Group formed to bring back UNT baseball?

[Jonnyeagle]

Saw they have a new twitter account @MGBProject

[UNTLifer]

Yes.  They also have a page on Facebook.  It is being led/organized by Doug Rush, who played here back in the late 80's and has been a very successful high school coach in Tomball for years.  He is well connected and is really pushing this idea.

[El Paso Eagle]

Will they also be working on the funding and structure for the required Title 9 additions?

[NT80]

29 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Will they also be working on the funding and structure for the required Title 9 additions?

We are above the Title 9 requirements now.   UNT is majority female students.  Check the other CUSA schools that sponsor baseball and look at their other sports offered compared to us. 

[UNTcrazy727]

Their money and time would be better spent supporting/growing our new NIL Collective or MGSF. Baseball isn't going to advance our athletics department. 

[GrandGreen]

24 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Will they also be working on the funding and structure for the required Title 9 additions?

Required by who?  The NCAA doesn't enforce T9, it is the lawsuits from individuals that are the problem. 

Title 9 is the best thing to ever happen for women sports and the worse for men's athletics.

Nothing like a statue stating that women athletics funding should be portional to the numbers enrolled.   Not taken in account the financial aspects, or market.  The only two sports that have any hopes of generating a profit at most institutions are football and men's basketball.  

Of course because football has so many scholarships, it creates an enormous problem trying to balance women and men athletes.  Instead of increasing women ships, the overwhelming tactic has been to cut men's sports.  

I wonder why noone has ever challenged the NCAA on the basis of equality for men athletes in sports other than football and basketball.  Even MBB has less ships than WBB.  

[Green Lantern]

9 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Their money and time would be better spent supporting/growing our new NIL Collective or MGSF. Baseball isn't going to advance our athletics department. 

Completely agree. Focus should be on fixing football before entering the AAC and funneling significant funds to McCasland’s basketball program to build us to a perineal Top 50 program. NIL Collective will be a big part of this

Nice that there is a group interested in baseball for UNT - but it’s an unnecessary distraction in the current D1 Athletics environment and should continue to be back burnered. 

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, Green Lantern said:

Completely agree. Focus should be on fixing football before entering the AAC and funneling significant funds to McCasland’s basketball program to build us to a perineal Top 50 program. NIL Collective will be a big part of this

Nice that there is a group interested in baseball for UNT - but it’s an unnecessary distraction in the current D1 Athletics environment and should continue to be back burnered. 

This group doesn't care about anything but adding baseball, period.  That point has been brought up and they think the money spent on football is a waste.  They would be fine with us dropping back to FCS.  I know a few people involved and have stated to them that our department was underfunded for years and that the current focus is on getting our existing sports up to speed.  They don't care, just want baseball.  That is their passion, they believe North Texas could be a national power quickly based on location, and they don't care about anything else.  Basically, they are tired of being told it is "on the agenda but years away", so they are pushing forward.

Edited August 16, 2022 by UNTLifer

[UNTcrazy727]

14 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

This group doesn't care about anything but adding baseball, period.  That point has been brought up and they think the money spent on football is a waste.  They would be fine with us dropping back to FCS.  I know a few people involved and have stated to them that our department was underfunded for years and that the current focus is on getting our existing sports up to speed.  They don't care, just want baseball.  That is their passion, they believe North Texas could be a national power quickly based on location, and they don't care about anything else.  Basically, they are tire of being told it is "on the agenda but years away", so they are pushing forward.

Sounds like they don't care about the success of UNT as a whole and should be ignored until they can come up with the  millions of dollars it will cost to start the program.

 

[MGNation92]

44 minutes ago, Green Lantern said:

Completely agree. Focus should be on fixing football before entering the AAC and funneling significant funds to McCasland’s basketball program to build us to a perineal Top 50 program. NIL Collective will be a big part of this

Nice that there is a group interested in baseball for UNT - but it’s an unnecessary distraction in the current D1 Athletics environment and should continue to be back burnered. 

I'm sure Wren has the exact same mindset.

Fire Littrell, hire a legitimate FB coach, expand facilities, and keep building basketball into a powerhouse

[UNTcrazy727]

30 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

I'm sure Wren has the exact same mindset.

Fire Littrell, hire a legitimate FB coach, expand facilities, and keep building basketball into a powerhouse

Yes, I'm sure Wren is rooting for another bad season of football. 

[greenjoe]

I’d like to hear Coach Rush’s plan for NT baseball.  He may have the ear of a high powered donor ready to make things happen.  I’d hate to close the door in his face before I hear his pitch, so to speak.

[Tom McKrackin]

I don't think you guys understand this.  Something very precious was taken away from these gentlemen.  They want it returned.  There is a lot of pride playing for your alma mater and it was not right that all of them lost their right to be lettermen etc.  and follow the program in their later years with their families.  Not everything is always a pure business decision sometime you have to do what IS RIGHT!  We owe them a chance to state their case in the very least.

