New Texas Tech coach McCasland brought with him 5 transfer players with NCAA tourney experience

There is a common factor in the five transfer players, including three super seniors, new Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland brought with him to the Big 12 program.

All those transfers came from teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season.

“That was a focus of ours,” McCasland said.

The new-look Red Raiders went 16-16 after a first-round loss in the Big 12 Tournament last March, finishing without a winning record for the first time in eight seasons. McCasland, meanwhile, was leading North Texas to 31 wins and the NIT championship before being hired by the school where he got his master’s degree while working for coach James Dickey as director of basketball operations from 1999-2001.

Sophomore guard Pop Isaacs is among five returning Tech players, and only starter back after averaging 11.5 points and 2.7 assists per game.

The newcomers going into their final college seasons are 7-foot forward Warren Washington and 6-6 guard Devan Cambridge from Arizona State, and 6-foot guard Joe Toussaint from Big 12 foe West Virginia. Junior guard Chance McMillian averaged 10.9 points last season at Grand Canyon, and guard Darrion Williams was the Mountain West Conference's top freshman with 7.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for Nevada.

“This group is really connected to each other and have the makeup to get better over the course of the season,” McCasland said.

Issacs started 24 games last season, and was Tech's third-leading scorer. The only other of the top seven scorers back is senior guard Kerwin Walton, who played only about 13 minutes a game and averaged 3.6 points after transferring from North Carolina.

“Our team has a lot of competitiveness and grit,” Walton said. “A lot to prove. We have a chip on our shoulder that is going to help us stay together and push each other to be competitive in everything we do.”

BIG 12 CONNECTIONS

McCasland is no stranger to the league. His undergraduate degree is from Baylor, where as a 5-foot-9 walk-on player he got into 47 games over four years, including the Big 12's inaugural 1996-97 season. He was also an assistant coach for the Bears from 2011-16 for coach Scott Drew and on the same staff with Jerome Tang, now Kansas State's head coach.

MULTIPLE SCHOOLS

Cambridge, Toussaint and Washington had multiple stops before getting to the Lubbock campus.

This is the fourth school for Washington, who has started 80 of his 109 college games, at Oregon State, Nevada and Arizona State. Cambridge and Toussaint each played at two other schools.

“I could have never imagined going to this many schools but I really believe everything happens for a reason and appreciate the opportunity,” Washington said. “I think it’s helped me be prepared for any situation.”

Cambridge spent his first three seasons at Auburn before one year playing with his brother at Arizona State, where he started 35 games and averaged 9.8 points with 5.4 rebounds. Toussaint had 9.4 points and 2.6 assists in his 34 games as a reserve in his only season at West Virginia after three at Iowa.

THE PACE

While North Texas played at a slow pace and led the nation allowing only 55.7 points a game the past two seasons, that doesn't necessarily mean the Red Raiders will play that way.

“I just think the ultimate answer for this is we’re going to play what fits our team and gives us the best chance to win in the Big 12,” McCasland said, adding there are players on the roster who will allow the Red Raiders to push the ball and play faster.

THE SCHEDULE

The Red Raiders play three home games over nine days to open the season before going to the Bahamas to play 22nd-ranked Villanova at the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 22. They open Big 12 play Jan. 6 at 18th-ranked Texas. In the new conference schedule format to accommodate 14 teams, Tech only has to play No. 1 Kansas and No. 7 Houston once each during the regular season.