MeanGreen61

Vito Blog Hoops recruiting tidbit There was an interesting note on UNT basketball recruiting in today's Dallas Morning News, one that a few people noticed and is certainly worth talking about: The Mean Green appears to be making some headway in the battle to sign Chris Babb of Arlington Oakridge. The 6-5 shooting guard told Damon Sayles that he is hearing from UNT, Baylor, Iowa State, Bradley and Hawaii, among others. Babb did not mention UNT when talking about potential destinations earlier this year. Texashoops.com rates Babb the 10th-best prospect in the state in the Class of 2008. Landing a player of Babb's stature would be huge for the Mean Green. Tristan Thompson, who is playing for the Mean Green this year, and George Odufuwa, who is sitting out after transferring from Arizona State, were both top-20 players in the state as seniors. To get a top-10 player directly from high school would be a landmark victory for UNT and Jones. Thompson transferred to UNT from a prep school. UNT's strategy the last couple of years has been to get in on some good players and wait until late in the recruiting process when their offers from other schools fall through unless there is a player the Mean Green's staff really likes who is ready to commit early. Arlington Grace Prep center Ben Knox fell into that category. Knox was a little unusual in that sense. Most college prospects think they are going to play for Texas or Oklahoma at this point. Babb might be good enough to pick whatever school he wants. Just remember, everyone thought Josh White was headed to LSU at this time last year. There was mass panic in UNT land a few weeks before signing day a year ago when the Mean Green appeared as if it would fail to take advantage of its NCAA Tournament appearance in recruiting. Then Jones made a late run and picked up perhaps his best recruiting class. White and Thompson are just two of several players making an impact this season from that class that also included Adam McCoy, Dez Willingham and Kedrick Hogans. Jones will pull another rabbit or two out of his hat before signing day. You never know, Babb might be the next. Feel free to weigh in on the blog with your thoughts on Babb and the idea of waiting until late in the recruiting process to pick up players in basketball. It's kind of ironic when you think about it. Head football coach Todd Dodge appears to be improving the football team's talent level by recruiting earlier, while Jones pulled in perhaps the best class of his tenure at UNT by waiting to pick up his recruits until later in the process.

UNT notebook: UNT men not getting sick of winning 08:37 AM CST on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer Nothing has been able to stop the North Texas men’s basketball team since it lost its first two games in Sun Belt Conference play. To keep that roll going, the Mean Green will to have to overcome another obstacle, a flu bug that has decimated its roster and support staff. Keith Wooden, Collin Dennis, Ben Bell and Jeff Montague were all sidelined with the flu on Monday, when assistant coach Charlie Leonard and trainer Brad Ander-son were also home in bed. Anderson was the only member of the group to return to practice on Tuesday. Dennis and Josh White first became sick before the Mean Green’s win over Louis-iana-Lafayette on Saturday, but both played. UNT head coach Johnny Jones said he hopes to have all of his players back in time for a home game against New Orleans on Thursday. The Mean Green (12-4, 3-2) has won three straight. “Would we like to have our full complement of guys? Yes, but unfortunately that is probably not going to happen,” Jones said. “If we have them, will they be 100 percent? Probably not. This will give us a chance to see what will happen if we have an injury later in the season and give a chance for one of our other players to step up and play.” Backup guards Tristan Thompson and Adam McCoy came off the bench to score eight points each in UNT’s win over ULL. Thompson also grabbed five rebounds. The pair helped UNT win its third straight game and improve its home record to 9-0. The Mean Green’s recent run has left it just a half game behind Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings. “Our depth and the quality of players that we have helped us last week,” Jones said. “Some guys had to play extended minutes and did an excellent job with them.” Perfect week a big boost for UNT UNT faced a key test early in Sun Belt play last week when it played three games in six days after dropping its first two conference games. The Mean Green passed that test in fine fashion, winning three straight to get itself back in the race for the Sun Belt West Division title. UNT knocked off Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette. “I thought we had a really good week playing Monday, Thursday and Saturday,” Jones said. “It was a rough schedule for us. There was not a lot of time for preparation, but our guys did an excellent job.” The streak pushed UNT into a three-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt West Division with Denver and Arkansas-Little Rock. UNT on roll from 3-point line UNT has been on a remarkable roll behind the 3-point arc since the start of Sun Belt play, hitting 45.8 percent (38-for-83) of its shots from deep in five league games. The Mean Green dropped 13 3-pointers in a loss to Troy and has shot over 50 percent in all but one of its games during its current three-game winning streak. UNT went 11-for-20 against Louisiana-Monroe and 6-for-11 at Arkansas State before finishing 4-for-9 against Louisiana-Lafayette. “We have guys who have done an excellent job of taking good looks and not forcing shots,” Jones said. “The good thing is the guys recognize who is capable of taking those shots and we are efficient.”

