In one year under Wren Baker, North Texas athletics has taken tremendous strides

Skipper · May 4, 2017

Matt Brune | Staff Writer

I’m from San Antonio and an avid sports fanatic. I watch more than my fair share of college football, basketball and baseball, and am familiar with most Texas universities.

Two years ago, when it was time to choose a school, I chose North Texas — a school almost no one, including myself, knew anything about. Most people associate large, powerful schools with having grandiose sports teams. With that in mind, it’s painfully obvious why a majority of people, like my 16-year-old self, had not heard of UNT.

In general, athletics at North Texas has historically sucked, especially the revenue generating powerhouses of football and men’s basketball.

But that’s all changing.

The Mean Green are a few years from no longer being cellar dwellers and a few years from being a top-four program in Conference USA. I say this with confidence, because first-year Athletic Director Wren Baker has shown a vision, a plan and a concise approach for making North Texas better now.

Not later.

While he did not make the decisions to hire women’s basketball head coach Jalie Mitchell or football head coach Seth Littrell, Baker has given them the resources to succeed and had their backs throughout these growing times.

North Texas has six core sports in football, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer and softball. The 2016-17 average winning percentage in Conference USA play across those six sports is 46.5, up exactly five percent from the 41.5 percent average in 2015-16.

That’s including the dumpster fire that was men’s basketball.

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El Paso Eagle · May 4, 2017

Very good job. I like the way you pointed out the positives. However giving credit to anyone in our athletic department will have some upset with you.

MGNation92 · May 4, 2017

Anybody else find it ironic that this article was posted right before we learned we just scheduled a home and home with Liberty?

Aquila_Viridis · May 4, 2017

One of the big problems with the Liberty thing is that any players, staff or fans who go up there face a material chance of getting brainwashed. They're real good at it.

untjim1995 · May 4, 2017

7 hours ago, Aquila_Viridis said:

One of the big problems with the Liberty thing is that any players, staff or fans who go up there face a material chance of getting brainwashed. They're real good at it.

Can it brainwash us into scheduling better? Because maybe that's the ONLY thing this trip will be good for...

UNTLifer · May 4, 2017

My biggest take-away from the article is that he grew up in San Antonio and knew nothing about North Texas.

DeepGreen · May 4, 2017

1 minute ago, UNTLifer said:

My biggest take-away from the article is that he grew up in San Antonio and knew nothing about North Texas.

That's very possible. San Antonio can do that to you. Reference fans from NutsaK.

NorthTexan95 · May 4, 2017

I don't know how many of these "positive athletics" articles I can take from the NT Daily. I'm used to seeing nothing but "athletics hatred" from them.

UNTFan23 · May 4, 2017

3 hours ago, NorthTexan95 said:

I don't know how many of these "positive athletics" articles I can take from the NT Daily. I'm used to seeing nothing but "athletics hatred" from them.

Times have changed! It seems we've had some so-called fans take up that mantle though.

wardly · May 6, 2017

Where is the money coming from?Just a guest, but Baker has layered at least $750,000 in payroll since his arrival. I have never see so many "Vice Presidents of........." since the last time I robbed a bank. He got what appears to be a good hire in men's basketball and paid the going rate, has scheduled a home and home with the powerhouse Liberty University,[if R.V. had done this we would be raising holy hell] and a future game with Tech. What warrants the euphoria? Just asking