NT80

Great news, I'm ready to see some softball. Will WCWS-bound UL-Lafayette be visiting Denton next year?

"New York kept stumbling. John Thomson (news) pitched a three-hitter as the Texas Rangers (news) completed their first three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium in the franchise's 43-year history, 5-1." The Senators/Rangers have always been an American League team and have played at New York every season since 1960. It amazes me that this is the first time ever that they have swept the Yanks in a three-game series.

It must be very windy today up there as all teams except Ok.St. have (+) scores.

First round results from the SBC board: NCAA golf results

UNT notebook Wilson signs to play basketball for Mean Green 05/15/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer Highland (Ill.) Community College guard Mark Wilson signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play basketball at North Texas. The 6-3, 215-pound Wilson averaged 22.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for a 27-6 team last season. He was a second-team NJCAA All-American selection and was named MVP of the Region IV and the Arrowhead Conference. Wilson said he chose UNT over offers from Arkansas State, Milwaukee-Wisconsin and Maryland-Eastern Shore. He said he was also recruited by Auburn and Fresno State. "I can do just about everything on the floor," Wilson said when asked to describe his game. "I just want to come in and do a nice job and help them get a lot of wins." Mean Green coach Johnny Jones said Wilson is very similar to UNT guard Leonard Hopkins, who was the team’s second-leading scorer as a sophomore last season before breaking his foot near the end of non-conference play. "Both of them [Hopkins and Wilson] will have the opportunity to play a lot of minutes," Jones said. "But at the same time, if Leonard’s progress is slowed in any way, Mark has the ability to accept that role. He can really score in a lot of different ways — shooting it or putting it on the floor and taking it to the basket — and I think he has the ability to be a stopper on defense." Jones said signing Wilson is not an indication that Hopkins’ recovery has been slowed. According to Jones, Hopkins is participating in full-speed pickup games. UNT does not have any scholarships left to give for next season unless one of its previous signees does not qualify academically.

Golf: Mean Green rolls into NCAA golf regional UNT needs top-10 finish to advance to nationals 05/15/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer The North Texas men’s golf team is feeling pretty good about itself entering the NCAA Central Regional. UNT enters the regional, which will be played Thursday through Saturday at the Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan., having won two of its last three tournaments. The Mean Green earned its bid by winning the Sun Belt team title. "We’re walking in here as confident as anybody," said senior Zach Atkinson, who has a team-best average of 72.1 strokes per round. "That’s a huge factor. We’re bringing in a lot of momentum." The Mean Green’s goal is to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Stillwater, Okla. May 27-30. To do so, 19th-seeded UNT must finish among the top 10 teams this weekend. "We feel like this is the toughest region of the three," said coach Jim Bob Jackson, who is in his second season at UNT. "It’s going to take a lot of patience out there. We’re going to have to drive the ball well and make a lot of pars. There aren’t a lot of birdies on this course." UNT feels that it proved it could perform in clutch situations with its victory at the Sun Belt Championships last month. The Mean Green, which knew it needed to win the tournament to advance to regionals, blew away the field to win by 10 strokes. UNT had four of the top 15 finishers at the Sun Belt Championships. Senior Brad Besler was the individual medalist, Atkinson placed third, senior Freddy Espericueta 10th and junior Brad Gibson 15th. "That says a lot about our team," Gibson said. "We can perform under pressure. I think a big part of our success is that we feed off of each other. It’s really exciting to see each other do well, and we get excited when that happens." UNT is no stranger to postseason success in golf. The school was dubbed the "Notre Dame of men’s golf" by one golf magazine after winning seven national championships — four NCAA and three NAIA — from 1949-55. The Sun Belt title is the 27th conference championship in the program’s proud history. Jackson said the school’s golf tradition was one of the main factors in his decision to leave Sam Houston State after 13 successful seasons as the coach at his alma mater. He added that the topic of tradition is broached on a frequent basis with the team, which has heard tales of glory from former North Texas and PGA great Don January. "We all know about the tradition," Atkinson said. "All of us have it in our heart to add to it."

He sounds like a good find. I still think we need more height. A couple 6-11 guys that can do those same things would be very nice!

I've been watching results of SBC softball teams on the SBC message board. It seems ULL won the SBC title and FIU was runner up, both were selected for the NCAA tourney. It mentioned the SBC did not have an automatic bid yet, will that change for next year? Also, I saw where ULL's record was like 43-8, will they be the team to beat next season too?

Bryan Lucas is tearing them up, but Chris Davis is, well, new to the league and his shooting percentages seem to be suffering...... Kansas Cagerz stats thru May 8

UNT currently does have a very good club baseball team, and we regularly beat many former SWC schools.

I believe we charged more for the big games at Texas Stadium, and maybe even for big games at Fouts in the past. I'd gladly pay more to see better opponents at Fouts!

"earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Championship." The team will play I believe in the Central Region, not sure where.

"averaging 13 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game." That doesn't seem like such great stats for a high school forward, or is it?

From the DRC: Smith undergoes surgery on shoulder Junior forward Will Smith had an operation to repair his left rotator cuff on Friday. Smith said he had been playing with the injury since late in his freshman season. According to Smith, he can resume weight lifting this summer and should be cleared for full contact by September.

I'm impressed. Both you guys seem to know your hoops and players. So, here's the real questions for you: Will UNT be better next season? How much can Hopkins and Will Smith, if both are recovered from their injuries, plus Mitchell, the LSU transfer, and the other returnees improve our record?

