LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – While the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders (19-7, 9-4 Big 12) prepare for Kansas State (11-15, 2-11), now led by interim coach Matthew Driscoll, Tech head basketball coach Grant McCasland addressed the media Friday afternoon- his first press conference since JT Toppin’s season-ending ACL injury was announced.
“I can just tell you because of all the outpouring of support that JT’s 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,” McCasland said. “I can only tell you I believe it with all my heart that there are no accidents. This 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 believe it with all my heart, and I do believe our team can get better because of this.”
While Coach McCasland was obviously emotional while talking about Toppin’s injury, he also reiterated that JT and the others will grow stronger from how they deal with the unexpected circumstances.
“We’ve always improved, and I’m excited to see what comes of this because the joy comes in the morning, and there’s a lot of mourning, but there’s also a lot of hope in this,” he said. “And even for JT, there’s a lot of hope that he’ll get better because of this, 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.”
With the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, and this year’s four-time “Big 12 Player of the Week” unable to play, McCasland says his younger players will now take on greater roles in the games that remain.
“I think you’ll find that we include Jaylen Petty more, LeJuan more, everybody’s going to touch the ball more and Jaylen has great experience. I think creating opportunities for Donovan Atwell is going to be important.”
With Toppin out for the season, McCasland expects to see point guard Christian Anderson to have a stronger presence, both on and off the court.
“We’re going to have to be in attack mode. It’s going to take everybody. Christian Anderson’s going to be the leader of this group and he’s going to have to continue to be. I think just the Christian’s command of how all the pieces work; he’s going to have to be more vocal. He’s going to have to really be clear and more communicate more and really do a great job of orchestrating this even at a higher level and making sure that we all improve over the course of the game and every day. We’re going to do it together. It’s not going to be one guy. It’s going to be ‘how well can we do this thing together?’… I do think that’s where Christian’s going to have to really have great command, because he’ll be able to still do what he does best. It’s just going to maybe take a little longer, and I think our competitiveness is going to be important and how we improve in that area.”
Coach McCasland says there have been other years in other programs where he’s lost key players late in the season, and Toppin has a strong support system around him both from teammates and his family.
Tip-off for Saturday’s contest with Kansas State scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the United Supermarkets Arena.
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