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We may not have a scholarship to spare for one, given the current distribution, unless it's a no-brainer player like Dwight Miller or another potential transfer from a BCS level school. This is not a great year for post recruits, and the competition is fierce for anyone left. We have 5 of our 13 scholarships already committed to people recruited as posts. Hogans, Holmen, Edwards, Knox, and Forrest Robinson. Tony Mitchell will almost certainly play facing the basket to develop as a future NBA 3, but he's 6'8" and going to be a 3/4 hybrid post for us. A lot of the top talent players rumored to be considering us are 3/4 hybrids with size, too. Roger Franklin is effectively a 6'5" post trapped in a wing's body, a lot like Kerusch and Pettegrew at WKU. Jarion Henry is either 6'6" or 6'7", but without a true post frame or a post game. Unless we get Miller or that 6'10" type transfer center, someone we know will be an impact player as soon as they can get on the floor... I just don't think we can drop a ship on a post right now. And with the lineup we'll have, I really don't think we'd need to in order to get the most out of our talent. Especially in a guard oriented league like the Sun Belt, there's a lot of precedent for a 1 pure post lineup being very successful, as long as you have good overall size and perimeter guys who can rebound and body up on 6'6" or 6'7" posts. Troy did it with great success in SBC play last year with Yamene Coleman as their only real paint presence. Western Kentucky did it in their NCAA tournament game winning teams, with Jeremy Evans in that inside role surrounded by big guards that could score. They won 3 NCAA games with that sort of lineup. I think Kedrick Hogans is a good fit for that sort of approach. He rebounds and blocks shots, and he does most of his scoring on putbacks or cleanup situations. Hogans has a bigger body than Jeremy Evans did. We couldn't do a 1 pure post lineup with last year's roster (never work with Josh and Dom on the floor together), but next year by conference play we'll likely start Chris Jones at 6'2", Alzee Williams at 6'4", Jordan Williams at 6'6", Tony Mitchell at 6'8", and Kedrick Hogans at 6'7". We'll have an overall height advantage (a very significant one on the perimeter) over our opponents, with Mitchell capable of defending a post player and him and Jordan capable of scooping up rebounds. Holmen/Edwards/Robinson subbing in as the 2nd line would be more than some SBC teams will have in their starting lineups. Healthy Edwards and year 3 of Holmen could both be breakout performances, too. Pairing them up (and Knox in there, too) and going with a more traditional 2 post floor lineup would make up for what we lose in size when 5'8" Trey Norris comes in to play PG. I know everyone has gotten used to having George Odufuwa in there averaging a double double... But I don't think Quincy or Keith Wooden ever averaged double figures scoring, and I also don't think either of them ever came very close to averaging double digit rebounds. Size and rebounding can compensate for only using one real post player. We've seen it work for our league mates, in both the regular and the post season. Don't get me wrong... I hope we get Dwight Miller to sign with us next weekend. But if we don't... I think that the weapons (and the height) we'll have on the roster next year would allow us to succeed with a very different approach than what we've seen in the past under JJ. If we DO go with another post that isn't an immediate impact guy... We've got very limited depth at guard. Alzee, Jordan, Norris, Walton, Jones, and one more guard. 6 guys for 3 spots on the floor, with Alzee as the only guy that's ever worn an NT uniform before. As soon as someone tweaks an ankle or shows they need time before they can play decent minutes... We're right back in a situation like what we faced this past year. And people will be upset about why come we didn't learn our lesson and git sum pitchin' depth at the guard spot.

So, the bride and I drive by the Love Shack last evening and see that it is, indeed open for business in Denton. Today we decide to go back and give it a try. After getting home from refereeing three games and getting cleaned up we head down to the Love Shack. get there about 2:15pm on Saturday afternoon. There is a short wait for a table (the place is not all that big), so we grab a couple of beers ($3.00/each), and in about 10 minutes we are shown to our table. A guy is playing the guitar and singing so it is not a quiet place, but the vibe in the place is great. Really nice interior and a nice (but smallish patio). The inside can be open like a patio as it is enclosed by two large garage type doors. One was open so it was pretty much an open air palce...pretty cool. So, i order the Love burger (without the quail egg) but all the trimmings otherwise. The bride gets the fish sandwich and we share a large order of what they call fries...very interesting fries...thing and crispy. I was afraid after seeing them on other tables that they would be more like potato chips...nope...in fact very tasty. The burgers are cooked medium...that's the way you get 'em like it or not. I usually like medium rare, but I have to say the burger was great as cooked. Very good beef with a great flavor...the "Love Sauce" and the pickles are different and very good. The bride liked her fish sandwich very much and I grabbed a bite of the fish...grilled nicely...great flavor. Didn't ask what kind of fish, but a white and mild fish (probably talapia or something similar). We had a beer each on the lunch tab (already paid for the beers while waiting on the table), the Love burger with bacon, the fish sandwich and a large order of fries to share...total tab including tip was $26.76! Not bad at all for a very nice late lunch...neat place, good music (even tipped the guy playing...he really was that good). Neat thing was that Tim Love was in the kitchen doing some cooking and teaching i would imagine, so I asked our waiter to see if he would sign our ticket receipt for us...he did...it says "Eat, Drink and Live Well! Tim Love 2011"...pretty nice of him as the place was busy and he was obviously still in the training mode with a very new staff. I have to say that while the service was not "lightening speed", we were very happy about that as we got to relax, enjoy our beers and listen to some good music. We both thought that, for a new place still in the training mode, everyone did a great job. So, give it a try and see what you think. We will definitely retun...on Tuesdays...or was it Thursdays...you can get 5 Pabst Blue Ribbon beers for $5.00...or Schlitz...but Schlitz is pretty much a skunky beer in my opinion. Now Pabst, that's a classic...heck for a $1.00 a beer I pretty much don't care! Ha! There you have it...straight from the brand new Denton's very own "Love Shack". On my next visit i will ask if they will join the Mean green Club!

