Smashing debut: The versatility of Maryland transfer Caleb Dean has been a boon for the Red Raiders

When Caleb Dean had his name put into the NCAA transfer portal after the 2022 season, Texas Tech track and field coach Wes Kittley didn't immediately pick up the phone and offer him a new home in West Texas.

Dean needed Kaithon McDonald's help for that to happen.

Both athletes transferred from Maryland to Texas Tech. McDonald, a high jumper who can clear 7 feet and change, has been solid so far for the Red Raiders. Dean has been closer to spectacular.

"Tech didn't reach out to me at first," Dean said. "They actually reached out to Kaithon, and then Kaithon put in a word for me when he was on his visit. That's kind of how everything happened."

Dean has taken it from there.

The 6-foot, 170-pound sprinter/hurdler is ranked sixth in NCAA Division I this season in the 60-meter hurdles and 16th in the 60 meters. He also runs leadoff on the Red Raiders' 1,600-meter relay that's 13th. At the end of the season, the top 16 in individual events and the top 12 in relays qualify for the NCAA championships.

Five weeks ago, Dean, Courtney Lindsey, Shaemar Uter and Nylo Clarke broke an 18-year-old school record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3 minutes, 4.52 seconds. Three weeks ago, Dean ran the then-second-fastest 60-meter hurdles in Tech history, a 7.62. Red Raiders freshman Antoine Andrews ran 7.59 a week later, breaking the Tech record of 7.60 set by Omo Osaghae, the Monterey graduate who became a three-time U.S. champion and 2014 world champion.

Kittley corroborates that he might have missed on Dean had not McDonald told Tech coaches to pursue him.

The Red Raiders thought they were getting a 400-meter hurdler, and Dean calls that event "my bread and butter." He qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships in the 400 hurdles each of the past two years, but not in anything else.

"He was a quarter (400-meter) hurdler, I thought," Kittley said. "I knew he runs some other things, but I didn't realize ... I call him my Army Swiss knife, because he can run the 60 to the 400 hurdles, and he can run the 200, the 400, the 400 hurdles, mile relay. He is just incredible."

To do a combination of hurdles and sprints at such a high level is uncommon. Asked for a comparable athlete during his time as the Red Raiders' coach, Kittley went back to Shawon Harris, a Tech Hall of Famer who competed from 2004-08. Harris achieved first-team all-America status — that is, a top-eight finish at an NCAA national meet — in the 60 hurdles, 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles and twice on 1,600-meter relays.

But Dean, Kittley says, is better in the short sprints such as the 60 and the 100.

"I mean, Caleb could run on the 4-by-1 (400-meter relay)," Kittley said. "There's so many options with him. We'll have a dilemma at the Big 12 championships what to do with him."

The Red Raiders host the Big 12 indoor meet Friday and Saturday at the Sports Performance Center. The thought that Dean could be one of their top all-around point scorers would've seemed unlikely during his childhood. Dean said he was 5-foot-1 and 95 pounds starting his freshman year of high school at Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, a sports powerhouse known for its basketball and football programs.

Dean suspected he was too little to get a shot in football and gave it up to focus on track. He gradually grew and got better.

"During that period when I was at Maryland, I kind of found a lot of things I was good at," he said. "I was good at the 60. I was good at the 60 hurdles, 400 hurdles, 200 (meters).

"At times it can be a struggle, because I do so many events, practice for so many events, but it's a blessing and I don't take it for granted."

Dean's most attention-getting performance this season was his 7.62 in the 60-meter hurdles at Albuquerque, New Mexico. During his time at Maryland, Dean's career best was 7.82 in January 2022. Two-tenths of a second is a dramatic improvement, especially in such a short time.

Kittley and Dean both cite the level of competition in training day-in and day-out at Tech, which has the No. 3-ranked men's team in the nation.

"When I was at Maryland," Dean said, "I didn't have a lot of people to push me, and the competition level wasn't there as it is here — just my mindset and the competitiveness that we have here at Tech.

"I feel like I have the same work ethic, the same will, the same determination that I had at Maryland. It's just like a new environment, a new atmosphere which is helping me succeed here."

He's flourishing in a lot more than one event. That's the pleasant development for the Red Raiders, especially to their fortunes during winter competition. The 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles are among the handful of events unique to the indoor season that generally are not contested during the NCAA outdoor season.

If his past is any indication, Dean's best is yet to come. But what a preview he's given so far.

"We really brought him here to be a 400-meter hurdler, which we still think is his best race," Kittley said, "but this has been a real pleasant surprise."

The Caleb Dean file

Ht./wt.: 6 feet, 170 pounds

Class: Junior

Hometown/HS: Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic

Personal records

60 meters: 6.60 seconds

60-meter hurdles: 7.62

100 meters: 10.48

110 hurdles: 14.11

200 meters: 21.22

400 hurdles: 49.77

Track & field

What: Big 12 indoor championships

When: Friday-Saturday

Where: Sports Performance Center

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Smashing debut: The versatility of Maryland transfer Caleb Dean has been a boon for the Red Raiders