NT Men Healthy Heading Into Season Opener

[UNTLifer]

Men's basketball: Healthy UNT set to open season

Hopkins, Watson at 100 percent, ready for ASU

08:47 AM CST on Friday, November 19, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Leonard Hopkins can’t help but feel excited about the way the North Texas men’s basketball team’s season shapes up this year.

The senior guard is healthy heading into the season, just like the rest of his teammates. He is surrounded by what might be the deepest cast of players UNT has had in years every day in practice.

Johnny Jones

And then there is the Mean Green’s schedule that includes 15 regular season home games and a chance to host the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the end of the regular season with a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

"We have a lot going for us," Hopkins said. "We have more games at home than we have had in a long time, have the conference tournament here and we finished as high as we ever have in the Sun Belt last year. We have a lot of things going for us. If we execute the way I know we can, everything will go our way."

UNT will begin pursing the Sun Belt’s regular season title today when the Mean Green take on Angelo State in a 7 p.m. game at The Super Pit.

UNT will return several key players, including a pair of starters in Hopkins and sophomore guard Calvin Watson, from a team that finished third in the Sun Belt’s West Division. The finish was UNT’s best in its four-year stay in the Sun Belt.

Hopkins injured his foot two years ago and missed all but the first nine games of the 2002-03 season. The former Dallas Lincoln standout worked his way back into shape last season and ended up earning second team All-Sun Belt Conference honors after averaging 14.0 points a game.

Watson followed a similar path. The shooting guard missed the first 11 games of the year with a broken foot before coming back to average 8.3 points a game.

The pair might have showed a sign of what is to come this season when Hopkins scored a career high 27 points and Watson added 17 in a double overtime loss to New Orleans in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Both players will have a chance to pick up where they left off without battling injuries. UNT coach Johnny Jones said he expects to have all of his players at his disposal to open the season for the first time in his four-year tenure with the Mean Green.

Watson said starting off healthy could make a difference for both him and Hopkins, who are key members of a group of guards and forwards who can get out and run in the open floor.

"We have had some talented guys on our other teams," Jones said. "We have more guys and more experience on this team than we have had in the past on this team."

Point guard Isaac Hines is expected to be a key addition to UNT’s backcourt. The former Collin County Community College standout earned second-team JUCO All-America honors last season.

The addition of Hines is just one reason the focus of the Mean Green’s offense will shift this season. UNT pounded the ball inside to forwards Shawnson Johnson and Michael DeGrate last year.

UNT will lack the experience it had inside a year ago. Junior center Justin Barnett and senior forward Michael Jones lead a thin group of returning frontline players.

Barnett is still not at full speed after suffering a knee injury during preseason practices, but will play in the Mean Green’s season opener.

Junior Jeffrey Simpson and freshman Quincy Williams are expected to help fill the void. Williams was impressive in the Mean Green’s second scrimmage of the preseason, scoring 10 points and pulling down five rebounds in a win over Southeastern Oklahoma State.

UNT’s coaches and players are hoping their interior players continue to improve and build on the chemistry the Mean Green has shown in practice.

"Everyone on this team knows their roles," Hopkins said. "Any time the guys know their roles, that will take you farther than having one or two guys with a lot of talent."

UNT is hoping that talent will help the Mean Green capitalize on a schedule filled with games at home, where the Mean Green has posted a 22-14 record over the last three seasons at home.

"If we can do what we have done in the past, which is play really well at home, with 15 home games, that is a great opportunity for us," Jones said. "The guys are really excited about playing at the tournament at home. They know that anytime we play at home we have a chance to win and we have been very good here in conference play."

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

UNT roster

3 Ron Harris 6-7 Jr. F

5 Marqus Mitchell 6-0 Sr. G

11 Michael Sturns 6-4 Fr. G

14 Micah Bracy 6-7 So. F

22 Leonard Hopkins 6-3 Sr. G

23 Isaac Hines 6-0 175 Jr. G

24 Ty Thomas 6-6 Jr. F

32 Quincy Williams 6-8 Fr. F

33 Calvin Watson 6-5 So. G

44 Michael Jones 6-7 Sr. F

45 Jeffrey Simpson 6-8 Jr. C

54 Justin Barnett 6-10 Jr. C

UNT schedule

November

19 Angelo State 7 p.m.

21 at Alabama 3:30 p.m.

23 UNC-Willimington 7 p.m.

27 Lamar 7 p.m.

December

4 TCU 7 p.m.

7 at Texas 7 p.m.

11 at UT-Pan American 7 p.m.

16 Southern 8 p.m.

22 Southeast Missouri State 7 p.m.

29-30 Dr Pepper Tourney

29 at Chattanooga 8 p.m.

30 TBA

January

8 at New Mexico State 8:05 p.m.

13 at Denver 8 p.m.

17 at Florida International 6:30 p.m.

20 Arkansas-Little Rock 7 p.m.

22 Arkansas State 7 p.m.

27 at New Orleans 7 p.m.

29 at South Alabama 7:05 p.m.

February

3 Louisiana-Lafayette 7 p.m.

5 New Mexico State 7 p.m.

10 at Middle Tennessee 7:30 p.m.

12 Western Kentucky 7 p.m.

14 UT-Permian Basin 7 p.m.

17 Denver 7 p.m.

19 at Louisiana-Lafayette 7:05 p.m.

24 New Orleans 7 p.m.

26 South Alabama 7 p.m.

March

4-8 Sun Belt Conference Tourney

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Is the BB game broadcast on KNTU like the football games?

I have to miss this one b/c of work... but I'll be wearing my Pit Crew shirt and yelling at the refs and opposing bench the same as always!

[NTEagle08]

Is the BB game broadcast on KNTU like the football games?

I have to miss this one b/c of work... but I'll be wearing my Pit Crew shirt and yelling at the refs and opposing bench the same as always!

Men's games are on 100.7, but I think this one is on 88.1 as well since the women's game won't be conflicting with it.

Edited November 19, 2004 by NTEagle08

[JayDub]

14 Micah Bracy 6-7 So. F

Somebody has to say it...

MICAH EFFIN' BRACY!