Buford_Julep

Mangrum was listed as DMN player of the week honorable mention. He averaged 17 rebounds per game last week to go with all those points. I met him last November. He said he is 6'4 and either 190 or 195 pounds.

Troy puts up an average of more than 30 3-pointers per game. My guess is we will see more of the two Harolds than usual. Speed might be more important than size when Troy's big men slip outside to shoot 3's.

I am not trying to be hatefull or smart-aleck, but it seems to me Kendrick Davis should be included in the 2005-06 class as this is his first season to play for the Mean Green. Also, Keith Wooden should be mentioned as part of the 2006-07 class. I believe Mean Green fans will be very happy with Wooden. Think of Wooden as a player with the strength and defensive technique of Justin Barnett combined with the mobility, athleticism and hands of Jeffrey Simpson.

What a game for Harold Stewart. He was in the right place doing the right things in the last few minutes of the game.

I agree. We probably aren't as good as we looked against Lousiana, and we probably aren't as bad as we looked vs New Orleans. We probably aren't a championship team, but no Sun Belt team should take NT lightly either. Last season NT beat conference regular season champ Denver and just missed beating Western Kentucky. This season NT has 2 wins over teams that played in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Explosive is a term often used to describe a BB player with a quick first step and above average jumping ability. Explosive defines Michael Sturns as a player and also some of his personality traits as well.

Jared Ruffin looks like a Div I player to me. He goes all out every day in practice and looks like he belongs out there. My feeling is he would have been the back-up point guard last season if he had been eligible to play. I am a fan of Jared and feel like he can do a better job than some of the others NT has put at the point in recent years. This season, as long as Hines and Brown are ready to play, there doesn't appear to be much of a chance of Jared getting into the game. Even if one of those guys go down, coach Jones might use Sturns or Davis at the point.

Any win on the road is good. Any win over a CUSA member is good.

W Kentucky 78, Virginia 68 (ACC) LA Lafayette 76, Georgia St 70 (Colonial) Denver 69, Wyoming 64 (Mountain West) N Texas 67, Tulsa 61 (CUSA)

UT-Peanut Butter is what it is called by students and alumni. UT-PB is 8-3 this season with 3 games vs NCAA Division I. UTEP 97, UTPB 54 Tx Arlington 79, UTPB 65 UTPB 75, Texas State 69

Unfortunately, I had to miss my first home game since November of 1998. Here are Tom Penders' thoughts via the DRC: Houston coach Tom Penders called the victory a quality win for the Cougars, not only because it ended their losing streak, but also because it came against what he expects will be a solid UNT team. "I think that North Texas is a very nice basketball team," Penders said. "They can shoot it, their big guys are like warriors inside and they are a cohesive team. ... Unless they fall apart, I think they have a chance to win their conference."

I also have to work friday. Everyone knows I am an NT BB fan so calling in sick is not an option.

While being interviewed on the radio show before the NT-Arizona St game, Coach Jones said his good friend Rob Evans, coach of the Sun Devils, helped steer Wooden to the Mean Green. Jones quoted Evans as saying Wooden was a great kid and a great player and he hated to lose him. Jones also said he wished he could sneak Wooden into the game. Wooden is ineligible to play in games untill 2006-07, but is allowed to practice with the team. My opinion after watching him in the first two weeks of practice is he is the best post player on the team.

