chrisfisher

I really hope that any active player involved in these total BS allegations is immediately booted off the team, and loses their scholarship for the disgrace they tried to bring to the team and school, but only brought to themselves.

This was sent through the UNT Mail System: As you likely know, the university administration has investigated allegations made by three student athletes against members of UNT’s football coaching staff. The university took the students' allegations seriously, and immediately launched an investigation that now has been completed. The investigation revealed no discriminatory behavior, nor any pattern of racial bias in the decision-making and communication of the UNT football coaching staff, nor any within the football program as a whole. The investigation also concluded that one of the football players was suspended not for the use of his speech or slang, but rather for behaviors that violated the conduct expected of team players. Head Football Coach Todd Dodge and our entire football coaching staff continue to have my unwavering support. When I hired Coach Dodge, I knew him to be a person of the highest caliber and character. I find the goals and standards he has established for his football program to be exemplary, and I am pleased with the progress that he has made in applying them here. I am confident that the commitment and abilities of our athletic leadership will elevate the university’s football and other programs. I hope each of you will join me in continuing to support the mission of our athletic programs to develop the academic and athletic talents of our students. Gretchen M. Bataille President

I didn't realize that. Thanks for pointing that out....

It appears that we have a very athletic team. Josh White, Adam McCoy, Willingham, and Thompson all love to press the action. They will be launching bombs from all over the floor. I suspect we will be playing as high or higher tempo than last year. I think we may be OK with these new recruits plus Quincy and Wooden. We'll have a better idea where we stand come Wednesday against Oklahoma State. The Aggies are a common opponent for UNT and Okie State this season. Okie state limited the Aggies to fewer points, but we put up quite a bit more points on the Aggies than Okie State did. Not sure that means anything though.

We don't actually know that they are walk-ons. We were only guessing. My best guess is that one from Centenary was a transfer. I bet Horne did not walk on if he is that good.

Summary of the game. They got our next home game date (against Cameron) wrong. I already posted a correction. Article can be found here.

Does any of our recruiting gurus have anything to say about these two?

No problem. I should have added to my list of concerns: free throw shooting. Even some of our high percentage free throw shooting new recruits were missing shots. Let's just hope that they were nervous with this being their first D1A game. If we want to dance, and stay in the dance, we have to put away free throws.

Your right... Hogans was a pleasant surprise.

There are so many new players that it is hard to tell just how good we are and can be. It appears that JJ recruited some real talent so I think we have a chance to do very well this season. The initial starting line up of Bell, Willingham, McCoy, Williams, and Wooden looked unstoppable. We put up 12 points so fast that they had to call a time out within 2 minutes of the start of the game. A few comments on the players.....Ben Bell drove hard to basket tonight several times and made some nice jump shots. I noticed he had his left wrist taped and apparently landed on it on a drive to basket. He held his wrist for a few second but didn't show any further signs of injury. Kendrick Hogans has great potential. He plays strong like a big man, though he doesn't have the weight that Quincy or Wooden has. Hogans is quick too, similar to Stewart. I think my favorite newcomer tonight was Adam McCoy. He is "as advertised" and more. He nails 3 point shots, and will take them with a hand in face (not just when wide open) with no problem. He also had a dunk, nice drives to rim, and good ball control. He could be something special. Josh White looked good too. I'd say that he looked like a point guard with at least a year or two at the position despite this being his first D1A game, and plays with obvious confidence. Triston Thompson looked good in flashes. In the first half, he was very aggressive to the rim, bordering on out of control, but settled down in the 2nd half and made some nice shots. Dez Willingham looked like the most polished player on the court, and made some great plays and very nice shots. He is great addition to the lineup. Quincy and Wooden both looked good and the combo of the two made the game unmanageable for our opponents. Wooden did look a little rusty at times. Montague came into the game for the last 1:30, but there were no opportunities to really evaluate him. Howerton did look more coordinated tonight. He caught a tough no look pass from Williams (I think) that he would drop or miss outright last season. With Howerton's size/weight, it would great for the team if he could develop into a really good center. I only had a few concerns. First, we look like an overall smaller (in size/weight) team. Our starting guards were 6'0 (Williamham), 6'3 (Bell), and 6'4 (McCoy) and none are over 200lbs. Even Triston at 6"5' is only a buck eight five. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but just different. Second, I do not like the Aggies put up 70 on us. But that is JJ's philosophy... offense...to outscore the opponent. JJ rotated players frequently so there wasn't alot of time for players to get settled in on defense, and this could have had something to do with it.

