JONESBORO -- Wednesday was an off day for the Arkansas State men's basketball team, but first-year Coach Grant McCasland still saw signs of a team slowly growing together.
While working at his new office inside the Convocation Center, McCasland exchanged a hug with guard Rashad Lindsey, then noted for the junior to call a teammate who earlier that day had an unpleasant dental procedure.
When building a program that had reached the bottom rungs of the Sun Belt Conference, the building process had to start somewhere. McCasland, hired to replace John Brady in March, had decided to do it on a foundation of togetherness and competition.