ESPN is doing a Basketball Memorable Moment series at halftime of their broadcasts. All 326 Div I teams will be included. The day of honor for North Texas is February 11. What will this memorable moment be? NT has never won an NCAA playoff game or an NIT game. Here are some candidates: 1. March 12, 1988 NT 88, Northeast Louisiana 70. North Texas wins Southland Tournament and the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. This is the only time NT ever was able to play in a Div I NCAA postseason tournament. 2.The win or wins over Texas. I can't believe I would forget a win over Texas. I remember one, but my NT media guide has NT defeating Texas on Jan 17, 1980 by 79-77 in OT and another 75-74 win in 1981. 3. Near the end of the 75-76, 76-77 and 77-78 seasons many NT fans harbored a naive hope that a record of 22-4, 21-6 or 22-6 and beating a good team near the end of the season might land an NCAA at-large bid or an NIT bid. Feb 28, 1976 NT defeated a good Bradley team 108-88. Then followed it up on Mar 1 against a good West Texas State with 88-69 win. Maureece Cheeks, who played in the NBA for 15 years, was the star of that West Texas St team. 4. Mar 2, 1970 NT defeats Louisville 98-80. Before the game, the buzz in the DRC and amongst the NT fans was that the NIT would accept the winner in the then "Big Time" Madison Square Garden tournament. Somehow, the NIT picked Louisville anyway. 5. Feb 10, 1970 North Texas defeated Drake 93-81 in two overtimes. Drake was ranked #10 in the nation and was undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference at the time. My choice would be the 1970 win over Louisville. The other wins were big at the time also, but who wants to brag about wins over Northeast Louisiana, Bradley, West Texas St or Drake. I was unable to find the records of the Texas Team(s) NT defeated. I don't think they were all that good at the time. NT was only 13-14 in 79-80 with losses to St Mary's(Tx) Southwestern and two losses to Houston Baptist. In 80-81 NT was 15-12.

We can prove anything by comparing scores, but just for fun I find this interesting. NC-Wilmington Crushed Virginia Commonwealth 60-40. Virginia Commonwealth handed Houston it's only loss of the season in Houston. Houston has 2 wins over top 25 teams.

Ty Thomas is the leading scorer with 16.8 ppg for Concordia U of Saint Paul Minnesota. Ron Harris signed with West Texas A&M but his name does not show up in the statistics.

Does anyone know why Michael Sturns did not play at NC-Wilmington?

Other Sat night results: Texas Wesleyan (NAIA) 76, SE Louisiana 69 Southeast La was last season's Southland Tourney champ and NCAA dancer. UT San Antonio (Southland) 81, Angelo St (Div II) 78 As was mentioned in a previous post, defending Southland Conference regular season champ Nortwestern St had to rally to overcome an 11 point deficit in order to defeat Hardin-Simmons Div III conference mate East Texas Baptist 78-75 on friday night. Games with Div II, Div III and NAIA are not automatic blow-outs. Under Trilli NT had a 79-72 win over Hardin-Simmons and a 91-82 win over Texas A&M Kingsville. Jankovich had scares agaist Phillips 67-57 and East Texas Baptist 92-79.

San Jacinto is off to a 4-1 start. The link below is to the Pasadena Citizen's account of San Jac's first game.

Click for Pasdena Texas newspaper previews of San Jacinto's BB season and NT signee Ben Bell San Jacinto has had one of the best JC BB programs in the nation for about 40 years now. Interesting to see Booker Woodfox of Lewisville High is on this season's San Jacinto roster. Woodfox earlier committed to the University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. It is probable he didn't have the grades/SAT scores to get into a Div I program. I think I remember seeing some Sun Belt recruiting evaluations that had him rated higher than any NT commitments.

Tarleton State is expected to have a decent basketball team.

NT 30, LaLa 27

Isaac Hines, Kendrick Davis, Calvin Watson, Quincy Williams and Jeffrey Simpson look like the starting 5 at this point. Justin Barnett appears to be far ahead of freshmen posts Justin Howerton and Harold Stewart in the race for top back-up post. Lionel Brown looks like the back-up point guard, ahead of Jared Ruffin. It was impossible to tell who is the top back-up wing. Rich Young and Harold Edwards appeared to be even after 2 weeks. Michael Sturns is the wild card. I am not sure what is missing from Sturns' game. He certainly has talent. It would not surprise me if Sturns wound up as the back-up point guard or the top sub at the wing. On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't get much playing time. He is a very fine player when he is playing under control and within the confines of the offense or defense. Walkon transfer Colby Ray is present and in uniform at every practice but hasn't stepped onto the court as yet. North Texas has very good speed and quickness and should be fun to watch this season. The plan is pressure defense and a fast paced offense. Calvin Watson has shot better than 40% from the 3-point line the last two seasons in a row. Last season Sturns shot 37% while Brown and Edwards both were better than 40% with their 3-pointers. If those guys do what they did last season, and Kendrick Davis fullfills his promise of being the team's best shooter, North Texas could make some noise in the Sun Belt.

