UNTLifer

UNT Notebook 02/19/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer Athlete of the week Senior sprinter Ananka Clark set a new school indoor record in the 200 meters and ran a personal-best time in the 60 at the Arkansas-Tyson Invitational at Fayetteville, Ark. Clark broke her own school record by finishing the 200 in 24.68 seconds. The time was three one-hundredths of a second faster than the time she ran in the Sun Belt Indoor Championships last weekend. Clark also shaved three one-hundredths of a second off her personal-best time in the 60, finishing in 7.63 seconds. For her efforts, Clark was named the Denton Record-Chronicle North Texas Athlete of the Week. TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-566-6870. 7-DAY SCHEDULE SATURDAY: South Alabama at men’s basketball, 7 p.m.; women’s basketball at South Alabama, 7 p.m.; indoor track and field at Sooner Indoor Invitational; women’s tennis at Stephen F. Austin, 9:30 a.m.; women’s tennis vs. Tyler Junior College, 2:30 a.m. MONDAY: Men’s golf at UTSA Intercollegiate TUESDAY: Men’s golf at UTSA Intercollegiate

UNT Notebook UNT center Masters leaves team 02/19/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer Center Unjel Masters left the North Texas men’s basketball team for personal reasons, coach Johnny Jones announced Tuesday. Masters, a 6-9 junior from South Oak Cliff, played in the first 21 games of the season, making nine starts. He suited up but did not play Feb. 8 against Western Kentucky and did not make the trip Feb. 13 to Denver. Jones said Masters, who averaged 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game this season, told him that he thought he could best deal with his personal problems by quitting basketball. "We granted his wishes and hope that he finishes the semester and concentrates on his studies," Jones said, adding that there is no chance that Masters will rejoin the program. 7-DAY SCHEDULE SATURDAY: South Alabama at men’s basketball, 7 p.m.; women’s basketball at South Alabama, 7 p.m.; indoor track and field at Sooner Indoor Invitational; women’s tennis at Stephen F. Austin, 9:30 a.m.; women’s tennis vs. Tyler Junior College, 2:30 a.m. MONDAY: Men’s golf at UTSA Intercollegiate TUESDAY: Men’s golf at UTSA Intercollegiate

Agreed. Too bad he isn't in Denton.

Brent, I hope you are right. I tend to agree with CMJ though and have more faith in the Lady's future right now.

I agree with CMJ and Brent, but we do need a pure shooter.

Thank you JayDub

My vote goes to Martie!

Freshman earns Sun Belt honor Freshman Deidra Wesley was named the Sun Belt’s field performer of the week for her performance in the high jump at the J.D. Martin Invitational in Norman, Okla. last weekend. Wesley, who made her college debut at the meet, finished fourth with a jump of 5-6. That is the best jump in the Sun Belt this season. TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-566-6870. 7-DAY SCHEDULE THURSDAY: Women’s basketball at Denver, 7 p.m.; men’s basketball at Denver, 9 p.m. FRIDAY: Men’s and women’s indoor track at Razorback Invitational SATURDAY: Women’s swimming at Sun Belt Championships; women’s tennis at Louisiana-Lafayette, 1 p.m. SUNDAY: Women’s swimming at Sun Belt Championships; women’s tennis at Louisiana Tech, 10 a.m. MONDAY: Women’s swimming at Sun Belt Championships

Masters still part of rotation Center Unjel Masters dressed but did not play in Saturday’s loss to Western Kentucky, when forward/center Will Smith saw his first extended playing time after missing eight games due to injuries. Coach Johnny Jones said that is not an indication that playing time of Masters, who was recently replaced in the starting lineup by Justin Barnett, will be further limited. "He’s been sick," Jones said. "He hadn’t practiced for us in a couple of days." Masters, a 6-9 junior, is averaging 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game.

