One of the unique and fun aspects of college basketball is that the head coaches in the sport are so prominent. With player turnover at an all-time high, every head coach in college hoops is the unquestioned face of his program. That's certainly the case for Bill Self at Kanas, who is one of the most high-profile coaches in the game. On Thursday, though, the long-time Jayhawk head man threw some flowers in the direction of Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland.
Meeting with the local press ahead of his team's home game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Self was asked who he thought should be the Big 12 Coach of the Year. To his credit, he didn't go with the obvious answer.
Well, you could obviously say the team with the best record," he said, "so Kelvin [Sampson from Houston]. But I personally think Grant [McCasland] has stood out as well as anybody. If you're going to look at the teams in our league that have been a pleasant surprise regardless of where they were picked, I think Texas Tech would win that award as much as anybody would."
Certainly, Self makes a great point. In the Big 12 preseason poll, Texas Tech was picked to finish seventh. However, all season, the Red Raiders have been in the conference title mix and have been battling with Arizona for second place behind Houston.
However, more was expected of the Cougars and Wildcats than of the Red Raiders. Houston was picked second in the preseason poll while Arizona came in at No. 5.
What McCasland has done in taking a roster that brought in eight new faces and molding it into an NCAA Tournament lock and a Big 12 title contender should be recognized by folks outside of West Texas. What's more, his ability to manage his roster through various injuries to JT Toppin, Darrion Williams, and Chance McMillian has shown that he can get the most out of his players even when his full complement of talent is unavailable.
Additionally, the growth and development of freshman guard Christian Anderson should bolster McCasland's resume for the Coach of the Year Award. Though he was not a blue-chip prospect or a high school All-American, Anderson has been one of the two or three best freshmen in the conference, averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game in his first year of college basketball.
While much of Anderson's success comes because of his maturity, talent, and hard work, McCasland and his coaching staff also deserve quite a bit of praise for extracting so much productivity from their first-year guard.
Ultimately, Sampson is going to win the award because his team is garnering all the headlines after winning the Big 12 regular-season title for the second year in a row. That is the obvious choice, and voters almost always take the easy road when casting votes.
However, Bill Self knows what it takes to be a great coach, more than almost anyone in the game. So when he says that Grant McCasland should be Big 12 Coach of the Year, that opinion should carry some serious weight.