Buford_Julep

Shawnson Johnson now has 54 career blocks at NT. He is 4th on the all time list behind Will Smith (57), Thomas Gipson (76) and Wendell Williams (81). Wendell Williams, who played 1986-89, is currently an assistant coach for the Denton Bronco girls team and often attends NT games. Will Smith is also #3 on the all-time field goal percentage list with a .573 score. The record is a tribute to Will's good judgement in shot selection and his knowledge of his limitations as an outside shooter. Will has attempted just two 3-pointers, both missed, in his career. Will still has an outside chance to catch #2 Terry Bailey (.581) and John Horrocks (.583). Shawnson Johnson has already broken the NT single season shot blocking record formerly held by Thomas Gipson (53) who played 1990-92. Will Smith has an excellent chance to break the NT single season field goal percentage record currently held by Lowell Myrie (.628). Will is 39 for 60 this season which equals a sizzling .650.

Thanks Harry. Byrd played at Paris Tx JC last season, and did not make much of an impact. I was only able to find about 6 Paris box scores. He had less than 10 minutes time in every game.

I went to an NT-UTA basketball game at Texas Hall (A.K.A. the Gymatorium) years ago. When the NT players came out for their warm-ups the UTA students began to chant "Smells like unt, Smells like unt." A few minutes later the NT Students came back with: Roses are red Violets are blue We have football How about you I really miss those UTA-NT games. I believe a Saturday night game with UTA would outdraw any Sun Belt opponent.

Shawnson Johnson's two blocked shots Thursday makes a total of 40 in just 15 games this season. The 40 blocks ties him with Jason Miller for 2nd place on the single-season all time NT list. Thomas Gipson had 53 blocks in 1992. That record should not last much longer. Johnson most likely will finish the season as NT's #3 all time career shot blocker. Thursday night Johnson passed Sean Riley (38), Adam Smith (39) and Deg Erskin (39). Ahead of ShoJo are Germaine Green (50), Jason Miller (53), Will Smith (57), Thomas Gipson (76) and Wendell Williams (81).

The Athletic Department had a promotion tonight. It was the "Souls vs. Soles" game. Local preachers vs local coaches was played at 5pm. A ticket to that game was good for the NT-USA game. Many people stayed for the NT game. There were many more children than usual at the Pit, and they were very enthusiastic. Not very many left at the half. I overheard some first time NT BB watchers behind me talking about how surprised they were that the players were so good. They stayed till the end of the game. Maybe they will come back.

Shooters sometimes go into slumps. He is probably frustrated and trying too hard. NT once had a player named David Miller who missed more than 20 consecutive free throws. He wound up a career 60% free throw shooter. Not great, but you wouldn't expect him to be that cold for that long. Without all those misses he would have been near the NCAA Div I average of about 66%.

Back to the bad call. I watched the KNTU-TV replay on channel 22 last night. The tall white guy from UNO was standing directly under the basket with his hands up. The ball was in the basket before any contact was made. Charging would have been the correct call if the play had occurred in the open court. But, you can't just get in the way with no chance to defend the play and expect to get a charging call from competent officials. At practice I saw JJ talk with the team about just that situation and telling them they would not get the call. An even worse call , in my opinion, was when the tall #4 with the corn rows lowered his shoulders and jumped into DeGrate, who had clearly established his position and was standing still with both hands in the air. A blocking foul was called on DeGrate. This call really hurt NT. It contributed to DeGrate fouling out, and a proper call would have been the 4th on #4. That guy seemed to be their best inside defender and was a thorn in NT's inside game all night long.

Ice cream parlor.

Dork!........... Klattu, Barrada, Nikto.

He has been a big help, but NT is not a one man team. As JJ said, eveyone is ready when their number is called.

Coach Dickey's little daughter did a fine job of cheering on the Mean Green. She showed plenty of spirit. The NT dance team also does a great job of getting the fans blood pumping. I hope NT schedules UTEP at home next season. Their new coach Mike Price, formerly of Alabama, will probably wave dollar bills at the dancers during time outs.

From a DRC story: Indiana Forward Sean Kline said North Texas' Shawnson Johnson is as good as any post in the Big 10 Conference. "He's an animal," Kline said of Johnson."When he gets the ball point-blank, "he's tough to stop. I give all their big guys credit tonight, but especially him. He's a big, strong, mean green-type guy." "I think (Johnson's) pretty good," added Indiana coach Mike Davis."I'd take him. I watched him play in high school and he can be even better. I know he scored 21 points tonight, but he's not playing his best ball yet."