UNT notebook: UNT men finish second at Rice Atkinson takes player of the week honors 02/12/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer The North Texas men’s golf team opened the spring season with a second-place finish at the Rice Intercollegiate in Houston Tuesday. The Mean Green shot a three-round score of 883 to finish 18 strokes behind champion Northwestern and 11 strokes ahead of third-place Missouri in the 13-team tournament. Zach Atkinson, who finished seventh overall with a three-over 219, had the best individual performance for the Mean Green, earning Denton Record-Chronicle UNT Player of the Week honors. Thomas Kulcak finished 10th place with a 221, and Freddy Espericueta shot a 224 to finish 15th. It was the Mean Green’s second consecutive second-place finish. UNT was runner-up at the 49er Collegiate Classic, its final tournament of the fall. "We started playing like we were supposed to play a long time ago in the latter part of the fall semester," UNT coach Jim Bob Jackson said. "It carried over to start the spring. This is indicative of how we’re supposed to play and are going to play the rest of the spring."

2 wins!

Welcome to the board sandylyn. Are you a softball Lady Eagle?

"Men's basketball: ’Jacks banking on B.J. " Sorry ladies, but I couldn't resist.

Man Crush? <_<

I agree and disagree. AGREE: This is a free country and everyone has the right to protest in the way they see fit. DISAGREE: This student is representing the University at this time and should protest on his own time. I manage many employees and have no control over what they do on their own time, but I can control what they do while working and representing the company that employs us. In no way would I allow one of my employees to do this, or engage in any form of protest while on my company's time. This student chose to draw attention to himself while representing the University while serving in the Pep Band. This reflects on the University as a whole. Personally, I don't like what he did, but I also understand part of what makes our country the best is the freedom of expression.

Tim MacMahon: NCAA should give Hopkins a good break 02/10/2003 Tim MacMahon Leonard Hopkins, the North Texas shooting guard sidelined for the season by a broken foot, knows all too well that life isn’t fair. He learned as much during his high school days, spending his final two-plus seasons at Dallas Lincoln as a frustrated spectator while undergoing surgery after surgery to treat a stress fracture and ensuing complications in his lower leg. Once considered one of the state’s top prospects, he became an afterthought on the local basketball scene while he battled to make it back to the court. Hopkins, after redshirting a season to chip away the rust, had shown signs of being the Mean Green’s next star before his ascent was delayed by another bad break, pardon the pun. He was dribbling up the court late in a loss at Colorado when he felt a sudden, sharp pain — the snapping of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. After nine games, his season was over. The lesson about life’s fairness, unfortunately, was re-affirmed. Coach Johnny Jones and Hopkins have filled out all the forms necessary to request another medical redshirt season. They did so knowing that the answer would probably be no, because Hopkins played in too large a percentage of UNT’s games this season. "They’re doing their job," Hopkins said diplomatically of the NCAA, "but I know they know my case and my situation. They could take that into consideration. I feel like I’ve missed enough basketball." Jones isn’t so sure the NCAA is aware of the saga Hopkins survived just to play basketball again. The coach is afraid that Hopkins’ case is just another in a pile of paperwork. That’s why Jones wishes there was an appeals process if the request for a medical redshirt is denied. He wants the decision-makers to consider Hopkins’ past before his playing time is further limited. "They’ve got the rules, and I’m sure we’re not the only ones in this situation," Jones said. "But it’s tough on the kids when they can’t play because of something they have no control over. I think every case should be looked at differently, just like every other thing they do." Jones suggests that the NCAA should be flexible with its rulings on redshirts. For instance, Hopkins could sit out the first nine games of his sixth season on campus. One would hope that the NCAA considers making the experiences of student-athletes as positive as possible as one of the organization’s primary goals. Denying Hopkins a medical redshirt season doesn’t benefit anyone. It only stands to harm the Mean Green and, most of all, Hopkins, who has already been hurt far too often. While life might not be fair, the NCAA certainly should be.

