chrisfisher

I just got through reading about our new recruit. Great signing it appears! Given the quality of our other signings, I'd think it is safe to say now that we've had a very respectible recruiting class!?! If we could only top this off with a bad-ass big man signing.

It may be a lack of school spirit or it could be the lack of knowledge about how spirit is expressed through traditions like the eagle claw or even who the Talons are. As most know, I am a huge fan and I still don't understand exactly what the Talons are other than a "spirit club," though I hear folks argue about them on this board all the time. The only chance that I know of for students to learn about eagle claws, spirit songs, etc. are when they attend football and basketball games, which as we all know, attendance has been down quite a bit. Hopefully Todd Dodge and our recent NCAA tourny birth will help get everyone excited about UNT sports... I know I am.

a**holes - is that the best they could do? The highlight of the SBC is FUI had zero wins, and UNT ranked near last in offense? The SBC is coming off a two bowl season with some decent OOC wins.

Hi Harry - Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. I apologize for the way I went about it though. I made the comment in an off-the-cuff way, not really thinking about it and it gained traction with other poster replies. I should have just emailed you and asked again about that recruiting forum. Thanks again. I am very proud to be part of this Mean Green family.

hehe...I feel special now... ya, I did ask. He said he'd consider it, but I never heard back and the recruiting forum never showed up in as an option for to log into. I just assumed he decided against it.

Great idea...then only the "special" mean green supporters can keep up with recruits. I really love that Harry won't let student fans get involved in the recruiting forum.

Since he didn't play at all at TCU, I wonder if he falls into the Barnett or Howerton big man category?

I assume any big man we get will likely play a bench role for this season, and will be moved into the starting role next season after Quincy and Wooden leave?

hehe... that is pretty funny... I have to say my noodle is fried.... end of the semester...

hehe... good typo catch... fixed!

I am so excited about this next season.. I wish October would hurry up... We will have Denis, Thompson, McCoy, McCoy, Bell, Williams, and Wooden reeking havoc all over the court. Most of our new guys have been billed as big time scorers... should be an exciting upcoming season with lots of scoring action from all over the court....

Given the multi 3 star class JJ recruited this season (McCoy, McCoy, Thompson), plus the now playing Collin Dennis, and the returing Wooden and Williams, anyone care to predict our chances to the big dance? I'll go with a big "Hell Yes!"

good points.. I am concerned about the bigs situation, but definitely not in panic mode. I think JJ will pull it out over the next year or two. I also think that JJ may not be as concerned about this as we are because he has faith in the Howerton/Stewart combo that would be next in line after Williams/Wooden leave. Stewart: definitely... Howerton: all I can say is hope the he is working around the clock to get better, especially with his coordination and reaction time.

Perhaps JJ has much more faith in Howerton than we do. I can definitely see Harold Stewart as a starting big man for us and playing a huge role in our success after Quncy/Wooden leave. His performance at the end of the season was spectacular. That would make Howerton and Stewart as our 2 bigs after Quincy/Wooden. JJ obviously felt signing guards was more important. He must feel comfortable with the Howerton/Stewart combo, though I'm not sure that I am.

Didn't we have 4 scholarships to give? If so, then we should be done: McCoy, McCoy, Thompson, and Sturns

Nice!!

Ebone - I'm not worried at this point. We signed two good recruits in the McCoy's and I am eager to see what else JJ has under his sleeve. He seems to never disappoint on the recruiting front so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one....I think this season we'll be fine with the talent and recruits we have/get.....it is the following year when Quincy and Wooden graduate that I will become more concerned...

Personally, I think this expectation that 1 NCAA tournament visit in 20 years will have the players lining up is a bit unreasonable. A tourny appearance and associated media exposure is one step in the right direction. However, I don't think players from around the country are thinking, "damn UNT went to the NCAA tourny, I think I'll move to Texas." Players have lives, friends, family, and recruiting relationships, and won't just drop everything on a dime just b/c we had a good year. We need to return the NCAA tourny several times or reach the sweet 16, Elite 8, etc. at least once before we will have the results everyone expects on the recruiting front. I agree that our playoff appearance gives us momentum, as well as another thing JJ can point to about our successes, but we need to repeat a few more times, because right now I bet most folks think it was just a fluke. IMHO, any players (or lack therof) JJ recruits this year on are mostly of his own doing/reputation/abilities, not the NCAA birth.

The extension may or may not be a good idea. There is some history with Slinker and DD to suggest not. However, I suspect if JJ had another good couple of seasons and someone hired him away from us, they'd blame RV for not giving him a long term contract. My question is: how do you know that JJ put alot more effort into securing the 5 year extension than recruiting players? I am former music agent, and our clients pretty much stayed out of negotiations until we had numbers to give them. All the haggling went on at the agent level. That is why they hire and pay large sums of money (i.e. percentage of the contract) to an agent so that they don't have to be over involved in this process. Very similar to how an attorney and client work when suing some else. The attorney is the mouthpiece. I seriously doubt that JJ sat around since the NCAA tournament waiting for RV's every phone call to haggle over money. I could be wrong because I don't know what went on in these negotiations, but I doubt it.

I don't know what the competition was like, but his shooting percentages make him sound like a real pimp... a few quotes below from the article: McCoy ranked first on the team and eighth in the ACCAC in points per game with 18.4 each contest......while owning the nation’s 14th best 3-point field goal percentage of 48.7 percent......a fundamentally sound player, McCoy ranked third in the conference last year with an 83.5 free throw percentage, ranked among Mesa’s leaders with a 50.0 field goal percentage.

I came away feeling pretty good about our team, both defense and especially offense. Given the replies so far, I'd say that many others were too. Knowing that the players are playing under a completely new system (Dodgeball!) that was only recently installed, I'd say they looked fantastic.

I probably wont' make tailing gaiting... but will be at the game! Can't wait!

I was wondering the very same thing yesterday... it looked like the thread was harmless recruiting talk...

I don't think anyone knows. I actually have posted the same question twice over the season. Something is going on. When JJ puts in the third stringers, newbies, and even a trainer or two in during blow out games, and Edwards is still on the bench, something has to be up. I really like Edward's enthusiasm too, and hope that he and JJ can get him on the court in 07-08.

Couldn't be a truer statement. I sit in the student section across from the Pit Crew. I get really rowdy, jump out of my seat, yell at the refs and players, and generally make lots of noise. I was really uncomfortable doing all this when I first started attending games b/c everyone is so quiet and sits on their hands. Now, I just don't give a shite. I really hope we can turn the Super Pit into a game time atmosphere where the stiffs feel out of place, not the cheering fans.