2006 North Texas Media Guide Ramone Archie Running backs First year Former North Texas letterman Ramone Archie joins the coaching staff this season in command of the Mean Green running backs. Archie spent the last four seasons at Denton Ryan High School leading the Raider defensive backs to all-state and all-district accolades. Archie helped propel his teams to consecutive state championship game appearances, including the 2002 4A Division II title. A gifted athlete, Archie excelled on both sides of the ball during his playing career. The Los Angeles native rushed for 1,749 yards and 20 touchdowns in two seasons at Glendale Community College, but switched to safety when he arrived at North Texas. Archie started 21 of his 22 career games and made an immediate impact for the Mean Green. He recorded 13 tackles in each of his first two games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech and went on to finish the 1998 season fourth on the team in tackles with 73. In 1999< Archie racked up a North Texas season-high 16 tackles against Arkansas State, and once again, finished fourth on the team with 71 tackles. Archie, 30, has three children: Ethan Ramone Archie, 3, and twins Victoria Denise Archie and Tristan Antjuan Archie 2. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. Played here. 2. Coached here 3. Played for DeLoach and knows his system 4. Proud to be a Mean Green

Mean Green blood, played for DeLoach, eulesseagle questions.......three definate positives !

Recieved an e-mail (as many of you have) that season ticket renewal info is in the mail. Early renewal deadline will be April 12th.

I'm sure he had a lot to say about the way it performed

"The fans were great all game," said senior forward Quincy Williams. "They did a good job of giving us that energy down the stretch." ARTICLE http://media.www.ntdaily.com/media/storage...e-3152558.shtml

Active thread. Comments/discussions on recruiting, conference differences, facilities & new stadium on the way for UNT. THREAD http://209.200.248.16/~natex2/forum/vB/sho...ead.php?t=25818

Committments are VERBAL until February 6th.

Hours needed for football shocks NCAA By MIKE KNOBLER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 01/12/08 Nashville -- Playing major college football is more than a full-time job, an NCAA study released Saturday shows. Division I-A football players reported spending an average of 44.8 hours per week on their sport. That doesn't include the hours involved in taking care of their academic responsibilities. The number came as a shock to college presidents and athletics directors because NCAA rules limit mandatory practice and playing time to 20 hours a week. That limit, though, doesn't include things like time involved with travel or visits to the training room for treatment of injuries. "It's an early warning signal that we've got a problem," said University of Hartford President Walt Harrison, chairman of the NCAA's committee on academic performance. "I think we need more safeguards." "Once you get past 40 hours, you're really pushing things," NCAA President Myles Brand said. Researchers and Brand cautioned that the data were self-reported and did not indicate teams were violating NCAA rules. "We have limitations of 20 hours a week, but we can't stop a student who wants to use their spare time to go work out in the gym on their own," Brand said. "Their own spare time is up to them. "If the data show there's problems, we need to find ways to not necessarily regulate it but address it one way or the other. If [athletes] choose to say the two things I want to do in college is get a good education and participate in athletics, rather than hang out and eat some pizza and drink beer, you know, that's up to them. I'm concerned about whether it's a balanced life they're having." Other sports take less time than football, from a low of 30.7 hours a week for track and cross country to 40.0 hours a week for baseball and 40.8 for golf. Athletes involved in women's sports spent slightly less time on their sports, with women's basketball players reporting spending 36.1 hours per week and men's basketball players spending 36.8. The numbers come from a 2006 survey of 21,000 NCAA athletes in all sports and in all divisions. The NCAA received responses from 1,658 Division I football players. "We're honestly not sure how precisely college students are able to report time spent," said Tom Paskus, principal research scientist for the NCAA. To make the numbers as reliable as possible, researchers asked the athletes to describe a typical day, and then the researchers did the math. "The number seems high," said Georgia athletics director Damon Evans, who played football for the Bulldogs from 1988 to '92. "I don't think I spent near that amount of time [on football]," Evans said. Division I-A football players also reported spending more time on academics than athletes in any other men's sport. Football players reported spending 39.5 hours a week on school work. That's more than 84 hours a week -- an average of 12 hours a day -- on school work and football combined. Georgia Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich said it would be a mistake to try to keep athletes from devoting themselves to their sports. "It's real hard to legislate people's drive and determination," Radakovich said. Other key findings: • The majority of athletes report spending as much or more time out of season on their sport as they spend during the season. • Almost two-thirds of Division I athletes said their GPA would be higher if they had not participated in a sport. • Most of the people the NCAA identifies as "student-athletes" saw themselves more as athletes than as students. That feeling was highest among baseball players (81 percent) but also high among men's basketball players (76 percent). Football players (72 percent) were less likely than baseball or basketball players to view themselves more as athletes than students. • Most Division I athletes say they feel positive about their athletic and academic experiences. Baseball players were most likely to be satisfied with their athletic experience (70 percent) and women's basketball players least likely (56 percent). Women's basketball players were most likely to be satisfied with their academic experience (68 percent) and football players least likely (56 percent).

