WALL OF WORDS
Sorry.
Texas Tech has more NIL to spend. I would guess at least $500K-1M more. West Texas oil money, dawg, mixed with the right people in/around Tech who have a commitment to winning (basketball) games. We've had this convo so often. Until OU shores up things in the NIL department, and ups their commitment towards becoming a great basketball program, it may not matter who the coach is. Though, obviously, there's a chance a different coach ekes out a couple more wins (with the current roster/schedule). Conversely, a different coach could be fighting with Oklahoma State/West Virginia right now for bottom of the basement. Who knows. And I think it's very safe to say, a different coach/staff would have assembled a vastly different roster. Better or worse? Who's to say, no way to ever know.
Is Grant McCasland a better Xs/Os coach than Moser or does he have a better roster? Well, the first part would take a very deep dive that I'm not willing do at, checks notes, 8:00 am, Sunday, March whatever the date is. I can look at rosters though. I have a huge bias towards OU's players, for obvious reasons, but...Tech's roster is better from top to bottom.
When Moser got to OU, he inherited/retained, primarily, Jalen Hill, Mo Gibson, and/or EJ Harkless. None were true stars IMO, Gibson being the closest. We can argue that, I guess, but eh, my viewpoint will not change. That first roster was where Moser really messed up IMO and didn't help himself 'from the jump'. All his fault? Probably not, timing was tough, and I don't think he really understood how tough the Big 12 was going to be (oopsie daisy). But he still could have found better players (hindsight helps here). Keeping Harkless, Gibson, and or Hill, no issues. Duh. They were, at the very least, Big 12 caliber players. Starters or bench. But keeping the commitments of Bijan Cortes and CJ Noland? I was mad at the time (I think I kept it mostly to myself and just retweeted away, lol). I became more vocal last offseason as they continuously wasted (limited) roster space. They were never good enough for OU, especially if the goal is/was to win a lot of games/be a top 25 caliber team. You could definitely extend that same talking point towards Akol Mawein and/or Rick Issanza. Neither were ever OU good and neither have done much of anything at the small college level. That's four roster spots that were wasted or you could say, prevented OU from becoming more talented and starting Moser's career off the right way.
Now, I guess the question is...would Moser have added better talent with four more 'ships at his disposal? That first year, I kind of doubt it, given their evals. Their portal additions, or eye for talent, was/were meh at best. The Groves bros, Marvin Johnson (he was actually talented, kind of Soares-ish, but flaky af), Jordan Goldwire, and Ethan Chargois. Not exactly the best haul to start your OU coaching career. I guess it could have been worse. Maybe. Losing Manek, Reaves, and/or Alondes (Harmon, I was happy to see leave)....that SUCKED and Moser/staff didn't add good enough replacements. NIL? Bad evals? Whatever. Moser's mistake might have been not knowing what a Big 12 roster needed to look like or it could have been taking what they could get cheap.
Okay, now look at what how McCasland's career started at Tech...
He inherited/retained G Pop Isaacs, F Robert Jennings, G Lamar Washington, and/or G Kerwin Walton. Pop is a star (in the B12) and Kerwin is damn solid (shoots 47% from 3P). Jennings might turn into a solid player, still developing, and Washington is pretty much a wasted ship. I would trade Walton, Jennings, and Isaacs for Gibson, Harkless, and Hill. Sorry, not sorry. Mostly to get a go-to player like Isaacs. He's weighted heavily. Then, with more NIL than OU mind you, McCasland added: F/C Warren Washington (Arizona State), G/F Darrion Williams (Nevada), G Chance McMillian (Grand Canyon), F Devan Cambridge (Arizona State - currently injured), and was gifted G Joe Toussaint from WVU because of the Huggins fiasco. Would I take Tech's portal additions or Moser's first portal haul? Lol, come on, man, it's Tech and it's not very close.
Would I rather have McCasland or Moser? McCasland but that isn't an option so...
How many games would McCasland win with OU's roster? How many games would Moser win with Tech's roster?
I'm on record saying I prefer to retain Moser. I will also add...
I don't think it's a coaching problem. Not completely anyway. Moser knows basketball. He's very competitive. Wants to win. He wants to be in the fight.
Right now, in this NIL era, OU has a money and talent acquisition problem. As the GOAT stated, “it’s not the X’s and the O’s, but the Jimmies and the Joes”. I would argue that OU hasn't had a roster in the top half of the Big 12 under Moser. That would take a bit more research but I think it's a safe bet to say OU has been fighting each year with a bottom half roster. How much of that is Moser's fault? How much lies at the feet of donors/athletic administration and the lack of resources/commitment? We may never actually know. Would a new coach be able to change, or do things better, even with their limitations? I mean maybe, maybe not.
If you gave me truth serum, I'd say I don't actually give a chit who the coach is. I tend to support the current coaches (football/basketball/whatever). I'm not tied to Moser, I guess you could say. Until the administration commits to winning basketball games, and having a serious program, OU will likely continue to be a meddling program that hovers right around average/slightly above/below. As we sit here today, we're a week (+1 day) away from the portal opening and there's nothing that points to an increased financial commitment. If there is, I'm unaware. I hope I'm just out of the loop. Truly. When I say increased commitment, I mean getting as close as you can to Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, and the other committed SEC programs. I left out Kentucky because they're, according to rumors, spending close to $7M and OU isn't going to get anywhere close to that, maybe in my lifetime, lol.
