GrandGreen

Greeneaglealone, great to have you as a fan, I really do enjoy your articles. Thanks for the great work. I certainly don't agree with everything, but your point of view is well presented. I look forward to your future features.

The only thing surprising about the first team is there are absolutely no surprises, including not naming a first team QB. The fall newcomers may change a few first teamers, but it will really alter the second squad. The second team named did have a few minor surprises, Dodge and walk on Jones ahead of last year's starter and long distance threat Outlaw. Franklin, Noble and Fortenberry ahead of Bean and Flax on the offensive line. On the defensive side, certainly not unanticipated, but Cantly again being tried at DE. I wonder if this is just a function of no numbers at the position in the spring and Owusu-Hemeng staying in the dog house, or is there still a strong feeling that this is where he should play. Herron and Anyiam not in the two deep is a little disappointing.

Really disappointing day, NT went from second place to fourth with next to worst round on day 2. Ortiz after setting the course record with a 64 on the first day was 11 over par today. Ortiz is now 11 on the leaderboard and the team is 12 behind Middle. Not an impossible feat to win but they are going to have to have a great round.

Thanks for the info, looks like NT has a great pipeline into Mexico.

I agree men's golf was not nearly as bad as tennis, but it was far from stellar. I think the golf coach is only in his second year, but he brought in the fourth rated freshman class in the nation last year. Both squads are similar in they are now depending on international athletes. Something I applaud as it is the best way to compete, but I do wish there would be some limitations on the number allowed.

That was mentioned I think on the official site blogs, very vague but hinted he was a super talent. Apparently we got some super studs last year. It is amazing what a coaching change can do sometimes: tennis, swimming, golf both teams, and softball. Really the climb in men golf has been faster than any of the others.

End up in second to Middle, 3 over par and 5 behind on first day. NT's Ortiz is leading individual with eight under, leads field by 6.

Good article, I think it highlights why JJ and others are high on Edwards despite his struggles. As an aside does anyone know who is running that website, they are really comming out with some good stuff?

Note for those that havn't been following the program, that NT is playing 3 freshmen .

NT should have the best showing ever in the Belt all sports competition. Probably won't win as NT only plays 16 sports compared to WKU 19 and the Muts's 17. NT does have an outside shot with good teams that should contend for the title in men's golf, women and men's outdoor track and softball to be decided. With the exception of football, women's basketball and volleyball, NT has fielded competitive Belt teams this year. Volleyball has a new coach on board. Dodge is in an improve or go year. SS has only had 2 years in WBB. It is interesting to me that women's tennis, softball, and men's golf are all top 100 programs while NT's historically best program, soccer has probably fallen behind that level. Yes, soccer has never had a bad year, but the rest of the Belt has caught up to some extent with NT not getting to the Belt tournament finals in the past two years.

My linkwww.sunbeltsports.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4100&ATCLID=204936107 NT wins 4-2 despite losing number 1 in both singles and doubles. Sets up match with number 1 seed FIU.

A great receiver for the Green, those who saw that infamous 1988 UT game should never forget Marcus.

Thanks for the explanation.

Vicious! I always love when someone prefaces his statement with "no offense, but" type statement, you know someone is about to get blasted. You didn't think labeling someone a "clumsy , tall white guy' would get some reaction? Have you seen Knox play? He is tall and white but I think he moves well for a 6'10 player and has a good stroke. FYI, I have no relationship with Knox, at all. I do know that seldom does a team like NT get a legit ready to play 6' 10 player out of high school. Those types go to the Dukes, UT's or directly to the pros. You will notice that it is common for teams to recruit players like this in hopes that they will mature into players and the benches are full of them. The reason is, if that player does develop then you have a player that could be a real difference-maker for your program. I saw enough out of Knox last year to believe that he could be more than just a role player for NT in the future. There are a lot of people salivating about Morgan coming here, his record thus far in college is not significantly better than Knox and he was a five star can't miss player out of high school. Yes, I know there is a difference in playing in the PAC 10 and Belt, but you are now dealing with potential with both players.

Thanks, but it would not be a wash if your best kids could not beat the opponents top players but could beat out the lower ranked players. For example your team playing straight could not win any match, but playing your 1, 2, 3 against their 3, 5, and 6 should result in three wins; therefore you would tie in the singles matches despite having a team that should have lost 0 - 6. I am sure there is a honor code involved and in the long run this would be easy to detect, but it does look like it might be easy to slide maybe your number 2 player to a 3 to get more favorable odds. I just wonder if there is some type of protocol or testing that polices this to some degree.

As an aside, does anyone know how the scoring of matches evolved. It seems to me, strange that 3 double matches only count one point. Also that a number one seed is no more important in scoring than a six. What keeps teams from playing their best players lower in the seeding to greatly improve their probability of winning?