"People need to realize parking is going to be different and they may have to walk. There isn't much parking by the stadium and what there is will be reserved. You watch, people are going to expect to be able to drive up to the stadium and park there only to be redirected accross the highway. I can hear the bitching now." Ahhh yes, the eternal paradox of the North Texas fan. While many of our own scream from the mountain tops "We want to act like the big boys! We don't want to be small time!" they manage to utter in the next breath "But I don't want to pay too much for it and want all of the convenience of what I'm accustomed to at Fouts!" Strangely, nobody complains about having to park at the basketball venue and take a BUS to OU's stadium, or having to walk a mile from the tailgating areas at UT...or K-State or fill in your "big time" school. Nope, many want all the conveniences of drawing 15,000 to a craptacular stadium like Fouts...but want the pageantry and crowds of the bigger stadiums.

Gotta get off the tit sometime.

I still love me some Zo. I have high hopes for him next year if he can get healthy. It's hard enough for a juco to come in a find his role on a new team much less having to do it on a senior heavy team while also being injured. Getting a 6'10 / 6'11 low post scorer is hard enough to find in the NBA , much less here at UNT. I don't think the belt as a whole has had one of those since maybe Chris Marcus of wKu. Show me a 6'11 kid who can score and I'll show you the $1,000s of dollars being thrown at him by the recruiters & sports agents

that you lose???

This is a dream come true. LA Tech is the logical choice, but the SBC is in the drivers seat and can use NMSU for the 11th spot to play LA Tech vs. Texas State vs. UTSA for the 12th spot. LA Tech has been able to stay in the WAC since the last round of expansion because of the unequal payments and BCS cash. The new WAC is not economically viable for LA Tech. A 12 teams Sun Belt would be a huge financial boost to LA Tech with all divisional games with in a few hours drive.

Never thought that SMU would be an option for him. I'm sure he would like to get out from under the shadow of Shawn Williams. TCU will not win anytime soon and having to endure those long flights to the East will not be fun. A large crowd for UTA is 1,200. This is a no brainer. I like Roger, but hope JJ address the post position first. Kids are backing out of commitments all over the place. Ray Penn (OSU) Kyan Anderson (Providence) Nolan Dennis (Baylor) and more to come....

I take my posts very seriously. So should you.

When was the last time you were 23?

If Tech asked they would almost certainly be invited. Unless there is a major change there or ULM leaves, they aren't asking. Take a gander at Sagarin. Of returning WAC schools, the highest rated is below two Sun Belt teams. They are losing three top 50 programs and bringing in the second lowest rated Southland school and a school that has never snapped the ball. Look at the RPI. Outside of an outstanding USU program, the WAC is no big prize over the Sun Belt and one of their prize additions our 8th rated team. Women's basketball? Sun Belt put two in the dance, same as the WAC. Tech is rated a little above MTSU and UALR is rated 46 to Fresno's 45 and Fresno is leaving. Volleyball? Western schools are good but the Sun Belt has been a two bid league the last four years. There is also a sport called baseball. Sun Belt is 6th in RPI WAC 17th, the Sun Belt has had multiple teams invited in baseball for 22 consecutive seasons. Hard to see where the Sun Belt / Suck Belt talk comes from when the pesky facts don't back that up if the comparison point is the WAC. Right now the only bowl they are firmly with is Boise and scuttlebutt is that Boise will pull the plug after this year. While the new rule changes have saved the WAC's auto bid in other sports, the changes still leaves the league one short of conference status in football. That means a BCS payment of $100,000 per team ($700,000) rather than the guaranteed minimum of about $1.8 million. It also means that unless the WAC champ finishes ranked #1 or #2 they don't have to be selected by a BCS game because they go into the at-large pool. I don't know why "fans" trash the best league willing to have their school as a member but given the list willing to invite the school, the Sun Belt is pretty clear winner.

People who go through the process to obtain a CHL are not going to go out and commit random acts of violence. People who do that are either criminals or mentally unstable, niether of which would invest the time or money to obtain a CHL. Oldguy is roght on this. Deaths by mass shootings are statistical anomolies. Not really a reason to have a CHL. One on one crime is a far bigger reason to want the CHL The problem isn't carrying on campus, but in effect not allowing people to carry to and from campus (I would never feel comfortible leaving a gun in a car do to car burglaries). There is no magical gun locker at the university property line.

