GrandGreen

He is now back on the roster?

Ryan McCoy is no longer listed on the basketball roster. Anyone know what is up? If he is gone. point guard goes from what appeared to be a strong lineup to Bell and a freshman with injury issues.

Pinson played all if not most of the game. I remember him in on maybe 3 tackles not a high total for an inside linebacker. He did seem to be around a lot of plays but not in on them. It just shows I guess that two people can watch the game and see different things. I did just watch on tv so if you went to the game you would have a more accurate assessment. Actually I didn't see many players other than the TCU bound linebacker (Tank) that really stood out. Don't get me wrong because I didn't think Pinson had better than an average game. I am elated that NT signed him and he may have as much raw talent as NT has seen at LB. As I stated I though Johnson had by far the best game of any of the NT players. He may give Drake a run for his money at center if not this year next. Not that Drake is not going to start at some line position, he is probably NT's best lineman.

Your first sentence is somewhat puzzling. My quote "I am not making the point that they don't deserve the honor, but why were they singled out for this honor" seems clear to me. I agree with you that if you based athletic awards based on join academic, athletic, and overall citizenship that NT could not do better than Rosalyn. She not only had a stellar athletic career but was at the time one of two NT students every named a Rhodes Scholarship Semi-Finalist. However academic prowess is usually not a big factor in athletic accolades. Joe Greene without question the most heralded NT athlete of all times did not graduate unless he did after his pro career. Rosalyn was an unique person not only having a solid basketball career but battling back from a major injury. But I do think it is difficult to justify her or Jalie being one of the only two NT basketball players to have their jerseys retired.

I think Rosalyn Reades and Jalie Mitchell selection to the NT athletic hall of fame is certainly well deserved. But I have always wondered why they were honored with the hanging of their jerseys (retirement of numbers?) in the Superpit. No men's team member has every been so honored despite the fact that men's basketball has a much longer history. Yes they played on the most successfully women teams in NT history but the teams never won a conference title (they were division champions) and were basically non-competitive against mediocre level NIT teams. They are all time statistical leaders for NT but the men's team counterpoints have not been so honored. I am not making the point that they don't deserve the honor, but why were they singled out for this honor when players like Clara Campbell who was the star of the only women's team to go to the NCAA tournament was not. Men like Kenneth Lyons and Joe Hamilton certainly deserve the honor as much if not more. Joe Hamilton was the best player IMO ever at NT and played and was a star in the best conference in American at the time. Kenneth Lyons led the team for all four years and still has as far I know the Southland conference record for scoring in a Southland tournament game. Forty + points against conference MVP and future NBA great Carl Malone. I would also rate players such as Chris Davis and Jessie Ratliff as comparable to Jalie Mitchell and ahead of Rosayln Reades in contributions to NT athletics. This obviously is not a major issue, and again I applaud Reades and Michell selection to the NT HOF. It just seems to me that the retirement of the jerseys especially when they were still in school was done hastily. Anyone know how and why the decision was made and who made the decision?

I though Johnson was very good. Didn't see any bad snaps and more than held his own blocking. Pinson showed good speed but was not in on a lot of plays for a linebacker. Dibrell had an off game.

Like most of what rivals does that ranking makes almost no sense. Look at UTEP commits and compare to NT and explain how they are rated higher. Less commits, less recruit average rating and they are rated although slightly above NT?

Yes doubling is impressive, but the totals are far from being impressive. Roughly translated it appears that NT has 2000 to 3000 season ticket holders. Hopefully the total will continue to build but NT still has a long haul ahead. NT has come a long way since rejoining 1a and though attendance was poor last year. When the poor record and unpopular coach is taking into account, it was marked improvement over what would have occurred under the same circumstances only a few years before. Hopefully the relatively new administration and TD can be successful in selling the program to the masses. Not even the revered Hayden Fry had any great success in generating support for the athletic program from alums or the city of Denton. It is fortunate for the City of Denton, that universities can't like major businesses just move their location to an area that is willing to offer greater support. Think of the bidding war between cities that would take place if a business the size of NT could be moved.

Not sure what comment you are replying to, but I will throw in my two cents. I had a friend who graduated with a masters in engineering from UTA and I went to the ceremony. It seems that 90% of the grads were foreign students. This observation has nothing to do with race. UTA has just done an excellent job in recruiting foreign students, I believe I read were they were 9th in the nation in the number of foreign students attending. I think this is great for the school and diversification but I doubt it significantly helps UTA 's support for athletics. Also because foreign students tend to stay close to the campus because it is very difficult to go home for the night or weekend, it distorts the reality and it appears that the foreign population is much greater than it actually is.

