UNT built what might be the best overall basketball program in the AAC — Here's how

meangreenfaninno · 2025-03-05T21:34:36Z

Jason Burton gathered up his players for a chat on a weekday morning this spring as practice ended at the Super Pit.

The topic was far from standard, at least if one judges by the history of the North Texas women’s basketball program.

Burton, UNTs second-year coach, wanted to talk about the challenges of handling success and the keys to sustaining it. The Mean Green’s players stood in a circle and listened intently as Burton expounded on the values of getting enough sleep and eating right as they closed in on winning 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.

Longtime booster Ernie Kuehne and a host of other supporters formed the Mean Green Collective shortly after UNT won the NIT in 2023 specifically to support UNT’s basketball programs. Kuehne anticipates the group will cross the $500,000 mark in funds distributed to players the last two years by the end of this season.

“The support we get here from the fans and the university helps,” Rondel Walker, a guard on UNT’s men’s team said. “It takes the stress away off the court and lets us just be hoopers.”

read more: https://dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/mean_green/unt-built-what-might-be-the-best-overall-basketball-program-in-the-aac-heres-how/article_394b8926-f986-11ef-8e0e-efa5ff28898f.html

Edited yesterday at 09:36 PM by meangreenfaninno

Tommy Gadberry · 2025-03-05T22:17:00Z

Great article by @Brett Vito

UNTFan23 · 2025-03-05T22:31:57Z

Imagine what 7k of fans attending games every night would do for the Men's program and 3 to 4k for the Women's program would do? The Pit would be a hugely hostile place for visiting teams to play. A Fan can only dream.

Jonnyeagle · 2025-03-05T23:01:00Z

Basketball is a real source of pride for me these days. It's funny as I was mainly a football guy and now basketball is the sport I follow more closely. We have had an amazing run in both men's and womens's basketball and I expect it will continue.

greenjoe · 2025-03-06T01:20:06Z

I continue to think of myself as a football fan but basketball is so easy to attend, enjoy, and get home from, I may be turning. As far as getting 7,000 to a game, it starts with 4,000 consistently.

I’ll see everybody tomorrow night for the last game in Denton this year.

BigChiefGMG · 2025-03-06T01:58:57Z

Lovely takes ^ I’m honestly right there with yall now. Football fandom has always been #1 until the last couple years. I feel a sense of pride representing mean green basketball gear around town! I get jesters and snide remarks of how bad we are when I have my football gear on 😂

golfingomez · 2025-03-06T14:39:59Z

15 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Basketball is a real source of pride for me these days. It's funny as I was mainly a football guy and now basketball is the sport I follow more closely. We have had an amazing run in both men's and womens's basketball and I expect it will continue.

I was thinking about this the other day and i think there are a couple of factors at play here, the primary one being that our basketball team doesn't sh*t the bed every season.

Additionally though, the current state of roster turnover in for G5 schools in football makes it really hard to follow players. Even if you have the same issue with b-ball, it's only 8 guys and we see them mostly twice a week.

Now let's go see these guys get some hardware.

2020 Sucks · 2025-03-06T15:23:42Z

I've dropped FB season tix but upgraded my basketball seats. The massive turnover in FB is a big turn off for me...I totally understand kids like TP, Aaron Scott, Rubin Jones, and Jason Edwards leaving here to go to P5 schools, but I can't get behind kids who are impact players here in football leaving for SFA, Tarelton, or ACU. And I can't get with true freshment bailing out without putting in the work to try and EARN some playing time. Plus...lets be honest...football at UNT just has no energy because they've gone .500 nearly every year for decades. These 3pm kickoffs in 105 heat index...or 40 degree wind chills turn me into an ESPN+ fan! Seth caught a little lightning in a bottle with a couple of 9+ win seasons, but that was right before the transfer portal went nuts and created chaos. I seriously dont think its attainable in this new era without a consistent annual $4-5 million NIL package like that school in Highland Park...and that seems nearly impossible here unless the MGSF rolls more into a NIL payout system.