Would this speculation be as outrageous and ridiculous as the speculation that Dickey would be fired? The week after you wrote that, Dickey was fired. To the point Harry made... I'll preface by saying that my greatest hope is that things turn around and Dodge becomes a smashing success here. But if he finishes with three wins or less, I think he needs to be let go. Hopefully, it never comes to pass.

Tasty, for us to get to that next level, we have to find those talented big men. Like football linemen, I realize they are the first off the board. The common denominator of Sweet Sixteen teams and most in the 64 tournament field was their size. It’s amazing to me to see so many talented bigs on Texas Juco rosters. Bring in some foreign kids. SMU can get them, Dallas Woodrow Wilson HS brings in 2 each year. They are dotted on rosters across the country. A talented 6-10 kid from Kennedale (Cates) signed early with SFA. A talented 6-10, 270 Andre Jackson, from Dallas Pinkston signed with S. Florida early. (Originally a So Miss commits who played at a TX Juco.) Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the job that the coaching staff has done over the past 4-5 years. Our kids graduate and are good citizens. Like most here, we’ve now experienced 3 trips to the dance. We now would like to see our alma mater advance further. JJ has gotten the attention of some the best recruits in Texas; (DFW) let’s seize the moment! We have always had good players year in and out. We just haven’t been able to have about 5-7 at the same time. (Since the mid 70’s) With the looks UNT is getting from top high school kids and transfers, competing in and/or winning the Sunbelt doesn’t excite me as much. (Been there, done that) The post guys we have will continue to give a great effort on Thursday and Saturday nights. Are any of them an enforcer down low? This is our biggest need to move closer to a Butler/Gonzaga. Talented recruits coming in want to play with other talented players. Not a popular decision, but JJ needs to free up necessary ships to elevate the program. Top program do. Moreover, it may be necessary if JJ aspires to ultimately land a 7 figure gig somewhere. Otherwise, he will continue to rack up 20 wins seasons, in front of 3,000, who are disappointed to not hear from the NIT, but continue to focus on a new year with hopes of landing talented big men.

You can't fix stupid. La Tech proves Ron White's theory on a daily basis.

Don't forget that if you're a little late showing up, you might not know which one is the "real" shooter.

Here's a story about a near tragedy on top of an already horrific enough tragedy that was the Congresswoman Giffords shooting. Granted, the gentleman in this story didn't have adequate training, it brings up a good point about what can happen when more firearms are added to the mix. http://www.slate.com/id/2280794/

I've got mine, and no it is not. Individuals wishing to carry onto university grounds need to be made to spend extra money on courses designed specifically around the situations we're trying to avoid. Even then I'm still against it.

Even if allowed, I don't think you're going to see very many students going out and getting their CHL. Most just won't care enough to do so. Know who I do think will take the time to get their CHL? Nutjobs. What used to require meticulous planning can now be accomplished at the drop of a hat. A one day safety course and now they're allowed to move worry free about campus waiting for just the right moment. I love guns, but rational thought has got to prevail here at some point.

I used an example where in a split second's time someone made a rational decision. My point is that it just as easily could have gone the other way in that split second.

I'm all for this, if there's a ton of training and checks before someone gets the OK to carry. I'm not talking about some 10 hour course, I'm talking about 6 months of work that has to be done, and most of it in 2 areas: determining when it's the time to shoot and how to do so, and placing the right set of rounds onto the right target. I like the idea of someone being able to protect themselves, but I don't like the idea of additional rounds being thrown around with no real idea of where they're going. I'm not worried about a nutjob with a CHL rolling through campus. A nutjob will be armed no matter what. I am worried that you have a situation where someone did a CHL over the weekend when something like this really does require months and months of training for both WHEN to shoot and HOW to shoot, so they take their 6 hours of classes and start putting rounds downrange like a bad hollywood movie.

-- He found out otherwise... students were not carrying handguns on campus but it wasn't long until they were shooting at him with high-powered rifles they had in cars. Wasn't a great idea since those bullets did land somewhere. -- I am not anti-gun (own them) but I fear having students with concealed guns on campus... I have seen too many drunk, hung-over, drugged, hotheads, and CARELESS students (and other people). It will cause far more deaths than it saves. I had a friend drop one and it fired and killed her.... In 38 years of being on a college campus, I have never known of a gun being fired on a campus I was on.... off campus, yes. I have no objection to students having one in their cars though. [ I even had one in my pickup while in high school and parked it on campus.. legal then... I fed family cattle and needed it for snakes, varmints, etc. ] I have had several students in the classes I teach have guns at times (law officials, and not concealed) and that doesn't bother me at all. -- Somewhat rural people looks at guns very differently than "city' people do. City people usually think in terms of shooting people... rural people don't much. ..

Boxers or briefs?

What each win is worth according to Bleacher report. Just doing the rough math (figuring a base salary of 250K), it looks like each win under our previous coach cost $145,833. Let's hope for much better things the next 3 years.