Glad other people have joined my annual rant at why isn't Walter Chapman in the HOF. He was the best defensive lineman of the Fry era and maybe the best player on any of Fry's teams. He was good enough that renowned NT coach Bob Tyler when he was at Miss. State devised plays to put him out of the game in two straight years. The hiring of Tyler was a low point among many NT low points.

Great list. Saw 2,3 and 4. Want to add an all time favorite, NT over Cincinnati in 1969 by a score of 31-30. NT trailed at half 7-30 and the last half was played in a driving rain storm. If that game were today, NT would have lost as they never would have allowed play to continue in the second half . Ramsey and team again at their finest.

JP, I love your passion. I have watched the program longer than you and don't quite have the same vision. Apparently NT is going to have to have a lot of good fortune to raise funds for a 30,000 seat stadium. I am sure if they could get donations to fund it. NT would be glad to erect a 40,000 to 45,000 capacity stadium. But if NT is going to have to as it appears; scrape for every nickel and dime, it makes absolutely no sense to fund a larger stadium than needed. Raising student fees, committing to long term bond contracts and squeezing every cent out of the program because you may have a chance at a Kansas, Baylor coming to your home would be in fact stupid. As far as TD leaving because NT does not build a larger stadium. What is your logic? You think TD is more apt to stay if no stadium is built. A more likely scenario if NT built your dream stadium is that TD leaves because NT overspend and has little or no financial resources. I have already given my opinion on scheduling. If you actually believe that a 50,000 seat stadium is going to significantly improve your ability to attract more attractive oc opponents then we definitely have a difference of opinion. I can't wait for that home and home with UT. It would only cost UT about $3,000,000 to.$4,000,000 to make that deal instead of their normal patsy at home schedule. Possible sure; likely, hardly. You mention Missouri at Troy. Does Troy have a 50,000 capacity stadium? As far as the Super Pit, average attendance has never even been half of capacity. You mention the one sell out game in history that was largely the result of unprecedented newspaper hype. As far as Blakeley's early teams having higher than normal attendance, I think that proves my point more than yours. You win 20+ games for three years and yes your attendance will definitely increase, had nothing to do with the arena. If it did you would have seem the increase continue after Blakeley started losing or the years before when the arena was brand new. There are few if any that post on this site that don't want NT to grow their athletic program. Your reference to top 25 status would indeed be great but I fail to see at this time any direct connection to the size of a football stadium. I would sing hallelujah if NT announced a 30,000 seat stadium. If a bigger stadium is needed and can be supported, I see nothing wrong with waiting until that point to build additional capacity. I just do not believe in "build it and they will come" applies to NT facilities.

A stadium of any size will not solve NT's problems. Those that think that attendance will significantly increase solely because of a new venue are not paying attention. The building of the Superpit did not increase attendance at NT basketball despite being probably the best college arena in the state for many years. Ford stadium at SMU despite being an excellent venue has not vaulted SMU's attendance. Yes, there would be initial spike upward in attendance with a new stadium but that will only be sustained with continued growth of the football program. This growth is much more dependent on winning and opponents than facilities. As far as significantly upgrading the schedule, this is also a dream. Not going to happen. Colleges pick their oc schedule with two factors in mind, net revenue and winning. There is no scenario that you can paint were it makes economic sense for a upper tier program with a 60,000 plus stadium to play an away game unless they are playing another mega program. Plus why would they play an away game and thus lower their chances of winning when they don't have to. Yes, there are away games scheduled, to give teams visiting experience before conference and to cultivate recruiting areas, but there are not many of these games and the stadium is not a big factor. Again the big factors are economics and winning probability. A larger stadium would of course be a factor in the amount of guaranty that NT could offer but the cost of the extra seats probably would be much more than any benefit from an occasional game with a BCS team. NT has painted themselves into a corner with the constant talk of a new stadium. Failure to get ground broke soon on a new stadium after all the talk will indeed be a big black eye for the program. In the current 1a arms race it is probably imperative to get a new facility. Not because it will increase attendance, advance scheduling or even make sense on any kind of financial model, but because it is necessary to keep pace with the competition in the athletic arms race.

Most if not all the "have nots" of the NCAA post inflated attendance numbers including NT. While NT reported football numbers are probably a lot closer than most, basketball is not even close based on actual people in seats. At most NT basketball games you can literally count the people in the stands, as poor as the announced numbers are they are substantially overstated. However, there maybe many seats sold that are never used in basketball. I know I have tried to get extra tickets in the section were I have season tickets, and been told there are none available. This despite the section not being 40% full.

