just need to add size and depth at those positions. And then if we can find the best available late in the summer that we feel can just help us win, we would do something with that, but not necessarily feeling like we have to do anything right now."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Size a focus in transfer portal for Texas Tech basketball coach Grant McCasland
