MeanGreenHoops

Why is an alum having to help get a top recruit who has an alum relative info on being recruited. SMH

I sure hope the coaches are doing everything possible to make this happen then. These types of opportunities don't come along a lot and need to be jumped on.

Maybe @GMG24 can help?

Killed it for me too. I too went from season tickets to I could maybe name half the players on the roster.

1. That is called being a professional. Benford doing anything else would hurt him. I'm not worried about losing players on the roster. That is their right. And a new coach should be able to recruit anyway or we got the wrong person. 2. Not sure what that has to do with letting him finish off a season. 3. Wren should care most about his customers, and that is us. If he did he would have gotten rid of Benford in late January. Wren is lucky that no one cares about basketball anymore including me. So doing nothing won't cost him much.

This article would have been great after year 1, after year 5 it's silly.

This is great news. Good luck @Cooley

I'm not really sure what he is talking about in this article. We didn't have anything proven going into last year, and the group was a weakness of the team. It's why they had to move Buyers. We don't have anything this year either but more guys recruited to play in this offense. It's a push at worst.

Bring back Zach Orr now.

If true, please bring back Zach Orr!

What's crazy is that a simple idea that would really generate attention for the program is just shut down because of a spring game that maybe a few thousand attend. It might not make sense financially, but the idea itself is the kind of creative thinking needed to add some buzz to the program.

I don't think anyone is freaking out. But some here can't handle anything critical. Objectively, the new AD hasn't done anything different yet. Other than... some thought maybe buying tickets to the bowl game was better this time, nothing that we know of has been done. Maybe (surely) that is coming, but to this point nothing noticeable. That is a concern, but no one is saying he needs to be fired. Just - hey this concerns me. Objectively, our recruiting is no better than any of our previous coaches. The new coach hasn't done anything different than other coaches in the past. That has generally meant the coach won't last long and we won't win many games. That is a concern, but no one is saying he needs to be fired. Just - hey this concerns me. So Relax ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It seems a little like some are missing the point of the post. The AD needs to create buzz about his department. Unfortunately, based on hearing his comments that "no one eats at a bad restaurant twice" I think he is waiting until he thinks he has things improved before he tries to do any marketing efforts. That may be fine if if does really improve things and when he markets it is fresh and creates buzz, it will just mean us old timers will have to continue waiting. One thing that could create buzz that wouldn't require either of those is making a splash hire at MBB coach. I mean someone that everyone goes woah they are serious now.

I've heard they are doing this now with the Frisco campus, which has a sports business program. Things like being an agent or in marketing etc. Hopefully it helps.

Isn't recruiting basically sales? If you aren't a good salesman, what makes the 3rd or 4th year of trying any different? We'll see Wednesday how it all turns out. So far it doesn't look good. It's good most on here are acknowledging that, although I get it's understandably depressing to the always optimistic fan. The fact that Benford is still here shows that so far we don't show a commitment to athletics. That may be the one thing that Littrell or any coach we'd hired cannot overcome.

So look for another 5 home game season in 2027 unless Wren has a better relationship with Northern Arizona?

Concerning if the players don't end up contributing. If they do, then it's a good way to short term bolster scholarship numbers that were low.

I have stopped going to games. I do feel guilty about it. I don't know if that's the right feeling or not. I do basically feel as an alumnus I should support regardless. But going made me furious, and not going less so. Making a move before the end of this season is symbolic at this point. Does it make a difference? Clearly to many on here it does. I think the continued losing is making it easier for Wren to make that move. This really is the previous AD and administrations mess. It's too bad Wren has to deal with it. The silver lining is, at least RV isn't making the next hire.

I think Vito makes a good point about it wouldn't make much sense to do it during the season, because really at this point it's way past too late. Even though serious programs would have made a move in year 1 or 2, even programs that just marginally cared would have done it last year. So doing it during the last part of the 5th year is nearly pointless. It's not going to give me much faith in the AD or President or whomever to do it now, because it went on way too long anyway. It would be a nice gesture or schadenfreude for the fans if it happened during the season, but I agree with @TheTastyGreek just wait until after signing day and do it.

This is how I feel about basketball as well. I admire you for sticking out this long. I had season tickets for years but quit after year 1 of Benford. It was so obvious it was a disaster. The fact that it was allowed to continue was a continuing assault on my fandom. At some point you start to kill off your own emotions for the program so it doesn't hurt anymore. Once those emotions are gone, they don't really come back, or at least not like they were. You no longer trust. If this is allowed to go until the end of the season, when there is no reason for it (buyout) then my attachment to basketball will probably be done, and I'll need a new GMG.com screen name.

How much does the less scholarships to offer this year play into the rankings of a class? I'm also interested to see @BillySee58 's offer / class grade for the class after it's finalized.

So ridiculous when the school markets itself, and everyone in the DFW area calls us UNT, for the athletic media guide to say don't call us UNT. What a clown the previous AD was.

Thanks for the insight on Dodge. My theory is just a theory. It's difficult to express here without moving into tl;dr territory. It has more to do with what I've heard over the years of we have so much talent here in our own backyard, juxtaposed with the general perception of the brand in that same area being that it is sour. Basically, everyone else is also recruiting those same people, and we rarely beat out anyone else for these top recruits. When we do there is extenuating circumstances many times as the reason why. I didn't mean random people discouraging it, I meant more their friends and peep pressure. We are having a party and no one is coming. No one is coming because no one is there. Somehow, you have to make it a party people want to be attending. My point was it is easier to paint that picture to someone who is say in Houston where UNT is rarely talked about and none of that kids circle of friends/family really has an opinion. For me, if we don't have good recruiters, then focus there where it will be easier to win (if only a little bit). I think the psychology of it is playing more into it than some realize.

Really solid post, but I want to point out your point and everyone elses counterpoint imo are flawed. The only local kids we should be recruiting are guys who want to stay near home, a kid like Brandon Garner was. Otherwise, the opinion of everyone who knows UNT athletics, including most of it's alums which live locally is it's terrible. Regardless of facts. Anyone recruited to UNT from say Coppell is going to hear from everyone else around them that the school is terrible. I'd rather we recruit outside the metroplex and Oklahoma, where people don't really have as much of an opinion. The only type of person who could overcome that would be a football Jesus. Someone like Todd Dodge who was able to get good recruits because everyone in the state thought he was good and would win. Otherwise, it's a losing battle until perception changes.

I would disagree with this, and the AD seems to get it this time. I would wager that if not the sole reason, one of the main reasons the AD is giving out so much swag to get you to buy tickets directly from the AD office, is so they can get peoples contact info so they can market to them in the future.