What's the Next Big Project?

[Side.Show.Joe]

8 hours ago, greengal said:

I really do like baseball and if softball is any comparison it appears we could have a decent program quickly.

I like baseball, but I love softball.

This probably won't be a popular opinion (It's okay, I'm used to it), but I'd prefer we continue funneling resources into softball and build it into a national power (consistent Top 25 program). So in my opinion, baseball can wait.

UNT is the largest softball playing program within 200 miles of the Women's College World Series. DeLong has done an outstanding job. I want Wren to keep building DeLong's program until it is among the best in the country.

[UNT 90 Grad]

48 minutes ago, Tom McKrackin said:

And what would you propose we do with the Super Pit?  Demolish it?

I’m not proposing anything.   They plan to keep it for university use after the new arena is built. 

[97and03]

On 1/1/2022 at 6:33 AM, GrandGreen said:

No, NT at Denton has no obligation or need to help Frisco and Dallas campuses.   UT could not care less about UTEP, UTA, etc.  The board over the whole UT system might, but only if it is not going to interfere with their massive funding of UT Austin.  

Worrying about either the SPit or Apogee is imo unnecessary.  Sure maintenance has to keep the facilities in top condition, but there does not need to be any major capital projects.  Unless it can be demonstrated that they would actually pay for themselves like suites at the SPit.

NT money now needs to go athlete facilities that help recruiting.   As stupid as it seems, build the gaudy dressing rooms and study areas that appeal to high school athletes. 

You need to understand the distinction here. Frisco campus is just that, a campus extension of UNT. So there are no separate teams or identity. These are UNT students.
UNT-Dallas is a separate university. Different teams, mascot, colors, not UNT students. 

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

Like all sports, the NCAA limits the number of baseball scholarships you can offer. The cost of a state of the art baseball stadium is probably $10 million. Throw in coaches, equipment, travel expenses and you have a real money pit. I suggest you google the schools who have baseball to see how much money they loose on a baseball program. What we really need is a dedicated basketball practice facility.

We have a dedicated basketball practice facility called “The E”.

Edited January 4, 2022 by UNTLifer

[UNTexas]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:03 PM, GrandGreen said:

No, NT at Denton has no obligation or need to help Frisco and Dallas campuses.   UT could not care less about UTEP, UTA, etc.  The board over the whole UT system might, but only if it is not going to interfere with their massive funding of UT Austin.  

Worrying about either the SPit or Apogee is imo unnecessary.  Sure maintenance has to keep the facilities in top condition, but there does not need to be any major capital projects.  Unless it can be demonstrated that they would actually pay for themselves like suites at the SPit.

NT money now needs to go athlete facilities that help recruiting.   As stupid as it seems, build the gaudy dressing rooms and study areas that appeal to high school athletes. 

To my understanding Frisco is an extension of the main Denton campus. Dallas is not. 
 

1. That being said, build a basketball stadium on the hill. 
 

2. Team up with the PGA like we did the Cowboys. PGA is across the DNT from the new campus. 

[GrandGreen]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:17 PM, GMG24 said:

Completely disagree.  Baseball (if done right, could possibly be the best program on campus) DBU TCU are offering kids 20-30% scholarships meaning they come up with the other 70-80% and pay their way through school.  Imagine coming to UNT where we can offer you 35-40% and you pay the difference.  The amount of $ kids families could save would be worth the look.  You will have to win but with all the baseball talent in the metroplex every year you should be able to build a program with great success and possibly very early success.  Ton of baseball coaches ask all the time why we don't.  Lot of them think it would be a dream job because of location/conference/ability to steal recruits from top programs because of cost to attend UNT vs the other schools. 

Baseball ships are 11.7.  There are also very specific rules on how the scholarships are used.   27 players must get at least 25% ships.  That doesn't leave much to distribute to star players.  

 

 

[wardly]

12 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

We have a dedicated basketball practice facility called “The E”.

Is it the small crappy gym that was part of the private school we bought a decade or so ago? I have been in it and if I was a basketball recruit I would bolt after seeing it.

[UNTLifer]

2 hours ago, wardly said:

Is it the small crappy gym that was part of the private school we bought a decade or so ago? I have been in it and if I was a basketball recruit I would bolt after seeing it.

A dedicated practice facility will be part of the new basketball facility/arena.

Edited January 4, 2022 by UNTLifer

[wardly]

17 hours ago, UNTexas said:

To my understanding Frisco is an extension of the main Denton campus. Dallas is not. 
 

1. That being said, build a basketball stadium on the hill. 
 

2. Team up with the PGA like we did the Cowboys. PGA is across the DNT from the new campus. 

The Dallas campus is a stand alone of which the Dallas Law School is a branch. The Frisco campus is a branch of the main Denton campus.

[Green Otaku]

6 hours ago, wardly said:

The Dallas campus is a stand alone of which the Dallas Law School is a branch. The Frisco campus is a branch of the main Denton campus.

