McCasland Recaps Wild Past Week of Texas Tech Basketball
What a wild past week of Texas Tech basketball. It was just 6 days ago that Texas Tech knocked off then-#1 Arizona at their place. During the mid-week battle versus Arizona State, the Red Raiders not only fell to the Sun Devils, but also lost star forward JT Toppin to an ACL injury for the remainder of the season. Coach Grant McCasland caught up with the local media this afternoon to preview Kansas State, and recap the past 7 days of hoops.
Opening Statement
“Yeah, what a wild last couple games we’ve had as a program, but sure is great to be back at the USA and to get home game against an outstanding opponent in Kansas State. Who I think probably played their best game of the year the last time out. You know a lot, lot surrounding, obviously, their program right now that I’m close to and and I love Coach Tang. He’s one of my favorite people in the world, and a guy that was there for me at some of my toughest days, and so I just respect him, and you can tell his team is continuing to fight their program. It is in great hands with Coach Driscoll, who I also care a lot about me, and I care a lot about those people on that staff that I’ve been close to, Coach Jareem Dowling and Phil Baier. So just a lot of great people over there that I love, and you can tell that they’re playing inspired right now, so look forward to Saturday and look forward to the opportunity to compete”
Toppin Feelings Mentally
“Yeah, man, JT Toppin is genuine He’s an unbelievable competitor. He’s real. Being in the doctor’s office with him when he got the news was crushing, really was. And it was a tough couple days, and I told our team, you know, you can do both. You know how much JT loves our team, and how hard he competed, and how much he cared about that group.”
To understand that this is difficult and JT has a long road, and to watch him weep and to see how much this meant to him is hard. It’s hard to watch, and it’s hard for everybody involved. I mean, I can just tell you, because of all the outpouring of support that JT has gotten from a lot of people, this impacts a lot of people, you know, and it’s sad, but I honestly believe that it can make him stronger.
And that’s what I told our team, and that’s what I told our group. And I don’t know how to explain it, I can only tell you I believe it with all my heart that there is no accidents. This is has a purpose. And whatever the purpose is, it’s hard to see in the moment, but because of JT‘s competitiveness, he will come back from this stronger, and I’ll believe it with all my heart, and I do believe our team can get better because of this.
I know that’s hard for people to imagine, but it’s going to take JT being a part of it for it to happen. So the first day after this happens, we have a team meeting. And I told him this very thing, and I told him, We can be sad and we can also have hope that we can all get stronger because of it, and that’s our perspective.
I asked JT yesterday in practice, because he’s sitting on the side of crutches, and I said, “How you doing?” And he said, “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me”, so that’s the part you love about JT, because he said, “I just want to play with our team.”, and I said, “What do you think of our group?”, he’s like, “I just don’t know how we’re going to rebound”, I love that about it, because he’s genuine, he doesn’t hold anything back.
If you talk to JT, and you know him, you know how much he’s grown since he’s been here, but he’s authentic to who he is, and he will tell you the truth. He’s like, I just don’t know how we’re going to rebound. That’s the one thing that I know our group can do. We can grow in those areas. We’ve always improved. And I’m excited to see what comes of this, because the joy comes in the mourning, and there’s a lot of mourning.
There’s also a lot of hope in this. And even for JT, there’s a lot of hope that he’ll get better because of this. And so that’s what we’re choosing to do, and we’re excited about every opportunity we get to play. And I know our guys are going to honor JT and how they compete because of who they are and because of what JT means to us.”
Season Ending Injuries For McCasland
“Yeah, unfortunately it’s not the first time this has happened on a team I’ve been a part of. What I’ll say about JT and our program and our team, like all the guys went and saw him that they found out and we didn’t have a team event because it was an off day, but all the guys went over to his apartment. He’s got a great support group, he really does, his mom, his agent, and just the people around him.
He’s got a really tight circle, his grandparents, his brothers. He’s just got a really great group of people around him and our team, and Mike Neal‘s the best. I mean, if there’s any confidence we have, it’s like we’ve got the right medical staff to help. We’ve had guys go through this since we’ve been here. We’ve had guys go through ACL since we’ve been here, and everybody’s come back stronger. So I think there’s a real hope that we can continue to grow and build, our strength staff has been unbelievable, and helping JT.
He’s just a warrior, I think that mentality is he’s at a time in his life where he can handle, you know, it’ll be hard, but he can handle the growth of this. And so it’s not going to be me, it’s not going to be one person that’s going to be a group of people that support him, and JT has got a great support group, and there’s a lot of Red Raiders that have made a difference in his life.
I mean, it’s the reason why we wanted him to be here and why he wanted to come back, because he loves this community, and I think this place means a lot to him.”