Not a chance, especially when he gets dunked on by a 6'5' guard! Would it be acceptable if Chris Davis allowed a 5'3" person to dunk on him? I have had the privilege to work at the facility the Maverick's use to use as their practice facility. I have observed first hand Bradley's laziness and poor work ethic. For what this man gets paid to do his job, he should take some pride in his work. He is eating up valuable cap space the Mav's could use to get a real inside player.

I have had the opportunity to go to a few Mavs games this year, and I offer up this scouting report on Bradley: HE SUCKS!!!!!!!! He takes up space, has bad hands, gets paid entirely too much for what he produces, is clumsy, lazy, etc...

We play undisciplined ball. I saw way too many bad passes, forced shots, leaving you feet on ball fakes, etc... to last a lifetime. I hope JJ is the man to turn this program around. We have too nice of basketball facilities, better than SMUt and TCU, to not recruit better. He better whip some arse over this one. WKU was the better team, but we just make too many stupid mistakes.

How cool is it that the head coach communicates with us?! Good luck Coach Segal.

Good luck to this young man. I hope he is able to pursue his professional career without lingering problems with his feet and ankles. Hey Topper Jeff, would WKU trade him to the Dallas Maverick's for Shawn Bradley?

New UNT dean has skill for start-ups First head of engineering college founded program at Old Dominion in 1960s 02/08/2003 By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer The University of North Texas’ newest college has its first dean. Dr. Oscar Garcia, who for more than eight years has led Wright State University’s department of science and engineering in Dayton, Ohio, will begin July 1 as dean of UNT’s College of Engineering, university officials announced Friday. Dr. Oscar Garcia "The founding dean — yes, that’s exciting," said Dr. Garcia, 65, in a telephone interview. Dr. Norval Pohl, UNT’s president, said Dr. Garcia’s experience and enthusiasm make him "exactly the right person for this job." And his experience includes helping to start an engineering college at Old Dominion University in the 1960s. "He’s been there and done that," Dr. Pohl said. "That [starting a new college] was probably the major attraction for him. He had a great position at Wright State, and outside of the challenging of starting something new, I don’t think we could have pried him away from there." UNT’s Board of Regents voted to create the college in February 2002, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board gave its approval in April. UNT has transferred three existing departments — engineering technology, materials science and computer science — from the College of Arts and Science into the College of Engineering. UNT plans to begin offering bachelor’s and master’s programs in electrical engineering in 2004 and in mechanical engineering in 2006. The university plans to renovate part of its 553,000-square-foot building at the UNT Research Park in north Denton to be the home of the new college. Before joining the faculty at Wright State, Dr. Garcia directed some engineering programs for the National Science Foundation. He has also taught engineering at the George Washington University, the University of Maryland, the University of South Florida and Old Dominion University. At UNT, Dr. Garcia will earn an annual salary of $189,500. Dr. Garcia said the rapid growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth area makes the region ripe for an engineering college, and one of his first objectives will be to build relationships with the area’s engineering companies. "One of the first things I want to do is to interact with the industry in the North Texas area to find out what their needs are and how we can help the economic development and what are promising areas to put our efforts," Dr. Garcia said. Both Dr. Pohl and Dr. Garcia acknowledged the state’s tough economic situation adds one more challenge to getting the college going, but both remain optimistic. "The budget cuts we’re faced with now won’t have much impact on our plans for engineering," Dr. Pohl said. "Starting Sept. 1, if the budget situation doesn’t change, it will affect how much we can add faculty, but a lot could change before then. I’m remaining optimistic. We’ll be moving forward for sure." Dr. Garcia praised state officials for allowing UNT to move forward with its engineering college and for investing in engineering despite tough economic times. "I feel like the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board realizes that while economic times are difficult, you cannot stop," Dr. Garcia said. "You have to continue to provide opportunities to people who are in traditional jobs and who want to upgrade themselves."

I read 7:00pm in the paper this morning, along with it being broadcast on Channel 52.

His shooting percentage was awful, 4 for 13 ='s 30.7%

I agree, and he could be worth the wait.