Travis

How is it that independents are on a ranking of the conferences when, in its very essense, implies they are not a conference? Why on earth would they be grouped together in some unwritten alliance?

I enjoy UNT90's posts quite often, but I am not sure about the attitude in this one. We need to find a balance between what we put on the students. I graduated in 2004 and paid all of my schooling and came out debt free. There is no way I would have been able to do that with todays fees. I know many other schools lesser and bigger require a lot more of their students... but, I don't think we necessarily have to be them in that way. We are making it harder and harder for kids to get through school. Sports, a new union, a new parking garage, business building, etc is all well and good. but, it is sad when it cripples the students ability to get by.

I am under the impression that they have every intention to slowly increase it to the max.

Even with Thompson as "the guy"?

Did Johnny Quinn redshirt his freshman year?

I will say this... Roger is unique in that. His gift is evident and his attitude is resilient. Something most people do not have and leaders need to nurish, unlock, and maintain.

I would love to see us have men's soccer. Perhaps of all the sports we could add... that would be the cheapest. Though, baseball would give us the best opportunity at interest.

Chris, you definitely need to go to the La Tech, and Tulsa games... easy drives and can be a lot of fun. Because both have some form of gambling near by. I stay the night in Shreveport.

Not sure it matters.

thats about right.

I haven't talked to PJ in quite some time. But, I did spend quite some time with him and the other players. I found PJ to be incredibly respectful and thoughtful. He was eager to play and committed to UNT primarily because he wanted to be the first recruit to sign with Benford. He was excited to be here and was driven to not just be on the team, but have a strong role on the team. That is what makes me believe he is leaving to find a more important role on a team. Again, i haven't talked to him for awhile. But, my only point was that if you question his character or his attitude, you do not know PJ. He is a good kid that represented better than most on the team.

You don't know PJ if you think he has a chip on his shoulder.

I gotta say, I don't know what all is going on... But, I did not see Brock being number 3 at this point.

Maybe it is not much better in prestige.... But, i like having a conference with local teams (Rice, UTEP?, UTSA, La Tech) and a few that have been ok in the past USM and Marshall. I have no problem having UAB, MTSU and WKU as well. We are in a better place no doubt. i wouldn't mind having ASU or ULL for their overall program... I self-ishly wouldn't mind having UL-M just for their drivability.

Mark, I will go ahead and say it since we are on topic... I think hedlund has been ok for us... but, he will never take us to the next level. He can't, it isn't in his style of play. When we make it to the tourny we play against good competition... his style of play (a lot like the us soccer team) is trash because it is nothing but a bunch of long ball-mostly without purpose. it lessens the odds of a win against good competition and you are really just hoping that the ball bounces your way (literally). If we really want to see post-season success, we need to change the style. But, i don't think Hedlund has it in him.

The majority of my T-shirts are North Texas.

While I understand your point in your entire post and agree. Shaka Smart isn't going to a bigger program because he doesn't need to... it isn't like he is getting paid peanuts... He gets 1.5 mil. He is loved at his program, paid very well, and has security. Why would he leave? it definitely was a good hire... but, it was even smarter to do the things necessary to keep him there. if only we....

too soon! Don't you think?

A great place to go is Barefoot Athletics off the square. It is really cool with some great selections!

my thoughts as well.

You never have said happy birthday to me Harry! I will never forgive you for your favoritism!

I also think that comes with the frustrations they had with the season. Not an excuse for things.... But, I think the players didn't have complete buy in and were just really disappointed in the season.

JJ didn't let things slide. He was very hard on the players when news came to him about misconduct. And, out of all the coaches, he cared about how they represented most( you wanna know who was the worst... Dickey!). And when they conducted themselves poorly, it really pissed him off. I found JJ very reliable to get things done and that he cared a lot about his players and their behavior. He made his coaches follow players to classes and constantly checked in on classes they were supposed to be in. And when they weren't, the coaches came looking for them. I know that also pertains to discipline off the court. Just because you didn't hear of suspensions (which there were!), doesn't mean that 1. he wasn't giving them and 2. he wasn't disciplining them. With that said, I believe that Bedford cares about how players represent themselves and holds them accountable too. i have no doubt he had good reason for what he did and I am happy he upholds a rule (I assume it not arbitrary). I have said it before, but I know how JJ handled things. This isn't a "I want to believe" or "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw JJ not displine his players out at 31 Flavors last night" sort of thing. I know he pushed his guys on and off the court.

This story isn't the way I remember it beginning to how we(the board and Mark Miller) wanted to start a fund raiser for the cheerleaders. I believe there is a post in Jan. of 2011 in which the cheerleaders did a really awesome thing and it got the board talking about how we can help support them.

The future of NT basketball looks BRIGHT!