Hardly robbed, NT lost a home game to what proved to be a very mediocre UTA team. NT basically let UTA shoot a layup with time running out with the outcome of the game at stake. Yes, the game should have went to overtime, but I didn't see anything that would have indicated that NT would have had the edge in the next period. NT played very lackadaisically and UTA played with emotion, and the less talented team won. OT, I have see many games at UTA and have yet to see anything close to what you report. With a couple of exceptions, there have not been enough people at the games to even fill the stands between the benches. It is an odd venue, but I have never seen anyone or even heard a report of anyone being injured because of falling off the stage. It actually a good place to watch a game assuming you set behind the benches. Interestedly, under Helwig and Trilli; NT canceled all the games with old Southland foes wanting to distance themselves from the lower tier teams. At the end of Trilli's reign, NT was playing non-scholarship teams to scrape out any win.

Nice to hear from the AD, but I did not here anything about the stadium status.

Texas as more signees than anyone in the game. I think that this is the one all star game that most Texas universities support.

I agree to some extent with your points, however the coach's pay is not one of them. After incentives, I think you will find that TD is at the top of the Belt pay not the bottom. If TD is the coach that you want, why would you want to pay him more than necessary just to keep up with the Jones's. Is he going to be a better coach at $500k a year versus the $300 he will most likely make at NT in his first year. If TD is the success most of us think he will be, there will ample opportunity to complain about NT not being salary competitive.

Having problems with DD long before it became fashionable, I still can't believe how many downgrade NT's accomplishments during the 4 consecutive championships. Weak competition, yes the Belt is and was the lowest rated 1a conference. However, I think it is a definite upgrade from the Southland. A conference which NT never went through a year undefeated, much less winning 26 straight games. I don't believe that the Belt has improved enough that the championship NT teams would not have fared well against current competition. I think NT's drop has a lot more to do with NT getting weaker than it does with the Belt improving. DD's style of recruiting and lack of innovation in the offense when teams learned to focus on DD's single running back dominated offense doomed DD's program.

A newspaper column that puts doubt on NT getting a new stadium at all, and we have people bitching' that the stadium we may not get is not big enough. Just because NT has never filled the 30,000 seat stadium it has and apparently will be damn lucky to fund any kind of new stadium doesn't apparently deter wishful thinking. Look at NT's recent track record at raising funds. An athletic center that took almost twice as long to build as projected even when significantly downsized. Yes NT's athletic fund raising has improved over the past but is still way behind almost every other NCAA 1a program. Who knows what is going on? NT has build an athletic center that is to be connected to a football stadium. NT representatives have apparently told or at least strongly hinted that a new stadium is in the near future to recruits. When I in another post stated that the new stadium has never been officially announced, a number of people politely told me that it had been in fact and I didn't not know what I was talking about. Now RV states that NT is just now doing a feasibility study. All this does not add up. I think it is time for even the unwashed fans that do not have the potential to donate big money to the program to be advised of what the exact status of the stadium project is; good, bad or hopeless.

Good report, it is always great to hear more about the so called non-revenue sports. I am glad to hear that NT already has all its 2008 commits, specially some Houston area recruits. Unlike the other women sports, soccer recruiting seems to be have been entirely focused on the metroplex in the last few years. It seems that softball, volleyball, and swimming haven't done that well in recruiting local talent and need to improve. While it seems soccer maybe missing out by not dong more state wide recruiting. Even though the metroplex is probably as good a recruiting area as there is, I have to think there a few top tier players from other parts of the state that would be like to be part of the Green.

Actually he was credited with a 9.4 100 yard dash time in high school. Although the times were even more unreliable than they are now. The only three I can think of that could have been faster were Woodson, Bridges and Shanklin.

I believe J. T. Hollins was also on the DCTF first team. He like Finch was a bounce back from another school but played three years for Fry at NT. He was a wide receiver and one if not the fastest player to ever play for NT. As far as the Milton Collins signing, it may be hard for most to believe but it was bigger than the Riley commitment. Milton was rated the number one recruit in the state at the time. Fry really could recruit against any school in the state and I still remember him quoting that if he could get any player on the campus at NT he could sign him. It is great to have someone with a similar attitude again running the show.

By the way, I do not follow track too much, so, how does the 6ft-9in high jump rate as far as track standards go? I also remember the NT track team signed a high jumper earlier this year that will walk on this fall as a WR. I wonder if Brigham will walk on with the NT track team?

Desmond is apparently a great athlete. 6'9 in the high jump and once scored 45 in a basketball game and this was in his junior year.