Harry

Commits to UNT today.

At 6’3, Miller has great size for his position and his ability to finish with either hand in the paint makes him a constant threat. When asked about his game, Miller said “My strengths are being a good leader on the court and controlling the pace of the game. Also, being able to score at will and being able to set my teammates up to score.” Miller is an active defender, using his length and athleticism to get steals and blocks. Coaches are starting to take notice of Miller’s abilities. Head Coach John Sparks said this about Miller “Michael is a very coachable player with a high IQ that plays extremely hard, he is always wanting to learn and get better at the game of basketball. He has gotten stronger and more athletic since being here and will only get better at his next school.” read more: http://www.jucorecruiting.com/news_article/show/741053?referrer_id=1424455

As the college football news hunkers down and waits for white smoke to emerge from the NCAA conclave on the biggest set of legislation in a generation — no one seems to know exactly when the vote will go down, but it’ll be before the country breaks for the holiday weekend — Todd Berry conducted a radio interview to give one last stump speech for the AFCA’s stance on the issues. And what are those issues, you ask? Adding a 10th assistant coach. A December signing period. The so-called IAWP rule. Drastic changes to the summer camp schedule. Small things like that. The IAWP rule is a great place to start. With the backing of the AFCA (more on this in a moment), the Division I Council will vote on a rule that bans IAWPs — individuals associated with prospects — from being hired to support staff roles, lest all prospects associated with that new hire be ineligible to play for said program for two years after his hiring and two years after the player’s eligibility has expired. There are a number of potential issues with this role, which we touched on yesterday, but I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version here: Chip Lindsey and Jeremy Pruitt were hired to Auburn and Alabama, respectively, from the high school ranks to support staff roles. Lindsey is now the offensive coordinator at Auburn, and Pruitt is now the defensive coordinator at Alabama. The two coaches in charge at this November’s Iron Bowl may still be in the Alabama high school ranks had this rule been in effect a decade ago. Here’s another problematic situation: a Division III assistant is let go in December and unable to find a job in that cycle. To remain in the game and feed his family, he takes a high school coaching job. The following December, an FBS program would like to hire him to a support staff role but now must weigh whether it wants to recruit that high school for the next two years before hiring him. If the program happens to be, say, Texas and the high school in question happens to be Southlake Carroll, the career college assistant may have his path to college football blocked as part of legislation not targeted at him and didn’t exist a year ago. A hypothetical situation, sure, but the powers that be voting on this week’s legislation take responsibility over this situation and others like it in their thumbs when they hoist them up or down when voting time starts. Berry is aware of those exceptions and still supports the IAWP rule as a necessary means of stopping adults from leeching themselves onto teenagers’ college decisions. “Our board of trustees started looking at this six years ago knowing we were having a growing problem, potentially,” Berry said in an interview Wednesday with the ESPN Radio affiliate in Waco. “Obviously there’s some temptation in hiring someone in a support role that has some association with a prospect and their employment basically assists in recruiting that individual. And with the burgeoning number of support staff that we’re seeing across the country, our board looked at this years ago and said we have an oncoming problem. Unfortunately, again I don’t know that it’s rampant, but we are seeing a trend that all of us would like to stay away from. Basketball, even though it’s a different sport, the reality is they’ve been utilizing this in NCAA basketball for a couple years now. So we looked at that model and said, ‘Is this going to solve some of our problems in relation to this?’ And we felt like this was a good step. Read more: http://footballscoop.com/news/todd-berry-explains-afcas-stance-major-issues-ahead-monumental-ncaa-vote/

You make a good point on softball. She seems to be getting things on track.

This could have been handled better on our end. We have not had many of these types of buyouts in our history. So lets admit we could have done better and try to learn from it going forward. GMG