I hate the way UNT Dallas is structured, I wish they were all branches of Denton. 

[Aquila_Viridis]

2 hours ago, Green Otaku said:

I hate the way UNT Dallas is structured, I wish they were all branches of Denton. 

We must have separate institutions in order to maintain our independence as a 'system'. Otherwise you'd be looking at A&M-Denton or something. Just ask ETSU.

[MeanGreenTexan]

8 hours ago, Aquila_Viridis said:

We must have separate institutions in order to maintain our independence as a 'system'. Otherwise you'd be looking at A&M-Denton or something. Just ask ETSU.

Sadly, the school I always thought NT should target as an acquisition just finished their deal being taken over by the Texas Tech System.  😞
https://www.kcbd.com/2021/09/01/midwestern-state-university-joins-ttu-system-5th-member/

So now, we're stuck (no other existing, standalone schools to take over), unless we create more schools out of nowhere like UNT-Frisco.

[Wag Tag]

I believe the plan for the AD came out in 2017. Long enough it needs to be started or build a separate weight room, rehab and training facility. Last time I looked the BB wt room at the pit was in a converted racket ball court 20x40 ( 800sqft) the training area for taping was in a closet. The school would not allocate additional space to enlarge these facilities even with them storing a bunch of old crap everywhere! If the school would give them more space I believe donors would step up to help fill these facilities. 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

On 1/3/2022 at 8:19 PM, Side.Show.Joe said:

I like baseball, but I love softball.

This probably won't be a popular opinion (It's okay, I'm used to it), but I'd prefer we continue funneling resources into softball and build it into a national power (consistent Top 25 program). So in my opinion, baseball can wait.

UNT is the largest softball playing program within 200 miles of the Women's College World Series. DeLong has done an outstanding job. I want Wren to keep building DeLong's program until it is among the best in the country.

 

Not unpopular at all. You need to play to your strengths which softball is definitely one of our strengths. I've said it multiple times on here but I don't understand why we don't have a men's soccer team. It is cheap to field a soccer team with very little equipment, we already have a badass soccer stadium on campus, and we are in one of the hottest soccer recruiting areas in the country for soccer. Look at what SMU does with the same resources, NCAA tournament championships, consistent NCAA tournament appearances, and numerous conference titles. I know it is also unpopular on this board, but fielding a men's soccer team could pay big dividends in short order with the right coaching hire. 

[wardly]

On 1/3/2022 at 8:44 PM, UNT 90 Grad said:

I’m not proposing anything.   They plan to keep it for university use after the new arena is built. 

The Super Pitt is not a dedicated athletic facility , but instead a multi purpose building whose use is controlled by the university, not the athletic department. It will not be demolished. UNT can either pump a few million dollars into it to make it more user friendly for our basketball programs or build a 5 to 6 thousand seat basketball arena at about the same cost as our football stadium cost 10 years ago. It just boils down to what do you want, what do you need, and what are you willing to pay for.

[Aquila_Viridis]

52 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Sadly, the school I always thought NT should target as an acquisition just finished their deal being taken over by the Texas Tech System.  😞
https://www.kcbd.com/2021/09/01/midwestern-state-university-joins-ttu-system-5th-member/

So now, we're stuck (no other existing, standalone schools to take over), unless we create more schools out of nowhere like UNT-Frisco.

Let tt do what they do, serve the hinterlands. We need to serve the metro area. I would expect eventually to see an NT-Ft Worth, in addition to the med school.

As for Denton facilities, we need a new basketball venue that lets in a lot of light. They need to tear down that giant pile of bricks and rusty metal immediately. Auburn made a nice new arena and then left their old giant concrete turd there for years. It looked ridiculous. We should learn from that lesson.

[Mean Green Matt]

13 minutes ago, Aquila_Viridis said:

Let tt do what they do, serve the hinterlands. We need to serve the metro area. I would expect eventually to see an NT-Ft Worth, in addition to the med school.

As for Denton facilities, we need a new basketball venue that lets in a lot of light. They need to tear down that giant pile of bricks and rusty metal immediately. Auburn made a nice new arena and then left their old giant concrete turd there for years. It looked ridiculous. We should learn from that lesson.

If North Texas (the university in conjunction with Athletics) wanted to do this the right way, the would spend about $1 million of this project adding seating and amenities to the Snake Pit. Making it around a 3,500 or 4,000 capacity bare bones venue. Play there for 1-2 years while the Super Pit is torn down and a new venue built on that site, then tear down the Snake Pit and build the practice facility there connected by bridge or tunnel to the new arena. We don’t need two different arenas on campus and the absurdity of moving basketball across the highway is being massively under considered. 

