2019 JUCO Signees

[BillySee58]

Our three JUCO signees have been playing pretty lights in conference play.

Javion Hamlet

16.7/2.9/5.4 averages with shooting splits of 52.7%/32.1%/93% and turning it over just above 2 times per game, with most of those coming in the first 3 conference games. Has also missed 5 straight threes which dropped his percentage by almost 10%, but he has been elite offensively overall, especially late in games.

James Reese

10.3/3.4/0.8 averages with shooting splits of 52.9%/45.8%/80% and adding 1.2 steals a game while playing really good perimeter defense. Also making over 2 threes a game, and many of which have been huge.

Thomas Bell

7.2/6.3/1.6 averages with shooting splits of 53.6%/52.6%/57.1% and has passed Deng Geu as Mccasland’s most trusted 4 as he’s playing about 5 minutes more per game in conference play.

Mccasland and his staff deserve huge credit for these three additions. They were all highly regarded JUCO players who had plenty of options but the staff really zeroed in on these guys and stuck the landing on all 3. There’s a lot of talk about Mccasland’s late season collapses in his brief D1 HC career but these guys have come in and put this roster above any of his previous ones. On the team now to execute when it really matters.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

12 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Our three JUCO signees have been playing pretty lights in conference play.

Javion Hamlet

16.7/2.9/5.4 averages with shooting splits of 52.7%/32.1%/93% and turning it over just above 2 times per game, with most of those coming in the first 3 conference games. Has also missed 5 straight threes which dropped his percentage by almost 10%, but he has been elite offensively overall, especially late in games.

James Reese

10.3/3.4/0.8 averages with shooting splits of 52.9%/45.8%/80% and adding 1.2 steals a game while playing really good perimeter defense. Also making over 2 threes a game, and many of which have been huge.

Thomas Bell

7.2/6.3/1.6 averages with shooting splits of 53.6%/52.6%/57.1% and has passed Deng Geu as Mccasland’s most trusted 4 as he’s playing about 5 minutes more per game in conference play.

Mccasland and his staff deserve huge credit for these three additions. They were all highly regarded JUCO players who had plenty of options but the staff really zeroed in on these guys and stuck the landing on all 3. There’s a lot of talk about Mccasland’s late season collapses in his brief D1 HC career but these guys have come in and put this roster above any of his previous ones. On the team now to execute when it really matters.

I love what Thomas Bell has done the past several games. It really seemed like he matured after the OU loss.

Oh and Hamlet should be in the running for league MVP!

[BillySee58]

13 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I love what Thomas Bell has done the past several games. It really seemed like he matured after the OU loss.

Oh and Hamlet should be in the running for league MVP!

 

[untbowler]

add in Transfer Geu and McCasland had a very successful recruiting season filling out the roster, hope he can keep hitting. 

[Harry]

The wining formula in the G5 leagues is not rocket science but it is easier said than done.  You have to recruit well and consistently.  If you can do that the rest will fall into place.

Take a look at the AAC in football, look at years 2017-2019 in the 247 rankings and you will see the same names at the top, UCF, Cincy, Memphis...

This season Tulane found their way to the top 3.  Guess what, that wasn't luck.  It was a detailed and well executed plan that Coach Willie Fritz and his assistants commandeered and it took several years to come to fruition. 

Back to basketball, I felt Coach McCasland has always shown a propensity to recruit.  This past season was his masterpiece and the irony is he lost one of the best point guards in the country (Ryan Woolridge). 

Because McCasland can recruit, it allows him to overcome other obstacles.  I still think he burns out his teams too quickly during the season and goes overboard on the getting irate on minor issues early on, but that said, he has a real chance to do very well with this team this season.

I also think Jalie can recruit however, she has struggled with keeping recruits in the program once they sign.  She has also had some injuries.

UNT has a great location, good academics and more administrative support than they have ever had in the past.  They are slowly but surely addressing the long standing facility issues and can now boast some of the nicer facilities in G5(still need to address the athletic center and lockers etc). 

I have long stated that more of the budget needs to be appropriated to recruiting specific needs, and I also think that recruiting ability should be one of - if not the top - characteristic in new coaching hires.  The portal and transfers should be a HUGE strength for UNT based on location and academics.  I also think the walk-on program could be huge here (it has been in the past).

I'm into data driven solutions.  If we are losing recruiting battles let's figure out what the objections are and address them.  Or let's focus on the right recruits that match our profile. 

Back to the original point, I think what we are seeing in basketball this season is EXACTLY what we should see in all of our programs going forward.  GMG

[MeanGreenTexan]

McCasland's JUCO guys have really done well (outside of Tiko).

It begs the question though... outside of Mo and Zach (who was recruited/committed under Benford), what are his H.S. guys doing?

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

11 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

McCasland's JUCO guys have really done well (outside of Tiko).

It begs the question though... outside of Mo and Zach (who was recruited/committed under Benford), what are his H.S. guys doing?

I mean Jalen is gonna be good, but he’s very new to this level

He’s done very good in the limited minutes he gets, and I would say McCasland likes him because sometimes he playing in some big moments 

[meangreenJW]

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

McCasland's JUCO guys have really done well (outside of Tiko).

It begs the question though... outside of Mo and Zach (who was recruited/committed under Benford), what are his H.S. guys doing?

McCasland recruited Mo. Zach was already committed though. 

[BillySee58]

27 minutes ago, meangreenJW said:

McCasland recruited Mo. Zach was already committed though. 

Benford was recruiting Gibson before Mccasland was hired 

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 hour ago, meangreenJW said:

McCasland recruited Mo. Zach was already committed though. 

That's what I said.

I'm looking at guys like Wise & Jackson who are both averaging around 5 min/gm.