Later this week the NCAA will put to vote a rule that could change employment practices in football coaching more than any in recent memory — a rule that would extend staffs from nine to 10 full-time assistants. But there is another rule on the docket that could also have a drastic effect on the lives of thousands of coaches. It’s a rule that could severely limit high school coaches’ ability to move into college football. Bylaw 11.4.3 reads: “In bowl subdivision football, during a two-year period before a prospective student-athlete’s anticipated enrollment and a two-year period after the prospective student-athlete’s actual enrollment, an institution shall not employ (or enter into a contract for future employment with) an individual associated with the prospective student-athlete in any athletics department noncoaching staff position or in a strength and conditioning staff position.” In plain English: if a college program is to hire a high school coach it must immediately hire him to an on-field position, or it can not have recruited a player from that high school for two years prior to hiring the coach and must also refrain from recruiting players from said high school for another two years after his employment. That’s an entire cycle of high school players a college program would have to bar itself from in order to hire a single coach. The intent is clear and admirable — to curb basketball-style package deals wherein commitments from highly-recruited players are contingent upon schools finding jobs for coaches or family members. It was referenced in the Michael Johnson saga, where Jim Harbaugh hired an offensive analyst who happened to be a California high school coach and the father of a top-rated quarterback in the class of 2019. (Johnson also happened to be a former NFL offensive coordinator and never actually joined the Michigan staff, accepting the wide receivers job at Oregon just days after the Michigan news broke.) But the unintended consequence of Bylaw 11.4.3 could essentially choke off one of the major pipelines for college coaching talent in the NCAA. Arizona State’s Todd Graham, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, Ole Miss’s Hugh Freeze, SMU’s Chad Morris, Tulsa’s Philip Montgomery, UAB’s Bill Clark and UNLV’s Tony Sanchez famously launched head college coaching careers from high school football. All moved into directly into on-field roles, moves that would have been permissible under the new bylaw. But as staffs have grown, programs have moved to hiring high school coaches into off-field roles, where they then move on the field at that program or elsewhere. For instance, Malzahn hired Chip Lindsey from Spain Park (Ala.) High School to become an offensive analyst at Auburn during the Tigers’ eventual SEC championship of 2013; Lindsey is now Auburn’s offensive coordinator. Nick Saban plucked Jeremy Pruitt from his defensive coordinator job at Hoover (Ala.) High School to become the director of player development on his original Alabama staff in 2007; Pruitt is now Saban’s defensive coordinator. Read more: http://footballscoop.com/news/ncaa-proposal-disastrous-effect-high-school-coaches-looking-move/

Great find!

That hurts. A position of need.

Still absorbing his highlights and reading articles but I like the heart and desire I see of this kid. It seems like he plays bigger than he is and seems to be a student of the game. Welcome aboard Umoja! PS..this roster has really changed. Should be a very different team. Will be interesting to see how it comes together.

http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/high_schools/central_texas_boys_basketball/super-centex-boys-basketball-team-university-s-gibson-happy-to/article_4269a8a8-437d-5a9a-871d-3f711f494a3e.html

I think what they did with the syria bombing was the right thing to do, but dammit I do not want to keep fighting and paying for these overseas wars. It's like these other countries like Brits, Japan, France etc give their approval so long as they aren't involved and don't have to pay for it. When will they pay their fair share?

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La. Tech will shut their program down before they go into a conference with ULM. UTEP has a similar feeling about NMSU but not quite as strong. My guess is La. Tech is trying hard to get into the AAC before something like this happens. Of course they have the Tulane issue that we have with SMU.

Nothing official yet -- player rumored is Jahmiah Simmons Averaged 18 minutes in the games he played. 7.6 ppg 5 rebounds per game. Would have to sit 2017-18.

I am hearing same thing. Very concerning.

He was a great player. I wish him well at LSU.

This one hurts...

The American Athletic Conference unanimously voted Friday morning to add Wichita State as a league member for the 2017-18 season. Wichita State is expected to accept the AAC's invitation and leave the Missouri Valley Conference, where the Shockers have been members since 1945, sources said. Wichita State will join the AAC in all sports, except football, giving the AAC both a 12-team football and basketball league. The AAC has 11 all-sports members (Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa and UCF) and Navy is a football-only member. Wichita State has not had a football team since 1986. Because of Wichita State's basketball success, the Shockers were an attractive target for the AAC. Wichita State has been to six consecutive NCAA tournaments, winning at least one game in the past five tournaments and reaching the 2013 Final Four. read more: http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/19101126/american-athletic-conference-votes-add-wichita-state-shockers

NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN, LEARFIELD ESTABLISH LONG-TERM MULTIMEDIA RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP DENTON, Texas (April 7, 2017) – The University of North Texas Mean Green will outsource its comprehensive multimedia rights for the first time in school history, selecting Learfield as its exclusive athletics rights partner for the next 10 years. The joint announcement was made today by UNT Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker and Learfield President and CEO Greg Brown. UNT marks the ninth collegiate property to be represented by Learfield in the state of Texas, and joins SMU, UT Arlington and the Southland Conference as Learfield partners within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Together, UNT athletic administrators and Learfield executives will staff a newly formed “Mean Green Sports Properties” team that will be solely dedicated to UNT and manage all aspects of the rights agreement that includes signage, digital, corporate sponsorships, television and radio play-by-play, and coaches’ shows. The agreement runs concurrent with the 2017-18 athletic season and will provide North Texas Athletics with a new, guaranteed revenue model over the course of the 10-year agreement. “We are excited to partner with Learfield,” Baker said. “Greg Brown and his team are industry leaders. This partnership begins immediately and will generate in excess of $5 million in new revenue over a 10-year period. Our relationship with Learfield will also open up many other opportunities to incorporate new elements and technologies into our game-day experience.” According to Brown, the addition of UNT was a natural fit for Learfield, whose corporate office in Plano is located just 30 miles from the university. “The University of North Texas has a growing fan base, with whom we will engage sponsors with innovative concepts that will provide growth and enhance the brand. We have known Wren for many years, when he was at Mizzou and Memphis, two of our university partners, and we look forward to having the opportunity to work with him again to maximize the potential of UNT Athletics over the next decade.” Learfield has named Joe Domingos General Manager to direct its local Mean Green Sports Properties team. With nearly 25 years of sales, sports marketing and sponsorship experience, Joe most recently served in the same capacity for Learfield’s Warhawk Sports Properties team representing the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM). He joined Learfield in July 2014 when the ULM rights relationship was established. “The increase in revenue will be significant,” added Baker. “That sort of increase is to be expected when a school first adopts a model offered from a firm like Learfield, which is one of the reasons we chose to utilize that strategy for our corporate partnership program.” With the addition of the Mean Green, Learfield now represents a total of five Conference USA members as it already holds individual rights agreements with Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State and University of Texas at San Antonio. Established in 1890, the University of North Texas is one of the nation’s largest public research universities, with more than 37,000 students. North Texas is ranked as a Tier One research university by the Carnegie Classification and has 17 programs ranked in the Top 100 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Mean Green athletics sponsors NCAA Div. I programs for more than 300 student-athletes competing in 16 varsity sports. North Texas has won 125 conference championships in more than 100 years of competition and currently competes as a member of Conference USA. An industry leader for more than four decades, Learfield has a deep presence in the college athletics landscape nationwide. It manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for more than 120 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas, and supports athletic departments at all competitive levels as title sponsor of the prestigious Learfield Directors’ Cup. Learfield also provides its collegiate partners access to professional concessions and ticket sales; branding, licensing and trademark consulting; digital and social platform expertise; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue and technology systems through its affiliated companies.

I am glad to hear team feels good about themselves.

No doubt but you need a quality TV online option to get people interested. The stadium will fill when we provide a higher entertainment value. Winning is a big component but not all.

Get used to it. The day of a 15 year tenure at AD is long gone.

Thank you for your comments. As you may know, Tasty is a dear friend of this site and the program in general. His knowledge of UNT basketball and just basketball in general is superb. So, while I don't personally agree with his assessment in this particular regard, I certainly believe he - given his long term status as a super fan and season ticket holder -makes him more than worthy of giving us his honest and personal take on things. I tend to agree with you in that C-USA has better days ahead of it as a basketball conference. I would restate Tasty's position is that McCaskand is a good coach and hire. He just disagreed with the amount of money spent versus the payoff for UNT. For me, if you find "the Guy" you go get him and ifn it increase the allotment of capital directed toward the "Window of the University" so be it. Frankly it is about time. Just think what this program and fanbase could be given some modicum of success on a consistent basis. Those of us who have followed it for awhile yearn for the day when we match our potential on the field of play. What a great day that will be. We on this site do appreciate all opinion and vantage points in regards to our beloved alma mater. For those of our green brothers who cross over to the other side... we only hope given increasing results and just time we will again see them rejoin us. I again would like to reiterate we truly appreciate any and all feedback on the podcast. GMG.

I can confirm he has been released from ASU.

That's great news!