NT80

SMS men's basketball preview: Southwest Missouri State 2002-03

Yes, I believe I did predict a 40-point win! Good job Mean Green!! I couldn't make the game tonight, how did it go?

UTA beat the Tx/La All-Stars last night 89-58 and we should do as well or better against them. I'm looking for a 40-point win!

I also have just seen the Exhibition game, but Hopkins for sure needs as many minutes as we can get him. DeGrate is very athletic and I know he was disappointed in fouling out. I thought Roniger and Barnett both played well despite being relatively new to the college game. Roniger made some great passes and is a good ball handler. He didn't seem to want to shoot when left open. I thought Barnett moved well for as big as he is, and he's a good 4 inches or more taller than Masters making him close to 7 feet or more. We have a lot of depth on this team.

I hope these guys remember us after JC. Does that free up another ship for next year? How many will we have to give?

Click on the photo for the seating chart too, unique arena design: NT @ Indiana tickets

Vic is a great recruiter, and a nice guy, but he was 4-24 his last season at UNT.

Freshmen Pair Lead Lady Eagles In Exhibition Win Freshmen Jamie Armstrong and Jasmine Williams came up with double figures in points and rebounds, respectively, to spark the North Texas Lady Eagles to a 70-55 victory over the Houston Jaguars in an exhibition basketball game Thursday night at the Super Pit. In the Lady Eagles' first action of the 2002-03 season, Armstrong led a balanced scoring attack with a team-high 10 points while Williams grabbed a team-leading 10 rebounds. Also for the Lady Eagles, senior forward Angel Lewis finished with eight points while another of the Lady Eagles' eight true freshmen, Natalie Mireles, chipped in with seven points. "I was pleased overall," said North Texas head coach Tina Slinker. "We played a solid first half and a not-so-solid second half. I think we lost some intensity but that was to be expected playing as many kids as we did. We have a great deal to work on. We must define who our go-to person is going to be. But that's a good problem to have." North Texas, which got scoring from 12 of the 13 players in uniform and rebounding from every player who saw action, took control of the game early and never let up. The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 28-6 lead in the game's first nine minutes and owned a 48-28 lead by halftime. The Lady Eagles never let their lead get below double figures although at three different times in the second half Houston cut the deficit down to 12 points. Besides Williams' 10 rebounds, three other Lady Eagles -- Kim Blanton, Karolyn Haskin and Mireles -- each came up with five rebounds. North Texas also got encouraging play from freshman Erika Bobo who started at point guard. She passed out a team-high five assists, one-third of the Lady Eagles' total of 15. The Lady Eagles will host their second and final exhibition tune-up on Monday, Nov. 18, when they will face Oklahoma Flyers in a 7 p.m. game at the Super Pit.

Mean Green basketball team set for intrasquad scrimmage Saturday November 01, 2002 In case the Homecoming activities are not for you, NT basketball fans can check out the men's team at the Super Pit. The Mean Green basketball team will play a Green-White intrasquad scrimmage at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Before the game, players for the 2002-2003 season will be introduced. A slam dunk competition featuring forwards senior Jermaine Green, junior Will Smith and junior transfer Michale DeGrate will also take place. "This is an exciting opportunity for us," head coach Johnny Jones said. "It will give fans a chance to see who the team is, and we hope to make this event an annual tradition." Jones said that the scrimmage was taking place of a Midnight Madness event that was in the works of being planned.

Are you a UNT party-animal? Then you must have this for your Mean Green bashes... Unique UNT item

Next Saturday 1-2pm, a Green/White basketball scrimmage will be held in the SuperPit before the Homecoming football game at 3pm....Be There!

No radio coverage that I can find. My suggestion is to call the Celina stadium pressbox direct and get updates.

Looks nice, I especially like the SW area of lands they hope to purchase (for possible future realignment of the golf course so existing land can be used for athletic and rec. purposes and building along I-35E). It appears from this Master Plan that UNT could eventually own all the land on both sides of I-35E and I-35W along the split. That would be a great corner to have all tied up. Great visibility!

I think with the recent downturn in the economy more students than were expected went back to college. UNT was not expecting 30,000 this fall and it has resulted in peak demand. Growth is hard when it comes this fast, but the reverse like many other schools are having (TWU, ULM, etc.) is much worse. Hang in there, I bet they open additional sections.