UNT Basketball has been consistent, fun, and its awesome how the players engage with the fans. Autographs and high fives after every game, going out into the community and working with kids, and even engaging on Social Media. Its refreshing. Burton and Hodge are great leaders and great men. They both love Denton and I think that as long as the compensation is good...they will both stay here for a long time.

keith · 2025-03-06T16:21:27Z

14 hours ago, greenjoe said:

I continue to think of myself as a football fan but basketball is so easy to attend, enjoy, and get home from, I may be turning. As far as getting 7,000 to a game, it starts with 4,000 consistently.

I’ll see everybody tomorrow night for the last game in Denton this year.

Went to a UCONN women's game against Creighton the other night along with the other 15K fans. Restaurants packed and downtown Hartford hopping around the XL Center with people wearing UCONN gear. UCONN Women's basketball is obviously on a level few other programs are, but it's amazing that as good as our women's team has been, the gap between program's like ours and program's like UCONN's is massive. Then there is another massive gap between us and those in the 300+ Net rankings.

One thing I noticed and certainly nothing scientific, but I did see a lot of groups of 2 or 3 ladies that I would probably describe as in the retired age category in attendance. Maybe an untapped target audience for our program.

UNTLifer · 2025-03-06T16:50:24Z

26 minutes ago, keith said:

One thing I noticed and certainly nothing scientific, but I did see a lot of groups of 2 or 3 ladies that I would probably describe as in the retired age category in attendance. Maybe an untapped target audience for our program.

Were they good looking? Sorry, I am quickly approaching that age demographic.

On a serious note, our department should reach out to Robson Ranch and other communities that cater to the older demographic. They are always looking for fun activities for their population. We would have to change our "deadball music" and incorporate some Big Band, Sinatra, etc...

keith · 2025-03-06T16:58:12Z

4 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Were they good looking? Sorry, I am quickly approaching that age demographic.

On a serious note, our department should reach out to Robson Ranch and other communities that cater to the older demographic. They are always looking for fun activities for their population. We would have to change our "deadball music" and incorporate some Big Band, Sinatra, etc...

Hahaha...as am I. There was definitely a range of ages and they were into the game. It looked a bit like a ladies night out...nice dinner in a local restaurant, couple glasses of wine and then catch the game.

UNTLifer · 2025-03-06T17:01:50Z

3 minutes ago, keith said:

Hahaha...as am I. There was definitely a range of ages and they were into the game. It looked a bit like a ladies night out...nice dinner in a local restaurant, couple glasses of wine and then catch the game.

Hmmm. I might not be their "type".

Zeleny' Orel · 2025-03-06T20:03:09Z

3 hours ago, keith said:

Went to a UCONN women's game against Creighton the other night along with the other 15K fans. Restaurants packed and downtown Hartford hopping around the XL Center with people wearing UCONN gear. UCONN Women's basketball is obviously on a level few other programs are, but it's amazing that as good as our women's team has been, the gap between program's like ours and program's like UCONN's is massive. Then there is another massive gap between us and those in the 300+ Net rankings.

One thing I noticed and certainly nothing scientific, but I did see a lot of groups of 2 or 3 ladies that I would probably describe as in the retired age category in attendance. Maybe an untapped target audience for our program.

In the early days of women's basketball, Louisiana Tech was a powerhouse and they built a large and loyal fan base from area senior independent living, assisted living and nursing homes. The team became their "kids" and they were treated accordingly. I think we should explore incorporating that model.

CMJ · 2025-03-06T20:34:51Z

I seem to remember reading way back when Coach Jones was here that there was some sort of older folks' home that really for into following the Mens team. I mean, we're talking 15+ years ago at this point, but I know there was at least one article about it in the NT Daily, DRC or DMN or something.

keith · 2025-03-06T20:45:48Z

39 minutes ago, Zeleny' Orel said:

In the early days of women's basketball, Louisiana Tech was a powerhouse and they built a large and loyal fan base from area senior independent living, assisted living and nursing homes. The team became their "kids" and they were treated accordingly. I think we should explore incorporating that model.

That was the vibe I got. They knew the player's, the opponent, the game, etc. and those around us were season ticket holders. Most of the 15K were season ticket holders, so that wasn't really a surprise.