Verbal commitment

[ken75459]

Verbal commitment

Collin Mangrum from Howe

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/shared-conte...2CContent&l=100

Ken

[Zeke]

Mangrum..............posted by Ken..................hmmmmm. Is this Mangrum any relation to Mr. Kenneth Magrum?

[gksmith]

Now if NT can just find that illusive 6'10"-7'+ center. Did we have one in the works recently?

[ken75459]

ken howerton

justin howerton's Dad

[UNTLifer]

I'm making the assumption that he has committed to UNT, because the link is not providing any information on his verbal. Welcome to the North Texas family Ken. We look forward to watching Justin perform over the next four years.

[Zeke]

Glad to have you here on GMG Ken.

After seeing Collin Mangrums picture, it appears there is obviously no relation to our former player Kenneth Mangrum.

[Cooley]

May 27, 2005

Mangrum Makes His Choice Early

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TexasHoops.com Recruiting Staff

The Dallas Mustangs AAU program has had a successful run this spring, and it's not necessarily been in terms of wins and losses either. The program is simply getting things done with moving their players on to the next level. Recently, two Mustangs in Trey Parker and Matt Read both made the decision to commit to UT-Arlington. Now, a third Mustang has made his college choice. Collin Mangrum, an all-around 6-foot-4, 185-pound combo guard/wing from Howe High School, will also be staying in state. He's just going to be a little north of his AAU teammates.

"I made the decision to go to UNT last night," Mangrum said. "I had prayed about it a lot, and I felt that God really wanted me to be there. The coaches there are awesome, and it's where I felt I needed to be."

Mangrum, who made an unofficial visit to campus late last week, felt that UNT was the perfect place for him based on many reasons. "It's close to home and the coaches are just awesome," Mangrum said. "They're the best coaches I've ever known. Also, my old teammate Justin Howerton is going to be playing there too. The atmosphere there is awesome, the facilities are great, everything."

It was pretty early on in the recruiting process for Mangrum, who had also been hearing from the likes of TCU, SMU, Baylor, Tulsa, and Stephen F. Austin. But after the way the Mean Green coaches treated him, Mangrum knew that's who he wanted to play college basketball for. "I'd been hurt lately, so I've been unable to play," Mangrum said. "The coaches at UNT wanted me, and said there was no pressure for me to play. That meant a lot to me, so I went ahead and made the call."

Because of tendinitis in his foot, Mangrum hasn't been able to play with the Mustangs a whole lot. When he does get back on the court however, he's planning to continue working on all phases of his game while trying to do one thing - help his team be on top at the end of the game. "I do whatever it takes to win," Mangrum said. "I just go out there every time and try to win."

Excellent pickup by JJ!

[ken75459]

Sorry for the missing info on Collin Magnum’s verbal commitment

Collin called my son Justin Howerton Thursday night

To tell him he had committed to UNT

It is not listed in the link I gave

The link is to the local Sherman newspaper that covers local sports in the area

So it has a lot of information on Collin

Collin also plays on the AAU Dallas mustang’s basketball team

Ken

[NT80]

ken howerton

justin howerton's Dad

I too am looking forward to seeing Justin play for NT. Is he playing this summer with anyone? Welcome to the board.

[Guest e-bone]

It's always good to get local kids to come to North Texas. I would expect no less than the population of Howe in attendance at the SuperPit for the next few years

[Harry]

Ken welcome aboard. Great news, we are so looking forward to watching Justin and Collin play in the Super Pit.

[ken75459]

I believe Justin will be playing in a Texas coach’s all-star game

July 27 in San Antonio

Justin is planning to report to UNT, for summer School After the 4 of July weekend

He is very eager and excited to start working out with the Team and Coaches

On a side note

We are both very Happy that coach Rike is staying with the mean green

And look forward to filling up the pit in the future

Ken

[Coach]

I believe Justin will be playing in a Texas coach’s all-star game

July 27 in San Antonio

If I remember the rosters correctly, he will be on the same team with new Mean Green teammate Harold Stewart.

Good to see the Mean Green represented so well in a prestigous all-star game and I look forward to seeing all our new players on the court.

[NT80]

North Texas gets early commitment

08:40 AM CDT on Saturday, May 28, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The North Texas men’s basketball team got a jump on its next recruiting class and reunited a pair of old friends in the process this week.

Collin Mangrum, a 6-4 guard from Howe High School who will be a senior in the fall, confirmed Friday that he has orally committed to play for the Mean Green.

Oral commitments are non-binding. Mangrum plans to sign a national letter of intent during his senior year at Howe before joining the Mean Green for the 2006-07 season.

Mangrum and Justin Howerton led Howe to the state tournament last season. Howerton has signed a national letter of intent to play for UNT beginning in the fall.

“Going down there with Justin was part of my decision,” Mangrum said. “He will be able to help me out and answer any questions I have.”

TCU, SMU, Stephen F. Austin and Baylor were all in the early stages of recruiting Mangrum when he committed to UNT.

Mangrum caught the attention of Division I programs across the state last season when he was named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches all-state and all-state tournament teams in addition to earning a first-team spot on the All-District 13-2A squad.

Mangrum averaged 15.6 points a game last year, a total he pushed to 22 points a game in the playoffs while playing point guard for the Bulldogs. He has also spent time at small forward and shooting guard during his high school career.

“Collin still has a lot left in him,” Howe coach Tim Rose said. “His biggest attribute is he is a hard worker. He was the last player out of the gym again today.”

Mangrum honed his skills during the off-season while playing for the Dallas Mustangs, a summer club team that features some of the area’s top players.

