DRC Full article on shootout, NT prospects

[OldTimer]

Basketball: Jones enjoying having Shoot-Out at UNT once again

Some of country’s top players in town

08:50 AM CDT on Saturday, July 10, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Johnny Jones is enjoying one of the perks of his job as the men’s basketball coach at North Texas this week.

While other college coaches are jetting to tournaments across the country to watch the nation’s elite high school players, Jones is scouting the Pontiac Great American Shoot-Out in his own backyard. The all-star event started Friday at UNT.

"The Shoot-Out is as important as any other place we go in the summer," Jones said. "There are a lot of kids from areas we concentrate on recruiting and there are a lot of good players there."

UNT will have at least three scholarships available for the 2005 recruiting class.

If the Mean Green’s past is any indication, some of the players Jones picks to fill those spots are playing in Denton this weekend. Michael Sturns, a guard from North Crowley, and Quincy Williams, a forward from Carl Albert High in Midwest City, Okla., both played in the Shoot-Out before signing with the Mean Green earlier this year.

The other three members of UNT’s 2004 class were junior college players.

Those players form what Jones described as a balanced recruiting class that addressed the team’s immediate needs. The success Jones had on the road last year will impact his approach heading into the key summer recruiting period in the next few weeks.

"We have to go and recruit the best guys available," Jones said. "We need both guards and big guys in this class."

Having a series of players who could fit UNT’s needs play on campus each year helps the team’s cause. The players UNT is recruiting get a chance to play at UNT and see the campus during the Shoot-Out

Jones is hoping the experience of playing in Denton will help sway a few highly-regarded players to join a recruiting class that already includes one player.

Kendrick Davis, a 6-4 shooting guard, transferred to UNT from Arkansas and will play his first game with the Mean Green in the 2005-06 season.

Davis averaged 10.3 points a game as a freshman at Arkansas in the 2002-03 season.

He averaged 5.4 points per game last season as a sophomore.

Two of the top players in the tournament are considering joining Davis in UNT’s next recruiting class.

Marquez Haynes lists UNT, Houston, TCU, SMU, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa, Wyoming and Colorado State among the schools he is considering.

The 6-3 guard from Irving Nimitz is playing with Dallas Pump N Run Blue in the NBA Division of the tournament.

Haynes’ teammate Jonathan Amos, a 6-4 guard from Dallas Hillcrest, also lists UNT among the schools he is considering attending along with SMU, Colorado State, Nevada and UNT’s Sun Belt Conference rival Arkansas-Little Rock.

Mike Kunstadt’s Texas hoops.com, a Web site that follows high school basketball recruiting, listed both players among the elite prospects in the tournament.

"It helps to come and play in a tournament at UNT," Amos said. "It gives you the feel of what the school is like."

Haynes has already received an offer from UNT and is comfortable with Jones and the rest of his coaching staff.

"I am open right now, but UNT has shown a lot of interest," Haynes said. "I am a hometown kid and would like to stay close so my parents can come see me play."

Both players had a favorable first experience at UNT during the tournament.

Pump N Run Blue jumped out to an early lead and hung on for a 77-73 win over Kansas City Keys in the NBA Division of the event.

Jones and Houston coach Tom Penders were among the college coaches who watched the game.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870.

In addition to these players Rivals Tickler shows NT being considered by two other BB players:

1. Power Forward Jeremy Mayfield, Irving MacArthur 6-10, 225 lists Baylor, LSU, Michigan, Neb, Syrcuse, Wake Forest, NT and Portland State.

2. Shooting Guard Roderick Ollie 6-5, Moorehead MS Gentry lists Old Miss, Miss St, So Miss, LaTech, Middle TN,NT, Alabama..has two offer who"