Did I miss something or where these two not announced?

I'll be there... and will report back later tonight.

I just checked the Men's B-ball roster and what do you know. I found 2 new names. Apparently, these signings went unannounced?? I wonder if these are walk ons? Montague appears to be a transfer from Centenary. Interesting, we scheduled Centenary for a game this season too. Here is their info from meangreensports.com: Horne, Jr., Ronald (G, 6-1, 185, Fr., Waco, TX, Waco HS) Waco High School: Was a First-Team All-District selection as a senior at Waco High School ... Averaged 24.3 points, 3.7 assists and 3.2 steals per game as a senior ... Named to the Central Texas All Star Game roster ... Also earned all-district and Super Centex honors in 2004-05 ... Averaged 18.2 points, 4.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game as for the Lions in 2004-05 ... A multi-sports star, Ronald lettered for three years in both basketball and football ... Member of the National Honors Society ... A talented family, Horne is the cousin of San Diego Chargers superstar LaDanian Tomlinson and Oklahoma State football player Damien Davis ... Son of Loretta and Ronald Harris ... Born Sept. 16, 1988. Montague, Jr., Jeff (F, 6-6, 215, So., Colleyville, TX, Centenary) Centenary College: A tireless worker on the defensive end, Montague led the team in charges taken ... Started 10 games for the Gentlemen, including top opponents Texas, Georgia Tech and Baylor ... Averaged two points and two rebounds per game ... Was named to the Mid-Continent Conference All-Academic Team.

I hope that Dennis gets well soon, and I sure hope McCoy can "bring it."

RV and JJ put together a pretty good OOC schedule this season, with some big home games against quality opponents. I fear that they have not been promoting the team/schedule as well this season. I still haven't seen any posters. Has anyone seen any other promotions going on that I may have missed?

I cannot tell you how excited I am about Men's B-ball starting up! Tuesday cannot come soon enough! Probably unrealistic, but I hope we start off where we ended last season and grow from there. If so, and if we can hit free throws this season, we have a chance to go very far.

A 1-7 record and one of the worst D1A defenses in the country with ugly blow out loses in the Sunbelt (as well as in other conferences). I don't think it gets much worse than this. I guess we're lucky that our new upgraded QB is still playing after the beatings he takes every game because of our lousy offensive line. But don't get me wrong. I haven't withdrawn support. I won't miss a home game this season, and haven't in 3 years. Moreover, I think Dodge will turn it around relatively soon (1 or 2 years). But let's call it like it is: a very bad football season.

Ha, Ha. You guys are funny. There just hasn't been alot of positives lately. I hope that Men's basketball will change this.

Sure seems like a turbulent times for UNT athletics. Football is a nightmare for so many different reasons, women's soccer decided to tank at the end, and now players leaving the women's B-ball team. I am so excited about Men's B-ball and I sure hope that they will not take the same course as our other sports this season.

Not to excuse our poor free show shooting, but an announcer from the Memphis/UNT game last year made an interesting comment. He said that many "run and gun" team likes UNT , Memphis, etc. typically have poor free throw shooting. He went on to say that the players play the game at light speed, and then all of a sudden it comes to a complete halt for a free throw shot, which equates to a duck out of water. Makes sense to me. However, I still think players need to practice free throws every day for extended periods given our poor history in this area. Hopefully the new recruits will raise the bar in this area. If they hit 80% or more free throws, they will force veteran players to step it up else potentially lose their spot to the new guy.

I predict that this turns out to be 2 kids that do not take kindly to strict discipline and order. If so, I hope that Green and Chatman lose their scholarships and booted off the team for the disgrace they bring to themselves, the team, and UNT.

I just called the Athletic Office... no posters yet.

OK. I'll man up. On the vote we did for the predicted record, I chose 8-4. Man, was I off. I figure if DD could win 3 games or so with this crew, that Dodge could certainly at least double that and even pull out a few upsets.

I've wondered many of the same things Vito wrote about. I sure hope this season isn't killing our recruiting efforts. I sure hope the coaches prepped the recruits for this possibility so that they are not too surprised by it.

Mean Green Basketball Season Can't Start Soon Enough!!! I mean TEXAS!!