I love it when head coaches show respect for their contemporaries and heap praise around for impressive performances or the hard work that another team has put into getting into the postseason.
And that’s exactly what Texas Tech men’s basketball head coach Grant McCasland did after the Red Raiders managed to dismantle the Akron Zips in the opening round of the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
McCasland made it clear during the opening statements of his postgame presser that he had an abundance of respect for the Zips, their head coach, and everything that Akron had accomplished this season.
Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland praised Akron and said the Zips were one of the most fun teams he’s ever scouted
“What an unbelievable Akron team we just played,” McCasland said following Texas Tech’s 20-point win over the Zips. “Coach Groce, I told him when we shook hands, what an awesome team they have.”
McCasland’s praise didn’t end there. The head coach of the Red Raiders continued on, noting that he was impressed with the way Akron was prepared for this matchup and the approach that the Zips took during games.
“One of the most fun teams I’ve ever scouted, the way they can put pressure on you with the way they scored, their pace, their next actionability,” Texas Tech’s head coach continued. “Just, we challenged our team to keep getting better defensively, one, and to finish it with rebounds.”
And that seemed like a pretty big deal. McCasland clearly was aware of everything that Akron does in all of their schemes and the way they approach the game to attack their opponent’s defense. Entering this game, Akron was scoring 88.4 points per game, making 50.3 percent of their shots from the field, and averaging a scoring margin of +14.9 points per game.
And the Red Raiders managed to hold a team that had been making 37.9 percent of their threes on the season to just 26.3 of their shots from deep in this game. Texas Tech outrebounded Akron 32-25 (which is extra impressive when remembering that JT Toppin, the leading rebounder for the Red Raiders, is out for the season).
It’s great to see how much of an emphasis Texas Tech put on preparing for Akron. Now let’s see what the Red Raiders can do following their opening round win.