North Texas has hired Grant McCasland as its next head coach, the school announced on Monday.
McCasland, 40, was the head coach at Arkansas State this past season. He led the Red Wolves to a nine-win improvement in his lone season in charge, going 20-12 overall and 11-7 in the Sun Belt.
"I am extremely excited about the opportunity to serve as the next head basketball coach at the University of North Texas," McCasland said in a release. "I am honored by the confidence that both vice president and director of athletics Wren Baker and president Neal Smatresk have demonstrated as we went through this process. Their commitment and vision for men's basketball at North Texas is inspiring and I look forward to working with them to build champions and prepare leaders with the young men we have in our program."
The Mean Green were 8-22 this season and missed the Conference USA Tournament after going 2-16 in league play.
"Coach McCasland is a rising superstar in college basketball and possesses all of the qualities we desired when we began our search,'' North Texas athletic director Wren Baker said. "He has been successful at every step of his career. He's a proven coach and recruiter, but most importantly, he has demonstrated the ability to help young men grow and develop as people.''
McCasland was an assistant coach at Baylor for five seasons before getting hired at Arkansas State. He also has previous head coach experience at Division-II Midwestern State and Midland College, which he led to the National Junior College Athletic Association title in 2007.
Arkansas State athletic director Terry Mohajir said in a statement that ASU wishes McCasland and his family the best and that a national search will begin immediately to find his replacement.