[MeanGreen22]

Unless someone drops a bag at Wrens feet and says “this is for baseball only”, might as well get comfortable bc they have a list of things that are higher on the priority list. 

Edited August 16, 2022 by MeanGreen22

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Sounds like they don't care about the success of UNT as a whole and should be ignored until they can come up with the  millions of dollars it will cost to start the program.

 

Not entirely true, but many of them have seen how our football program has performed historically and just don't ever see us competing on the same level with the likes of SMU, TCU, Tech, etc. much less Baylor, A&M, etc...  They think think we need to accept our "lot in life" and play an FCS schedule, basketball is what it is and add baseball that they think can become an instant power.  They haven't seen sustained success in football or basketball and think continuing to throw money in that direction is a waste of time and resources.  I disagree and have tried to explain that we should strive for excellence across the board.  They don't care and probably would be happy with just baseball at North Texas and nothing else.

22 minutes ago, Tom McKrackin said:

I don't think you guys understand this.  Something very precious was taken away from these gentlemen.  They want it returned.  There is a lot of pride playing for your alma mater and it was not right that all of them lost their right to be lettermen etc.  and follow the program in their later years with their families.  Not everything is always a pure business decision sometime you have to do what IS RIGHT!  We owe them a chance to state their case in the very least.

This is very true of this group.  They are passionate about baseball, saw a little success when they put together a team and played on a half a shoestring budget.  They want it back and they want it to succeed.  Coach Rush is well connected in the baseball community.  He would be a great person to coach/lead the program if it were ever approved, but he also has suggestions for others that would also be good coaches to start our program.  I think they have spoken to Baker, but I don't know to what extent.

Edited August 16, 2022 by UNTLifer

[WanderingEagle]

2 hours ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Their money and time would be better spent supporting/growing our new NIL Collective or MGSF. Baseball isn't going to advance our athletics department. 

Yeah man baseball hasnt proven it can advance any TX programs, just look at Rice, or Texas, or Texas Tech, or DBU, or TCU, or A&M, or

[UNT 90 Grad]

They should start by paying for a baseball forum to move this thread to.  

[NT80]

14 minutes ago, WanderingEagle said:

Yeah man baseball hasnt proven it can advance any TX programs, just look at Rice, or Texas, or Texas Tech, or DBU, or TCU, or A&M, or

Yes, I hear Vanderbilt wants to drop baseball since it doesn't do anything for their athletic program.  Maybe they can be a basketball school?

Think small = be small.

[DeepGreen]

I would like to see UNT bring back baseball.  I think it should be part of a well-rounded athletics program at UNT.

[NT80]

6 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

I would like to see UNT bring back baseball.  I think it should be part of a well-rounded athletics program at UNT.

[Cr1028]

2 hours ago, NT80 said:

We are above the Title 9 requirements now.   UNT is majority female students.  Check the other CUSA schools that sponsor baseball and look at their other sports offered compared to us. 

You may want to go back and listen to Wren’s interviews with Harry. Wren said something to the effect of “just because other schools don’t follow the rules doesn’t mean we won’t”. He then stated we would need to add 1-2 women’s sports BEFORE adding baseball.

Around the 50 minute mark.

[El Paso Eagle]

26 minutes ago, WanderingEagle said:

Yeah man baseball hasnt proven it can advance any TX programs, just look at Rice, or Texas, or Texas Tech, or DBU, or TCU, or A&M, or

Other than DBU whose programs count on Baseball to "advance" them? Too many people on here bitch and whine about the things we don't have and always want to complain.

[El Paso Eagle]

Just now, Cr1028 said:

You may want to go back and listen to Wren’s interviews with Harry. Wren said something to the effect of “just because other schools don’t follow the rules doesn’t mean we won’t”. He then stated we would need to add 1-2 women’s sports BEFORE adding baseball.

Around the 50 minute mark.

Seems some want to pick and choose what they want to believe

[El Paso Eagle]

15 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Yes, I hear Vanderbilt wants to drop baseball since it doesn't do anything for their athletic program.  Maybe they can be a basketball school?

Think small = be small.

I hear NMSU is being courted for their baseball team

[Cr1028]

19 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Yes, I hear Vanderbilt wants to drop baseball since it doesn't do anything for their athletic program.  Maybe they can be a basketball school?

Think small = be small.

Did you hear about the multi-million dollar donation Texas State Athletics got after their baseball team beat the #1 ranked Texas Longhorns at UFCU Disch-Falk Field? Or after they set program records for wins, conference wins, and winning percentage? Or for winning the regular season conference title again? Or for making an appearance in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 years? 

No? Me neither.