Grant McCasland got a win-win situation in Sunday’s finals of the FIBA U19 World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Texas Tech basketball coach got to be part of Team USA’s 109-76 gold-medal win over Germany, but McCasland also got to see his budding star Christian Anderson grow even more throughout the tournament.
Anderson entered the finals averaging 17 points and six assists for his father’s native land. He had an equally impressive showing against the USA in the final, finishing with 18 points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.
In the tournament, the sophomore-to-be had games of 29 points against Canada, 12 assists against Serbia and a 27-point effort against Slovenia in the semifinals to set up the matchup with McCasland.
Team USA started to pull away in the second quarter and broke the game open in the third quarter, the disparity in the depth of talent compared to Germany on full display.
Coaching alongside Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry, McCasland also got an up-close look at a pair of big-time freshmen whom Texas Tech will see this season, including Arizona signee Koa Peat and AJ Dybantsa, the top-ranked recruit in the 2025 class, who will suit up for BYU.
McCasland said before leaving for the World Cup his family would be making the trip to Switzerland for the latter portion of the trip, and they would remain overseas for a mini vacation before returning to Lubbock to get ready for the 2025-26 season with the Red Raiders.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech basketball: Christian Anderson impresses for Germany, USA wins FIBA U19 final
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