Darius Harper, son of former Dallas Maverick and NBA All-Star Derek Harper, has quit the Boise State basketball program. I have been told by two different people (not UNT officials) that UNT coaches liked his game but did not offer him a scholarship because they were looking for experienced guards. According to a Boise newspaper, Harper said he chose Boise State over offers from TCU, Southwest Texas State, UTEP, Colorado State, Southern and Drake. What happens now? I'm sure he would be given the opportunity to walk on at NT if he wants to.

Although Johnson did not play particularly well, it was easy to see he was a very powerful force in the lane. The loudest cheers of the night from TCU came when Johnson fouled out. Everyone could tell he was something special. Once again sophs Ty Thomas, Ron Harris and Justin Barnett were impressive coming off the bench.

$12 adult $6 children according to DaMN.

My hope is that over the next 2-4 weeks these guys become accustomed to playing with each other and become as good of a team as they can be. JUCO to Div I is a big jump. Last year it took DeGrate several games before he showed what he could do. Mitchell and Mike Jones should get better each week. Hopkins, Smith and Johnson are coming back from surgery. They still may need a few more weeks before they are 100%. Everyone is healthy now, but it takes awhile to get used to playing in games. My prediction is that in a few weeks NT will have everyone playing up to their full ability, and playing with the frenetic intensity they showed the last 10 minutes of the NW Oklahoma St game and the last 36 minutes of the Baylor game. The result will be an above .500 finish in the Sun Belt.

Ron Harris and Ty Thomas made some big plays tonight. Thomas came out of nowhere on a truly spectacular block at the expense of Baylor's #24.

Why did NT have such football and basketball success in the late 60's and early 70's and then fall apart? In the late 60's the SWC, SEC and ACC only gave scholarships to white athletes. The very best of Texas' black athletes went to the Big 10 or Pac 10 or Big 8. But only the very best. Those schools only gave scholarships to black players they were sure would be stars. That left a huge pool of Texas black athletes for Houston, North Texas and Texas Western (UTEP) to choose from. Later, the SWC integrated and teams from other parts of the country raised the quota on the number of black athletes allowed. NT no longer had a great recruiting advantage, the teams quit winning and the support dwindled.

All home games plus TCU. It is the best BB bargain in the area at $10 per game. SMU charged $47 and $ 25 for their game with Tx Tech.

A chance to see UNT recruit Michael Sturns probably matched up with Denton Ryan Jr Austin Jackson. Jackson will be a national recruit next season. @$f7**^! The game was played Friday night. I will never trust the DRC again. Did anyone see it? North Crowley won 76-60. Jackson scored 33 and Sturns had 30.

Lubbock Christian, predicted to finish 6th in their NAIA Conference, have defeated Rhode Island of the Atlantic 10 and Bradley of the Missouri Valley Conference in the Las Vegas Tournament this week. Lance Boxell, a Soph from Ponder and NT played 22 minutes and scored 5 points during the two games.

Starters: PG SO Scott Roniger WG JR Marqus Mitchell WF JR Mike Jones PF SR Mike DeGrate C SO Justin Barnett Subs: SR Jerome Rogers JR Len Hopkins SO Ty Thomas SO Ron Harris Unavailable: SR Will Smith (knee, 3-4 weeks) FR Calvin Watson (foot or ankle, indefinite) SR Shawnson Johnson (elegible next semester) SR John Franklin (elegible next semester) JR Adrian Awasom (Football)

14-0 MVC games* Stetson 85-75 *Cincinnati 89-71 Arizona 98-83 Nevada-Las Vegas98-91 So. Colorado 96-74 Arkansas St 126-76 *Wichita St* 81-77 *Tulsa* 93-77 *Drake* 93-81 (2 OT) *Memphis St* 82-79 Bethel 84-65 *Bradley* 83-75 *St Louis* 86-82 *Louisville* 98-80 MVC games*

New Mexico State plays a home and away series with UTEP and New Mexico every season. North Texas played a home and away with Lipscomb just two seasons ago. The big money schools don't do it because they like to play all non-conference games at home unless they get big TV money to play on the road. I wish NT played TCU, SMU and UTA home and away every season. I think it would result in more local interest and better attendance not to mention saving money by cutting the travel budget.

Time will tell. NT is due a break after four straight injury and defection plagued seasons. Hopkins is not injured now. He just needs some work to get in shape and get his game sharp. I'm hoping he will be all the way back by the time cvonference play starts. No word yet on Will Smith's knee.