I couldn't make it up to Denton for this; can anyone that did go say how it went or what was the attendance? Hoops banquet article

I agree that a committment should have some penalty if it is broken, and for the coach too if he leaves. Too many coaches can just walk away from their contracts and now players are wanting to do the same thing.

I believe he will have to sit out a year after he transfers, Murray St. is D-1. It's not like football where a 1-A can go to 1-AA and not sit out.

That's not good. I can understand losing a kid to a Big12 or SEC school, but not to PV.

Sports - AP Coach Roy Williams Returns Home to N.C. By DAVID DROSCHAK, AP Sports Writer CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Roy Williams returned home to North Carolina, hoping to win the national championship that eluded him for 15 seasons at Kansas. The basketball coach, who grew up in the North Carolina mountains and learned his craft as an assistant to Dean Smith, resigned as the Jayhawks' coach Monday to take the job at his beloved alma mater. "I was a Tar Heel born. When I die, I'll be a Tar Heel dead. But in the middle, I have been Tar Heel and Jayhawk bred, and I am so, so happy and proud of that," Williams said during a news conference inside a practice gym at the Smith Center, before a crowd of cheering boosters. Smith and former coach Bill Guthridge stood nearby, and the Tar Heels' players wore suits and sport jackets. Outside, a crowd of students gathered, and they could be heard cheering before the announcement. Williams met with his Kansas players in Lawrence earlier in the day to inform them of his decision. He left Allen Fieldhouse nearly in tears, and later flew by jet to Chapel Hill. "Other than serious injury or death to my family, I've never had anything more difficult than what I've been through this afternoon with my team, and telling those 13 young men that I was leaving them," he said at the news conference. The decision came one week after Kansas lost to Syracuse in the NCAA (news - web sites) championship game in New Orleans. Williams replaces Matt Doherty, who resigned April 1. Williams returns to North Carolina three years after rejecting an offer to take over the Tar Heels' storied program. When Doherty resigned, there was immediate speculation that Williams would be the front-runner, but he angrily refused to answer questions about the job after the loss to Syracuse. Williams took the Kansas job only a few months after Larry Brown coached the team to the 1988 national title. After going 19-12 in his first season, Williams guided the Jayhawks to the NCAA tournament 14 straight times. The fourth-fastest coach in Division I history to reach 400 victories, Williams (418-101) won nine conference championships and took the Jayhawks four Final Fours, including two appearances in the title game. "It's sad for the program and the players who are here," said Jeff Boschee, who graduated from Kansas last year and attended Monday's half-hour meeting. "It's tough for them." Other players had different reactions. Wayne Simien, who dislocated his shoulder in January and later had season-ending surgery, appeared angry after the meeting. "I gave my right arm for him, literally," said Simien, wearing a sling. At North Carolina, meanwhile, there was elation. A school that saw Williams leave as a highly regarded assistant now welcomes him back as one of the most respected coaches in the country. "This has been a very, very long process," UNC freshman Sean May said. "It's good to finally have a coach — and a great one at that." Williams played for Smith as a freshman with the Tar Heels during the 1968-69 season and was his assistant from 1978-88. During that time, North Carolina advanced to the national title game in 1981 against Indiana and won the championship the following season, when Michael Jordan hit the winning shot. Doherty, a former assistant to Williams at Kansas, had been coach at Notre Dame for just one season when he was hired at North Carolina, after Williams turned the school down. Doherty, who played for the Tar Heels in the early 1980s, had a terrific first season on the sideline, winning AP's national coach of the year award in 2001. But the Tar Heels slipped badly the next season, going a program-worst 8-20. Doherty's young team went 19-16 this season but missed the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. Doherty also was criticized for alienating some players and athletic department staff. Williams' fierce loyalty to his players kept him at Kansas when he was first offered the job in Chapel Hill, and many Jayhawks fans hoped he would stay in Lawrence for good. In June 2000, Williams spent an agonizing week following the retirement of Guthridge, who had succeeded Smith. Williams was forced to choose between two programs that desperately wanted him. After a weeklong vacation at his home in South Carolina, and a day spent in Lawrence thinking it over, Williams announced his decision to 16,000 Kansas fans at Memorial Stadium. "I'm staying," Williams said simply. Given a second chance at North Carolina, he decided to go. "The last time I decided to stay, it was because I thought it was the right thing," Williams said Monday night. "This time, I decided to leave because it was the right thing." Smith talked to Williams, his close friend and golfing buddy, about the job last week. On Wednesday, Kansas fired athletic director Al Bohl, with whom Williams had a chilly relationship, but the school said the move was not made to placate the popular coach. That same day, North Carolina notified Kansas that it intended to speak with Williams about its coaching vacancy.

The coach is forming a strong team foundation... North Texas Softball

Do tough teams want to schedule UNT just because we are a new program? Has it been hard trying to get those same tough teams to come to Denton for a return game? And finally, where will the team play in 2004 and will the UNT field be ready by the 2005 season? thanks

Yes, Erskin blew an easy layup, but he got to play in a final-four game so he will still have some good memories from his college days. From Trilli-ball to Final-four, not many see the lows to the highs like that in their career.

That's a pretty tough schedule, especially some of those OOC games. The conference schedule looks like only nine games, four at home? I thought Ark. St. was going to field a new team next year too? It will be good to have a spring team sport.

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