2000 #71 Total defense (379.73) #75 Scoring defense (27.27) #84 Rusing defense (182.82) #29 Passing defense (196.91) 2001 #42 Total defense (302.18) #40 Scoring defense (22.55) #35 Rushing defense (127.36) #67 Passing defense (226.82) 2002 #9 Total defense (290.62) #3 Scoring defense (14.8) #26 Rushing defense (118.92) #12 Passing defense (171.62)

ESPN pot shots at Jones & SMU Gregg Easterbrook, ESPN.com, on June Jones: “Nine years ago, Hawaii took Jones in after he’d been fired repeatedly from NFL jobs, and was having trouble finding work. Yesterday Jones resigned to take more money at SMU, pausing to rip the University of Hawaii as a ‘Pop Warner‘ operation. Jones was liked in Hawaii; he could have stayed, won games and lived as a local hero, which seems a lot more important to satisfaction in life than the size or your paycheck or whether your office is fancier than the next guy’s. Instead he chose to stab Hawaii in the back and sit in a really impressive office at SMU, where the pressure will be relentless and it will surprise no one if Jones ends up fired yet again. And SMU, now you have the kind of coach who not only walks out, but as he walks out, insults those who helped him. The perfect fit for the SMU program!”

Seems that the GMAC Bowl would be a natural for the Belt's 2nd bowl. Will be USA's home stadium and wasn't a connection with the Belt anticipated when the bowl was founded ? Then the startup of Belt football didn't get off the ground soon enough.

Probably waiting on conference games/dates to be finalized. The schedule was released in January last year.

From the muts board. Big possible news on Monty Hale Show today possibility of another Bowl tie-in in Nashville, and possible Sugar Bowl taking over control of New Orleans Bowl. Big news indeed, although I would not think that Nashville would want MT in the Bowl, because most of us would not stay overnight. THREAD http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=349#s=349&a...8&t=1818807

Mendoza???

Dodge - Leftwich - DeLoach. Spencer can certainly clue TD in on DeLoach.

Deal to continue UNT-SMU football series could be on way UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal confirmed today that he is in talks with SMU about the Mean Green renewing its football series with the Mustangs. Villarreal said UNT and SMU are comparing open dates and hammering out the details. More and more, it sounds like the schools could have something done within a matter of weeks. It will be great for both schools to keep the series going. SMU and UNT played on a semi-regular basis until 1992 and then picked up their series again in 2006 when the Mean Green beat the Mustangs at Fouts Field. SMU got its revenge last season at Ford Stadium. The Mustangs have dominated the series and lead 28-4-1. After covering UNT football for the last few years, I think a good yearly rivalry is something the Mean Green could really use. Having a hated rival or two boosts interest, the crowds at games and just makes everything more interesting. A few years ago, I could have made a pretty good argument that New Mexico State was the closest thing UNT had to a real rival. NMSU was in the Sun Belt, was close enough geographically for fans to travel to games and the schools had some great showdowns throughout a long history of playing on a regular basis. When NMSU left the Sun Belt, UNT was left without a rival other than maybe Middle Tennessee, and to me even that is a stretch. Feel free to weigh in on the blog. Is SMU the Mean Green's biggest rival and how would you feel about the schools continuing their football series?

Off the CUSA board. http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.p...3591#pid2963591

Friend of a friend said ?

If 3 is too many, in your opinion, who should drop football ?

the metroplex has had 3 programs for several years so why should this question even come up now ?

The sky is falling ! The sky is falling ! Woe is us, our coach can't recruit against a program with a similar offense

Thread from CUSA board. http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=272999

Speaking of covering..........how about your avatar ? Got a sack or paper bag ?