My vacation ends this weekend. I will update practice then. Ever wonder what people in other parts of the nation think about North Texas? Below are parts of two threads from the JUCO Region 16 board: mackim53 user profile Post #273 Re: Region 16 commintments Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just seen where Muse and Jackson from the Cards signed with North Texas {I think it was North Texas} Posted on 10/24 12:11 PM | IP: Logged drewfan2005 user profile Post #1 Re: Region 16 commintments Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey fellas I've been gone awhile, but I'm back. Good to see all the regulars still on here for the most part. I kind of thought Muse might go a little bigger as far as Division 1 goes, but if that's where he wishes to go I wish him all the best of course. Posted on 10/24 5:56 PM | IP: Logged Previous Topic | Next Topic | Top of Board jcbbfan user profile Post #258 Re: Mineral Area is Loaded!!!!!!! But Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is N Texas a D-1? Posted on 10/25 7:45 PM | IP: Logged bluff_sideliner user profile Post #527 Re: Mineral Area is Loaded!!!!!!! But Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- North Texas is a D-1. I don't know much about them in basketball, but they've went to some of the smaller bowl games in football. Posted on 10/25 10:51 PM | IP: Logged Houndog1962 user profile Post #46 Re: Mineral Area is Loaded!!!!!!! But Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- North Texas is in Denton, 30 miles n of Dallas. Used to live near there. The Mean Green are having a terrible year, coming off 3-4 years in a row where they won their conference, including 2-3 years without a conference loss. They schedule some biggies like UT and Oklahoma each year, and have gone to a bowl in New Orleans the last 2-3 years, and won more than they lost. Used to be a bball power under the old Missouri Valley Conference, but haven't done much the past 30 years! Who the hxxx follows the Sun Belt conference.... Posted on 10/26 2:31 PM | IP: Logged

Mineral Area College (Mo) finished 21-10 last season in NJCAA Div I and is picked #19 in the pre season national poll. I found some interesting posts on the Region 16 message board on the JUCO junction web site. One message was about how the biggest problem the MAC coach would have would be finding enough playing time to keep so many talented players happy. The poster said that after Muse and Jackson it was anybody's guess who would start. Below is pasteup of part of another thread: Buford_Julep user profile Denton, Texas TexasHoops.com Post #50 Re: Mineral Area is Loaded!!!!!!! But Edit | Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan Jackson and Curtis Muse have committed to play for North Texas. Can someone please tell Mean Green fans what we should expect from those two. Thanks. Posted on 10/24 9:38 PM | IP: Logged 4everRaiders3 user profile Post #398 Re: Mineral Area is Loaded!!!!!!! But Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both are of them are good players, but have a lot of potential that has not been tapped. Muse is a legit 6'10" and is athletic, I think he only average around 8 ppg last year but he is a very capable scorer. I don't know alot about jonathon jackson Posted on 10/25 8:34 AM | IP: Logged MABA2345 user profile Desloge Post #1143 Re: Mineral Area is Loaded!!!!!!! But Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JJ is a solid strong 6'9" and is a warrior underneath. He is very strong on the D end, and can score if needed. He is a good shot blocker, and one of the best rebounders in our region. Muse has talent that won't stop. He is excellent on the D end, and has much potential on the offensive side. These two will be very good additions to your program. I hope this helps. You should be looking forward to these two young men coming to your program.