I think The Daily was responsible for much of the controversy last semester. They gave inaccurate facts and reports about the Athletic Fee and in columns tried to stir up students by saying they had no representation for their money. It's a sad day when a paper has to invent it's own news to have enough to write about.

Tim MacMahon: UNT’s on the rise, but so is rest of Belt 10/24/2002 By Tim MacMahon NEW ORLEANS — Ask Johnny Jones about expectations entering his second season as the men’s basketball coach at North Texas and he launches into a canned speech. He talks about how the team never set specific goals last season, simply trying to "get better each practice and each game." An 11-victory turnaround — and the team’s first winning season since 1995-96 — won’t change that basic approach. "That will also be the goal and motivation this year," Jones said in his usual guarded manner. He won’t say it, but I will: The Mean Green has a chance to be pretty dang good. Senior swingman Chris Davis, who will likely break the school’s career scoring record late in the season, is one of four returning starters. That number doesn’t include guard Leonard Hopkins, who will eventually replace Davis as UNT’s go-to guy. Forward Michael DeGrate, a junior college transfer, will have an immediate impact. He probably won’t start though, which is a testament to the Mean Green’s depth and talent. Add it all up and UNT is picked to finish ... fourth in the Western Division? That’s what the Sun Belt coaches forecast for the Mean Green in a poll released at the conference’s media days Wednesday in the Big Easy. As much as I believe in the Mean Green, I can’t make much of an argument that UNT should be predicted to place any higher. Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State and New Orleans were picked to return to their spots of first, second and third, respectively, in the division standings. All three schools also have a wealth of talent returning and a top-notch newcomer or two. That’s the thing about the Sun Belt this season: There are a lot of teams in the league that have a chance to be pretty dang good. "People ask me about this league after I’ve been in the SEC and Conference USA," Jones said. "I don’t see much difference. One thing is for certain: Every night that you suit up — and I don’t care where you are — you have to be ready to play." That will be particularly true this season, when nine of 11 teams in the conference have at least four starters coming back. Six of those teams are coming off winning campaigns. "You can’t just assume that because you have guys back that you’re going to be good," Arkansas-Little Rock coach Porter Moser said. You also can’t just assume that the Sun Belt will only get one bid to the NCAA Tournament, as has been the case every year since 1994. Western Kentucky, the two-time defending champion and a team that will be ranked to start the season, will have to fall flat on its face not to be back in the Big Dance. The league’s best shot at another bid is to have the Hilltoppers lose in the conference tournament, but a couple of other teams might have credentials to be considered for an at-large selection. Louisiana-Lafayette, which won 20 games and played in the NIT last season, tops that list. Arkansas-Little Rock and New Mexico State would need to make some noise in non-conference play, but they both have schedules that should lead to impressive records while still including a couple of chances to beat name-brand schools. What about UNT? The NCAAs are probably out of the Mean Green’s reach. Of course, I would have said the same about a winning season a year ago.

UNT exploring possibility of buying area law school 10/24/2002 By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer University of North Texas officials want to open a law school in the area, and that may mean buying one. UNT officials recently entered preliminary discussions with officials at Texas Wesleyan University to purchase that law school in downtown Fort Worth, UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson said Wednesday. Texas Wesleyan spokeswoman Lisa Fellers said UNT, among others, have asked for information about the law school, and Texas Wesleyan officials have simply responded to those inquiries. They are "not actively trying to sell the law school," she said. Kelli Horst, a spokeswoman at Texas Christian University, said officials from that school spent about a year in discussion with Texas Wesleyan officials regarding the law school. Ms. Horst said TCU officials last May sent Texas Wesleyan an estimate on what they thought the law school was worth, but she would not say what that amount was. Discussions between the two schools ended this summer, she said. Mr. Jackson said if UNT’s discussions lead to an agreement between the two schools, UNT would operate that law school there, about three miles away from its Health Science Center. "Our interest clearly would be to keep it in downtown Fort Worth," Mr. Jackson said, because "that is a prime location" for a law school. Even if the discussions with Texas Wesleyan do not lead to UNT buying the law school, UNT still wants to open a law school, Mr. Jackson said. "The University of North Texas will be interested in offering a public law school when the time is appropriate, sometime in the next decade," Mr. Jackson said. If UNT opens a new law school, he said, the university would have to conduct a space survey to determine where the right place would be. So far, that type of study has not been done, but anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton area would be possible, he said. UNT officials began collecting law library materials in the early 1980s, he said, anticipating that one day the university would open a law school. A public law school, coupled with the College of Engineering that is scheduled to open next fall, would help round out UNT’s academic offerings as it strives to be the premier state university in the region, Mr. Jackson said. A public law school also could benefit the region by making a legal degree more accessible and affordable, Mr. Jackson said, and that’s what UNT wants to provide. "UNT is committed to developing a law school in North Texas, regardless whether we work out an agreement with Texas Wesleyan or not," Mr. Jackson said. About 700 students, including about 470 full-time and 230 part-time students, study at Texas Wesleyan’s law school. The school, which occupies a basement and first floor of a two-story building in downtown Fort Worth, opened in 1989 as the D-FW School of Law. In 1992, Texas Wesleyan acquired the law school and in 1997 moved it to its present location. Twenty-nine full-time professors and 36 adjunct professors teach in the school, a university official said. The Dallas-Fort Worth area does not have a public university law school, Mr. Jackson said. Texas Wesleyan and Southern Methodist University, both private universities, have law schools. Mr. Jackson stressed that the discussions with Texas Wesleyan are in the preliminary stages. Before talks could be formal, governing boards of both universities would have to vote to enter formal negotiations. He did not know how long discussions might continue. "If our boards were to agree in the coming months that we have enough in common to enter into negotiations, I’m sure that action would include a time table, but right now it’s too early to say," Mr. Jackson said.

