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I just remember how excited everyone was when he committed. I remember how impressed we all were with his play as a true freshman, he was spectacular in the games that I saw. He seemed to be a good teammate and liked to have fun. He played with style and you were always excited when he had the ball in his hands. It just doesn't seem right that he wouldn't finish out here his senior year. I know this has to be a bitter pill for his teammate and friend Jordan Williams. I am sad that he is leaving the program but I wish him well. He will be missed. This post has been promoted to an article

Chris Jones can remember the popping sound that came from his right foot as he dove after a loose ball on the floor at E.A. Diddle Arena more than a year ago. At the time, Jones thought he needed a new tape job. North Texas’ starting point guard found out later he needed a lot more than some tape. He needed time — nearly half a season’s worth — to recover after breaking a bone in his foot. And that was just for starters. Jones also needed time to overcome the depression he sunk into and rediscover the form he showed early in his career, when he emerged as one of UNT’s most valuable players. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20140123-men-s-basketball-jones-finds-footing-again-in-unt-attack.ece

The following is a recap from North Texas Head Coach Tony Benford’s speech at the UNT Coaches Caravan stop held at the Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, Texas on May 7th, 2013. After an introduction from UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal: Benford said that he appreciated “Coach V’s” support but after a long meeting today he told RV, I’m a big guy – of course I need to drop some pounds and I’m working on that (audience laughter) – but no, what I said was coach, I can take care of myself -I’m a big boy and I’ve been doing this a long time and I know what it takes to win and what I have to do to get this program to the level that we aspire to be at. He personally thanked Ernie Kuehne (called him the Godfather of North Texas basketball) and Julie (wife of David) Anderson from Texas Capital Bank who helped to set up the event to the applause of the crowd. He said he appreciated everyone's support and would do his very best to build a program they could be proud of. On the new Ernie Kuehne practice facility: The facility is phenomenal, what Mr. Kuhne and others have done for us is unbelievable from a recruiting standpoint. We have a building that we can sell. The one thing I tell recruits all the time is we are going to invest in them, not only as a person but also on the court in terms of their game. With the new practice facility – there’s no excuses. With the facilities we have and the new Jumbotron and some other things that we’re doing there are no excuses. We have a phenomenal institution – we just have to get the word out and we’re doing that. read more:

Both Jacob Holmen and Chris Jones have visited with team doctors in the last few days. UNT received good news on one player and is waiting for word on the second. UNT point guard Chris Jones, who broke his foot in a loss to Western Kentucky on Dec. 29, is recovering nicely. He is off crutches and is now just walking around in a boot. What UNT has yet to determine is if he will recover the point he can play late this season. The hope is that he can be back in time for the Sun Belt Conference tournament. It would be a huge boost for UNT is Jones does make it back. The sophomore is averaging 10.2 points and 5.0 assists a game. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/01/unt-mens-basketball-injury-update.html/

He is starting to get back into the flow, Benford said. Its hard on a point guard to miss that much time, come back, have the ball handed to him and be asked to run the team. Its a process. I dont care how talented you are. You have to be an extension of the coach. Hes calling the offense, hes calling the defense, he has to get the guys into the right spots and know where everyone is supposed to be on every play. He is getting into a routine now and is getting comfortable with that. What Jones has realized is that for UNT to run the way he wants his Ford to run smoothly and with style he is going to have to take a lead role. I have to be aggressive for the team, Jones said. The first couple of games of the season, I wasnt as aggressive as I used to be. When Im attacking, it opens things up for everyone else. Benford has encouraged Jones to be aggressive because he sees the potential his point guard possesses. Chris strength, quickness, toughness, his ability to run a team and also to score make him effective, Benford said. He has all the intangibles you need to be a quality point guard in any league. The guys really listen to him. Hes a leader. I was telling him the other day that if hes moody, his teammates are going to be moody. If he challenges them and is vocal, they will follow suit. http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20121215-mens-basketball-driving-in-style.ece

We all love to talk about how deep our team is, how much we have returning, etc, but let's take a moment to reflect on our super trio of Jordan Williams, Tony Mitchell, and Chris Jones. The great basketball teams usually have 3 players that are looked at as "All Star" types who can carry a team in different phases of the game. Look at NBA Championship trios like Ginobili-Parker-Duncan, Bosh-Wade-James, Jordan-Pippen-Rodman, and even on the college level like 02-03 Syracuse with Anthony-McNamara-Warrick, 01-02 Maryland with Dixon-Baxter-Wilcox, and of course 05-07 Florida Gators with Noah-Brewer-Horford. Although it's a bummer that Patton is out and TJ Taylor is out for the whole season but the close games were and are going to be won with the ball in the hands of our trio. It's going to be fun to see how our other players on our stacked team such as Coleman, Alzee, and Franklin match up against another, possibly even more, stacked team but as long as they play solid basketball this year our big 3 should lead us to many, many wins. Can't wait for tonight, really looking forward to the game. Not expecting a win, but not expecting a loss either. We couldn't have asked for much better to open up the year. GMG!

Fran Fraschilla‏@franfraschilla This the 2013 1st Team All-Sun Belt point guard? You're my sleeper team next year! RT @Chris_5_Jones: Whats up @franfraschilla !!