Marty
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GoMeanGreen.com
Posts posted by Marty
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19 out of 20!
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O.K. Rick, give us a report on the concert. How was it?
It's Hip To Be a Mean Green Fan!
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would love to go. Saw Huey back in '86 when they were really hot. It was a great show!
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Assistant helps Longhorns bring talent back to Austin
Aston's hard work pays off as UT returns to Final Four
04/05/2003
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Just like John Travolta needed Pulp Fiction to make his comeback, Jody Conradt may have needed Karen Aston.
The Texas women's basketball team is back in the Final Four, where it seemed to live in the mid-1980s, when Conradt led UT to two Final Fours and the first undefeated women's national championship in 1986.
But for Conradt, the 1990s were almost a decade to forget by Texas standards. None of those teams made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Enter Aston in 1998, when Conradt hired her away from an assistant job at North Texas because Conradt was tired of seeing and hearing about Aston everywhere on the recruiting trail – working for someone else. Aston took over recruiting for Conradt and in two years became Conradt's first associate head coach because of the stream of talent pouring into Austin.
Under Aston's direction, UT's roster is now loaded with Parade All-Americans Stacy Stephens and Heather Schreiber, McDonald's All-American Nina Norman as well as Oklahoma's high school player of the year in 2000-01, Kala Bowers. Aston has known about almost all of them since they were in eighth grade.
Texas also has signed two top national recruits for next year: Tiffany Jackson, a 6-4 forward from Duncanville, and Kalee Carey, a 6-5 center from Canyon, Texas. UT loses senior guard Tai Dillard from its starting lineup after this season.
Aston, 38, gives the credit to Conradt, to the university, to fellow assistants Fred Applin and Kathy Harston and to the willingness of UT players to help recruit new players. But no one works harder on recruiting than Aston.
"There are a lot of younger coaches out there following Karen's model," said Conradt, who, of course, gets credit for closing any recruiting deal with her 817 career wins. "And it's 24-7. Karen is part of a new wave of recruiters who are totally focused on that – every day.
"All of us who have been in this business, from Pat Summit to Sue Gunter to Geno [Auriemma] – that wasn't what you had to do in recruiting when we got started. And now, whether I like the model or not, this is what you have to do."
This is writing letters, e-mailing, instant messaging and calling recruits whenever possible. It's having an unlimited minutes cell phone plan. It's flying to high school basketball or volleyball games in the evening after a UT game that afternoon; getting to the game early and sitting on the front row so the recruit sees you right away. It's knowing what movies, music or video games recruits like; whether a family member is sick or up for a promotion; or if a recruit is stressed about a biology test.
It's a delicate art because recruiters can overdo it and turn kids off. But Aston has a soft-touch and an unbelievable ability to connect with athletes.
"She has a way of making everyone feel special," said Jerry Simmons, a Dallas-based AAU coach who had Stacy Stephens and the Longhorns' Alisha Sare of Lewisville as players while they were being recruited by Aston.
"Players on other teams will say, 'Say hi to Karen,' because they got close to her during recruiting," said Schreiber, UT's high-scoring sophomore who was recruited by Texas since she was in eighth grade.
Said Stephens, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, "Karen cares more about the person than she does about selling the university, and that's key. You don't feel like a basketball player in her eyes. You feel like a friend."
Ask those close to Texas women's basketball why Conradt's program is back on top, and they will give you two reasons: Conradt re-committed to the program in April 2001, when, after nine years, she gave up her dual role as athletics director of UT women's sports.
They will also tell you the recruiting has brought in the kind of talent Conradt was accustomed to coaching during the 1980s, when she had the likes of Clarissa Davis, Andrea Lloyd and Kamie Ethridge.
Aston will stop at nothing to let a player know the eyes of Texas are upon her. When South Grand Prairie sensation Ashley Robinson was high-jumping at the Texas Relays three years ago, Aston urged Conradt and the entire Longhorn team to go out and cheer her on. Robinson ultimately went to Tennessee. But Aston has helped convince Ashley's younger sister, Katrina, to attend Texas next year.
Aston was adamant with Conradt that Texas could compete for Bowers, who would have seemed a natural to sign with the Oklahoma Sooners after growing up in Woodward, Okla. Once Conradt believed it wasn't a waste of time, she flew through tornadoes in the area to see Bowers play in Oklahoma. Texas signed the 6-2 forward, who averages nine points and five rebounds per game.
Aston, a 5-5 former guard at Ouachita Baptist University and Arkansas-Little Rock, says she would like to be a head coach one day. A native of Benton, Ark., who also served as an assistant at Baylor from 1994-96, Aston downplays her accomplishments except to say, "I'm not afraid to go up against anyone for any player. That's the kind of player I was."
E-mail chipbrown@dallasnews.com
KAREN ASTON FILE
Age: 38
Hometown: Benton, Ark.
Position: Associate head coach at Texas
Responsibilities: Coordinate recruiting and coach defense
College: Played two years at Ouachita Baptist University (in Arkadelphia, Ark.) before transferring to Arkansas-Little Rock
Experience: Assistant coach at North Texas (two seasons; 1996-98); assistant coach at Baylor (two seasons; 1994-96)
Notable: Aston has helped recruit at least one impact player per season in her five seasons under Jody Conradt. ... Aston is also in charge of coaching Conradt's frenetic, man-to-man defense, which is limiting opponents to 55.4 points per game, second-best in UT women's basketball history. ... Friends say Aston's most coveted possessions are her cell phone and coffee.