I agree it would be huge. I heard they were looking for a buyer but I didn't see the NT reports....please post if you see it! We could produce Mean, Green, Lawyers!

UTEP basketball coach resigns By CHRIS ROBERTS Associated Press Writer October 21, 2002 EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- UTEP basketball coach Jason Rabedeaux resigned Monday, saying he has lost the motivation to coach. Rabedeaux succeeded Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins in 1999 and led the Miners to a 46-46 record in three seasons. UTEP went 23-9 in 2000-01, their best record in nine years, but slipped to 10-22 last season. The decision comes just more than a month before the start of the season, but Rabedeaux said it was in the best interest of UTEP, himself and his family. He declined to elaborate on specific reasons. ``I wanted to see where my heart was, what my drive was, what my focus was, and it wasn't what it needs to be,'' the 37-year-old coach said at a news conference. ``This is not a decision that was forced on me,'' he added. ``This is not a fired kind of thing.'' Last November, Rabedeaux received a two-year contract extension running through 2007. UTEP athletic director Bob Stull said Rabedeaux informed him of his decision Monday morning. Stull said he gave Rabedeaux a chance to reconsider. He added that he hadn't had time to choose an interim coach but would not rule out asking Haskins to come back temporarily. He also mentioned former Chicago Bulls coach Tim Floyd and former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson. Floyd is a former assistant to Haskins and Richardson played for Haskins at UTEP. ``All three would probably be somewhat of a long shot,'' Stull said. UTEP opens its regular season Nov. 23 against New Mexico Highlands, with the first exhibition is Nov. 9. Stull and Rabedeaux said the team has a solid crew of assistants and they don't believe any players will leave because of the change. Stull said he informed Haskins of the coaching change Monday afternoon. Neither Haskins nor Richardson immediately returned telephone messages left at their homes by The Associated Press. Rabedeaux was an aide to current Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson for 10 years. He worked on Sampson's staff at Washington State from 1989-94, then followed Sampson to Norman, Okla.

I'd like to see a BIG interlocked NT on our football helmets and basketball shorts too. NT has been a part of every era and in every change of the school's name.

I don't see how UTA, SWT, ULM, many SLC schools, and most Texas junior colleges can fund and have baseball, and a major university with 30,000 students can't. I know the Title IX and $$ arguments, but so many of these other schools have it somehow, why not UNT?

I think our cheerleaders are fine. They look good and perform normal cheers. I saw them split into two groups (pep squad?) and half went to other side then they combined sometimes. I think most cheer squads (except crazy a$m aggies) have about the same impact on fans at games...little. Unless they're throwing free stuff. I see TV games with sideline cameras on cheerleaders trying to get the crowd going and a few fans close by participate but most are just watching the game. Perhaps if the cheerleaders were up in the stands they'd get a better response?

I'm anxious to see how the new players push the vets. The first exhibition game is Nov. 8 so it should be about time to start the practices. Anyone know?

Try this link, although I had trouble with the volume on it: UNT Fight Song

I really like what JJ has done with the team in trying to build team unity and that they go to the football games. I'm anxious to see this years team in action.