[Green Otaku]

3 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

I believe the plan for the AD came out in 2017. Long enough it needs to be started or build a separate weight room, rehab and training facility. Last time I looked the BB wt room at the pit was in a converted racket ball court 20x40 ( 800sqft) the training area for taping was in a closet. The school would not allocate additional space to enlarge these facilities even with them storing a bunch of old crap everywhere! If the school would give them more space I believe donors would step up to help fill these facilities. 

This is pretty eye opening and screams of needed improvement. 

[untjim1995]

4 hours ago, Aquila_Viridis said:

Let tt do what they do, serve the hinterlands. We need to serve the metro area. I would expect eventually to see an NT-Ft Worth, in addition to the med school.

As for Denton facilities, we need a new basketball venue that lets in a lot of light. They need to tear down that giant pile of bricks and rusty metal immediately. Auburn made a nice new arena and then left their old giant concrete turd there for years. It looked ridiculous. We should learn from that lesson.

I suspect that we will open a UNT-North Tarrant branch at some point. 

[ForneyGreen]

7 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Sadly, the school I always thought NT should target as an acquisition just finished their deal being taken over by the Texas Tech System.  😞
https://www.kcbd.com/2021/09/01/midwestern-state-university-joins-ttu-system-5th-member/

So now, we're stuck (no other existing, standalone schools to take over), unless we create more schools out of nowhere like UNT-Frisco.

Appears there are only 2 independent (non-system) public universities remaining in Texas:  Stephen F. Austin and Texas Southern.  So those are your choices for including into the UNT System outside of creating a new campus/school  🙂

All others are part of one of the 7 Texas systems:  UT System, A&M System, UNT System, UH System, TTech System, Texas State System, and Texas Women's System.

[MeanGreenTexan]

3 minutes ago, ForneyGreen said:

Appears there are only 2 independent (non-system) public universities remaining in Texas:  Stephen F. Austin and Texas Southern.  So those are your choices for including into the UNT System outside of creating a new campus/school  🙂

All others are part of one of the 7 Texas systems:  UT System, A&M System, UNT System, UH System, TTech System, Texas State System, and Texas Women's System.

Yep.   Would've been nice to have a stranglehold over the actual "North Texas" region, and get MSU & ETSU.   Oh well.
The only logical acquisition left is the TWU one, which would bring one of the best Nursing programs in Texas with it.   And maybe it would also unify Denton behind North Texas as well.
Otherwise, yeah, I'd expect to see a Tarrant County version of UNT popping up sometime soon as well, to at least get a hold of the DFW area (with the exception of UTA & UTD sitting in the middle of our territory).

[Mean Green Matt]

18 minutes ago, ForneyGreen said:

Appears there are only 2 independent (non-system) public universities remaining in Texas:  Stephen F. Austin and Texas Southern.  So those are your choices for including into the UNT System outside of creating a new campus/school  🙂

All others are part of one of the 7 Texas systems:  UT System, A&M System, UNT System, UH System, TTech System, Texas State System, and Texas Women's System.

The Texas State system is really misleading. That refers to the state of Texas. Not Texas State University. 

[Tom McKrackin]

If we swallowed Texas Womens University it would be good.

[MeanGreenPatriot]

9 hours ago, UNT Texas Hooligan said:

 

Not unpopular at all. You need to play to your strengths which softball is definitely one of our strengths. I've said it multiple times on here but I don't understand why we don't have a men's soccer team. It is cheap to field a soccer team with very little equipment, we already have a badass soccer stadium on campus, and we are in one of the hottest soccer recruiting areas in the country for soccer. Look at what SMU does with the same resources, NCAA tournament championships, consistent NCAA tournament appearances, and numerous conference titles. I know it is also unpopular on this board, but fielding a men's soccer team could pay big dividends in short order with the right coaching hire. 

Because we would have 3 to 4 fans show up each game. 

[wardly]

3 hours ago, Tom McKrackin said:

If we swallowed Texas Womens University it would be good.

So back in the day the state of Texas looked around and noticed there were more qualified applicants to UT Austin, A & M, Tech, Houston , and UNT than they had dorm space for. However, Arlington State, East Texas State , West Texas State and Texas Women's University had excess housing. Rather than spend millions on new construction they encouraged these smaller schools to become part of a larger system with the idea that schools with no available housing would increase admission standards to the Mother Ship but admit students who could not meet the new standards to the smaller campuses within their system. West Texas State and East Texas State joined the Texas A&M system, Arlington State changed from the A & M system to the University of Texas System. I don't remember when Texas Western became UTEP but it was probably in this era. However, TWU refused to be buffaloed into joining UNT playing "the only women's university " card. The above is based upon the memory of a 79 year old geezer but should be close enough for government work. Regarding a Ft. Worth Campus , we may be a day late and a dollar short. UTA has a small branch in Cowtown and Tech just opened one on the same block. Assuming both Texas and A & M have a presence I don't know what we bring to the table. Also I would have thought Midwestern State would have been in our domain but them joining the Tech system just shows how little clout we have in Austin.