Copied from another message board, is what appears to me an accurate listing of NT's softball signings as well as 4 next year commitments. A quick google yeilded that Hoff is from Garland High, Coe from Brazoswood, Wagner from McKinney North, and Thompson from Sand Springs, OK. This list does not include the recent juco signee Fraley who was recently reported on the official site. Sun Belt FAU: Kimberly Diaz, Rebecca Garner, Whitney Herb, Carly Speering, Jordan Stovall, FIU: Erika Arcuri, Kennah Orr, Mariah Dawson, Rachel Slowik, Chelsea Zgrabik, Bekah Kiser Louisiana-Lafayette: Victoria Cummings, Allie Chenault, Shelbee Rodgers, Natalie Fernandez, Christina Hamilton Louisiana-Monroe: Miyuki Navarrete, Stephanie Routzon Middle Tennessee: Jordyn Fisherback, Lauren Keele, Shelby Stinnet, Kayla Toney, Shelby Lamb, Casey Horner, Nina Dever North Texas: Darian Blake, Jordan Terry, Kailee Carr, Jackie Miller, Dani Hoff, Elizabeth Coe, Haley Wagner, Madison Thompson South Alabama: Sara Hilton, Hannah Campbell, Julie Moss, Haley Richards Troy: Taylor Smartt, Kelly Luquette Western Kentucky: Megan Johnson, Tiffany Gooch, Kelsie Mattox, Amanda Thomas, Brittanie Albright

The only money the league makes is through the NCAA basketball tournament, why would we want to divide that small piece to even more teams. Adding every team in the south that wants to move up from the FC division is not going to make the Belt stronger. Lets wait for the TSU and UTSA's of the world to develop something before we are so anxious to give them a leg up by granting them a conference destination.

Great finish by NT to end up fifth. I believe that with out the first round jitters, they could have been second. Apparently, Denver is in a league by themselves but I do believe that NT is definitely on an upward swing with the recruits they have coming in.

We did play Indiana both home and away. Alabama apparently only away. The OSU announced crowd was in the 7000 range I think, but at least 3000 were wearing orange. I did not say that tNT didn't have bigger crowds for name opponents, only that these games did not draw as many NT fans as one would hope.

Keeping expectations low does not help, but how does expanded expectations from a fan base help if it is not reflected in attendance or support? Frankly, I marvel at how well Jones has done when I look at the average Superpit crowd of maybe 1800 actual fans including a few hundred students. Things are definitely better, there were maybe 25 NT fans who saw Jones win his first tournament championship excluding the band in Lafayette and there were not 100 students at the NT games in the Belt tournament in Denton; but there is far to go. As far as Morgan, you seem to take the position that he was a failure at UCLA; therefore NT should definitely be in the chase in his recruitment. The fault in that logic is, that if NT still sees a lot of promise in Morgan so do a multitude of other teams, many higher up in the pecking order than NT. Your factors for increased attendance: consistent winning including games over the big six conference members and an improved home schedule. Maybe you should throw in a national championship or two. The facts are that almost every team these days plays a number of patsies in the non-conference. JJ has had home games against Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma State and other brand name teams to see little rise in NT fans attendance. Note, I stated NT fans not opponent fans who come to the game. Yes, attendance was up for those games especially from students but still far from a satisfactory level. Fan support is building and I expect it to be significantly better next year, however it still tough for Jones to recruit against MVC, CUSA or Western Kentucky programs that have more support and resources.

Your math is correct, in essence JJ is replacing his loses in kind, two wings, one post. The problem I have though is that I would rate every guard on the squad higher than the second front court player. The guard position is loaded with experience, potential and talent. After Odufuwa, there is potential in the front court; but little more than that. Hogans has shown great hustle but as a sophomore was not close to starter quality. Spencer is a good rebounder and did slim down and improve his quickness, but has little offensive game. Holmen is loaded with potential but played behind Spencer last year because of poor shoot selection and below average rebounding and defense. Edwards is an unknown coming off a questionable juco year. Knox has upside because of his height but is a work in progress and didn't show anything last year.

Only problem there is not one bit of evidence that Babb ever had NT on his radar. Just because a player is from the area does not mean that NT has a prayer of signing them. A lot of wishful thinking abundant on this board, but as far as I know there has been no interest at all from Babb, Morgan, or the player from Utah in NT. Carmouche is a good player and NT could do a lot worse than sign him. He is a proven upper Belt level player with two years to play. I think if he signs he will be instantly the favorite to start at the wing with Thompson. JJ has done a great job, moving this program forward; but NT is not going to get too many highly ranked recruits with the support that he has gotten at NT. A Belt school with a very generously counted average attendance of 2,600 for a program that has two NCAA tournament appearances and four 20+ seasons is not going to excite many four star recruits.

NT finished first round in tenth place out of eleven teams in Belt tournmant. NT was 25 strokes over par and is 32 behind leader Denver. Very disappointing, I thought they were getting better.

meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/ Kind of anti-climatic if true.