Quotable: "I want to be a head coach, and I think I am ready," Aston said. "But I'm still learning from Jody, and there's great players out there right now who are telling me we are high on their list. So more great things are coming. So I'm not in any hurry. The opportunity that I have today will be there in a couple more years. I'm going to enjoy this."
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Although very similar, Logan's and Texas Roadhouse are seperate restaurants. I'm not sure if there are any Logans left in the DFW metroplex, I know the one in Grapevine went out of business and is now a Hooters.
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If you're on Loop 288, turn south on Colorado (across from Target) and go about 1/2 mile and you can come in from the back side of Texas Roadhouse.
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yeah, it's the same picture as the one that hangs at Fouts.
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My wife and I stopped at the new Texas Roadhouse just south of Denton on I-35 to eat last Saturday. Very UNT friendly! Mean Green helmet and jersey (#34) and Lady Eagle basketball jersey on your left as you enter and a huge collage on the north wall of Brad Kassell and various others(cheerleaders, etc). The hostess and waitress were both UNT students as I'm sure were most of them. The foods not bad either.
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I'll be back to defend my title!
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You're right, they are amazing musicians. They can pick with the best of them. What I like about the Chicks is that they really look like they have fun with what they do. Their looks are just an added bonus.
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Located the article, it says that Martie met guitarist Matt Benjamin at a music class "in" North Texas. My mistake, I thought it said "at" North Texas. I would rank them:
1. Martie
2. Emily
3. Natalie (sometimes she looks really cute, sometimes not. Don't know what it is about her!)
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In a recent article I read about the Dixie Chicks there was a mention of Emily meeting a guitar player in a music class at North Texas. I had never heard of any of the girls attending UNT but it would seem logical since Emily and Martie are from Dallas. Anyone else know if they actually attended classes here? If so, more greatness from UNT!
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Obviously my name is Marty and I live southwest of Sherman, TX. Probably the only thing I have in common with most of the posters on this board is my love for the Mean Green. I never attended school at UNT and the only times I have ever been on campus is for a football or basketball game. I adopted UNT as my favorite team in the mid '70's and have been following them ever since. Believe me, I take a lot of ribbing at work for my devotion! I work for a utility company and referee football games to make ends meet. I don't make enough money to subscribe to the Eagle Eye or to donate to the school but believe me if I did, I would donate substantially. That's my story, and Go Mean Green!
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I believe Jennifer Garner is also in "Dude, Where's My Car?". She is one of the girlfriends.
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"Lonely Lady" starring Pia Zadora. Came out in the early '80's. My wife talked me into going to see it. It's the only movie I ever walked out on! Horrible!!!
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Blakely also had 2 good assistants: Billy Tubbs and Jimmy Gales.
Those were great times for UNT basketball!
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UNT restarts softball program
BY BILL SPINKS
HERALD DEMOCRAT
DENTON -- North Texas athletics director Rick Villarreal has had experience before in establishing softball programs while AD at Southern Mississippi. He put that expertise to use in building one at his current school.
Villarreal announced Wednesday that North Texas is reviving its dormant varsity softball program, and also announced the hiring of Stacey Segal as the nascent team's new head coach.
"We're adding to our athletic family," Villarreal said. "When Southern Mississippi added softball, it added a new dimension to us."
Segal has spent the last four years as head coach at Navarro College, where she built a 136-49-1 record and led the school to three consecutive Texas Eastern Athletic Conference championships, as well as NJCAA Region XIV championships and trips to the NJCAA national tournament the last two years.
Also, during her last three seasons at Navarro, Segal's teams were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association spring academic teams of the year and were ranked in the Top 10 by maintaining a 3.33 grade-point average.
Villarreal said Segal came in with high recommendations from other coaches and administrators, and cited her recruiting ability, hard work, and dedication.
"We wanted someone young and energetic who meshed well with the rest of our staff," Villarreal said. "We wanted somebody willing to work with our staff."
North Texas had previously sponsored softball as a varsity sport as a member of the Southland Conference, before dropping it in 1988.
Segal will have a year to recruit and add staff. She said the Lady Eagles will begin play in the fall of 2003, and will join the Sun Belt Conference as full-fledged members in 2004.
In the meantime, Segal said, she wants to begin recruiting immediately. She plans to recruit as many players out of high school as she can, in order to have established players for four years; but that she will also add junior-college players to jump-start her team's experience and leadership.
"We want to win from day one," Segal said. "I anticipate getting ahead during the first NCAA signing period in November."
Segal was a member of the Texas A&M softball team from 1990-93, and went to the NCAA regionals each of her first three years there. She graduated from A&M in 1993 and in 2000 she added a Master of Education degree from the University of Texas at Tyler.
"I feel very honored," Segal said of her selection as UNT coach. "It's like a dream come true for me. I had dreamed of playing at the Division I level, and that came true for me."
With the addition of softball, UNT will sponsor 16 combined men's and women's varsity sports in 2004, satisfying one of the new NCAA criteria for membership in Division I-A to go into effect then.
"Right now we meet every requirement except the 15,000 (football home attendance figure)," Villarreal said. "We've made that public, and now it's in the students' and fans' court."
All-time NT men's basketball recruit list
in Mean Green Basketball
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Jeryl Sasser 1971-72? Any relation to the Jason and Jeryl Sasser of Tech and SMU?