Mangum is hoping the experience he gained playing during the summer will help him make the transition to playing at the Division I level.

“It’s definitely a big jump to Division I,” Mangrum said. “I will have to stay in the gym and work hard to be the best I can be.”

Mangrum committed to UNT before his senior season so that he could start preparing for his future a little earlier and not worry about the recruiting process.

“Committing early will help me focus and get ready,” Mangrum said. “I will have a chance to visit campus and get comfortable. Committing early takes the pressure off.”

Mangrum said UNT recruited him to play both guard positions and small forward. Rose said he anticipates Mangrum developing into a shooting guard in college because of his athletic ability and shooting touch.

Rose said UNT’s coaches first became aware of Mangrum while they were recruiting Howerton and quickly joined the list of Division I teams interested the Bulldogs’ younger Division I prospect.

UNT will have three to four scholarships for its next recruiting class, including the one the Mean Green’s coaches offered Mangrum.

UNT finished with a 14-14 record in the 2004-05 season after falling to Arkansas State in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Super Pit. The Mean Green have won at least 13 games in three of four seasons under head coach Johnny Jones.

[ADLER]

Glad to have you here on GMG Ken.

After seeing Collin Mangrums picture, it appears there is obviously no relation to our former player Kenneth Mangrum.

[taynt7]

ok this puzzles me.............no offense to these two guys, i've seen howerton play and he can play. BUT. we signed 2 kids from 2A Howe. With all these huge area schools like mckinneys, allen, planos, garlands, richardsons, mesquites, coudln't we find kids from those big schools that have played big competition. i know from experience, 2A talent is far different that 5A talent. i know the good area 5A kids are going to bigger programs, but how about the other 4 guys on a team where their number one guy goes big? what happens to these kids? why don't we get them? we are sitting just north of some of the best high school sports talent in the country and we don't get any of these kids. i don't get it.

[Coach]

If a kid can play, he can play, no matter if he played at a 1A school that can't even field a football team or a 5A powerhouse. Look at our football team, the most raw talent on the linebacker corps probably belongs to 2A product Brandon Monroe. There are countless examples of this.

As it pertains to basketball, look at what all Coach Jones has to account for in a recruit:

1) Can he play?

2) Does he make the grades?

3) Does he stay out of trouble?

4) Does he work hard or get by on talent and reputation?

If a player checks out on all those, and meets a need postion wise, you can't say NO because he played for Howe and not Garland. One other thing to remember is that the best basketball players compete on AAU teams and in large tournaments (like the one held in Denton every year) against the rest of the best players. This is how Howerton caught A&M's eye as well as NT's. I doubt that Coach Jones offered a scholarship based on how he played against Blue Ridge. I have some concerns about Mangrum, not neccessarily talent wise, but style of play wise, but I like the Howerton signing a lot.

[SUMG]

Another thing to consider, when it comes to Howerton and Mangrum:

They have both done extremely well in summer league competition, where they go up against great 4A and 5A talent from Texas, as well as top level talent from many other states.

Also, A & M coach Billy Gillespie wanted to sign Howerton and I know that Gillespie is a great judge of talent.

[Lovesto Pumpfake]

Coach,

I have seen the Mangrum kid play a lot, and have gotten to know him pretty well. I'm curious as to your reservations. He's a pretty tough competitor, plays well against 4-5A competition in AAU ball, can shoot the lights out either off of screens or by going 1 on 1. His Dad is an ex-NFL QB, so he's grown up around athletics & doesn't shy away from contact or competition. He's still young and pretty thin, but is still growing & putting on weight while not losing his quickness.

I'm certainly not attacking your post, I'm just curious. Outside on not looking like a recent Mangrum we have had in the program, and Collin being an adequate defensive player but probably not a Bruce Bowen-like stopper, what are your reservations?

[Coach]

Like I said, I have no problem with his talent, there is no doubt he is an athlete. He was also a point guard on a state qualifier so you know he is a competitor. The way he played point guard on the offensive end was not how I would want my point guard to play...my off guard, yes, but not the point. If he projects as an off guard at NT, then I have no issues at all, but if he is being groomed as a D1 point guard, I would prefer to see him involve his teammates a little more in the offense. With Howerton gone, he may not have the chance to do that, but out of the games I watched, I was getting discouraged with his lack of hesitation to pull the trigger without giving so much a glance down low. In Austin, he attempted 28 FGs with 0 assists....forgive me if that's not what I would like to see from the initiator of the offense. If he is projecting as an off guard, then that goes out the window.

**

Excerpt from DRC article by Vito on his signing:

Mangrum said UNT recruited him to play both guard positions and small forward. Rose said he anticipates Mangrum developing into a shooting guard in college because of his athletic ability and shooting touch.

I say put him at the 2 and let him go, I wouldn't mess with him at the point, though he would have good size for that position, I don't think his offensive approach fits. He could easily guard the opposing team's point and play off on offense.

Edited June 10, 2005 by Coach

[UNTSportsGuy]

Having been around College basketball coaches for a few years now, I have a pretty good guide of how they recruit players. First of all, all of the MAJOR programs scout 8th and 9th graders at invitation camps and AAU tournys. Most kids who go to a major school are pretty set by the time they are a junior or senior in high school.

The National AAU tourny held in Denton should be a great advantage for these coaches to have the top players in the country playing in their back yard. My brother is being looked at by small DII schools and recently played in an AAU tourny in DC. All the major ACC, Big East, etc coachs (there were many of them) did not watch the 17 or 18 yr olds, but rather the 15 and 16 yr olds play. However, most of the smaller DI and lower schools do a lot of recruiting during season because that is when they have the best chance to convince these players to join the program.