It's official 3 JUCO sign with NT, 4th coming

OldTimer · December 22, 2005

Football: North Texas fills holes with JUCO signings

08:24 AM CST on Thursday, December 22, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas set out to fill several holes in its lineup a few weeks ago with midterm junior college recruits. By the end of national signing day on Wednesday, UNT defensive coordinator Kenny Evans felt like the Mean Green had addressed all but one of those voids.

UNT has received national letters of intent from offensive lineman Trent Stanley and defensive back Roy Loren of Coffeyville Community College and tight end Brian Carlson of Kilgore College. Coffeyville quarterback Woody Wilson said Wednesday that he had signed his letter of intent, but was still in the process of forwarding the paperwork to UNT.

“We wanted to fill some immediate needs,” said Evans, who is in charge of junior college recruiting for the Mean Green. “We are really happy with it. Getting all of them to campus for spring practice will help us.”

Evans said UNT would continue pursuing a few junior college players who will graduate in May. Those players could transfer to UNT over the summer and bolster the Mean Green’s defensive line.

The Mean Green wanted to sign at least one junior college defensive lineman at midterm, but didn’t find players who fit their needs. UNT finished last in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing defense with an average of 220.9 yards allowed a game last season and lost starting nose tackle Chris Miller, who completed his career in 2005.

“Finding a defensive tackle was a priority, but we were not going to sign someone just to sign someone,” Evans said. “There weren’t many good ones available.”

While UNT couldn’t find the defensive tackle it wanted, the Mean Green did receive interest from several other junior college players who were not offered scholarships. Up to three of those players could join the team as walk-ons in time for spring practice.

Stanley and Loren both have the ability to play multiple positions and will have a better idea of where they will fit in with the Mean Green after those workouts

Loren has played both cornerback and safety. Stanley has spent his entire career as a guard, but Evans said the Mean Green could consider moving him to center.

“I have never played center before, but I would be willing to give it a try if they ask me to,” Stanley said.

UNT is comfortable experimenting with moving Stanley because the talent he displayed at Coffeyville.

“Trent is a very physical and aggressive lineman who had a lot of choices of where to play,” Evans said. “The fact that we think he can play two spots shows just how good he is.”

Loren played safety at Coffeyville, but said he considers himself well suited to playing cornerback. UNT lost both of its starting cornerbacks after last season and could turn to the 6-2 Loren to help fill the void.

“We talked to Roy about playing corner,” Evans said. “We have some good young cornerbacks, but he has experience. If we were going to take a junior college cornerback, it was going to be a taller guy like Roy.”

UNT already has several tight ends, but couldn’t pass on a chance to land Carlson.

“Brian is a big, physical guy,” Evans said. “He was recruited by some people as a tackle, but he also has great hands.”

UNT has signed several junior college players at midterm in Darrell Dickey’s eight-year tenure as the Mean Green’s head coach, but has rarely landed a player as highly regarded as Stanley.

The former Red Raven was a second-team NJCAA All-American and is the first JUCO All-American UNT has signed since former All-Sun Belt Conference defensive lineman Michael Pruitt in 2002.

Stanley was also a first-team All-Jayhawk Conference selection, while Wilson and Loren were honorable mention picks. Wilson received all-conference honors despite playing in just seven games before breaking his collarbone.

Stanley was offered a scholarship by Louisiana Tech and received interest from Kansas State. Carlson cancelled a trip to New Mexico, while Wilson was recruited by Nebraska, Kansas State and Kansas as a defensive back.

UNT will look to its midterm class to bolster a team that finished 2-9 last season.

“I think this will be a good batch,” Wilson said of UNT’s midterm class. “I am real excited about coming in and helping the team. We will be able to make a big impact if we come in and work hard.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com

UNT commitments

The following is a list of midterm junior college transfers who have committed to play for North Texas next season.

Player School

TE Brian Carlson Kilgore CC*

DB Roy Loren Coffeyville CC*

OL Trent Stanley Coffeyville CC*

QB Woody Wilson Coffeyville CC

Note — * Indicates UNT has received a binding national letter of intent.

MeanGreenBuzz · December 22, 2005

Hopefully the paperwork comes through on the QB. He would definately bolster the rotation. Also, the fact that they are thinking of moving Stanley to center should show that they are beginning to lose faith in Rose's abilities. Hopefully he won't be another flop at OL.

H-towngreen · December 22, 2005

It's good to hear that we may have several juco walk-ons joining the program.

It should be intresting to see how many more we get in here once Feb. comes around. Hopefully we get than one 300lb dt that we all want and need so bad.

I think that this is a great start to the recruiting season as we filled many key holes on both sides.

Ray Loren- a more physical presence to go along with Belt newcomer of the year Aaron Weathers.

Brian Carlson- at 270 he is another o-linemen out there. Along with Charley Brown it should make for a good 1-2 puch and change of style.

Woody Wilson- another qb to join our 13 others. Should be intresting to see what he has once spring comes around.

Trent Stanley- Guard or center? I think it all depends on how Rose performs this spring. A huge pick-up that help to solidify the o-line.

Edited December 22, 2005 by H-towngreen

mad dog · December 22, 2005

When I saw Carlson at the basketball game on his recruiting weekend, he was busting out of his shirt. A big, big kid. But Robert Harmon and Jimmy Chaney were big, too. Technique and talent remain to be seen.

Mad Hatter · December 22, 2005

Nice to see that we actually WON a recruiting battle with someone, even if it's LaTech, that still speaks well for our program.

untbowler · December 22, 2005

Nice to see that we actually WON a recruiting battle with someone, even if it's LaTech, that still speaks well for our program.
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We also won Wilson over a KU, KSU, and Arkansas, although they wanted him for a DB but still nice a catch.

SilverEagle · December 22, 2005

Hopefully the paperwork comes through on the QB.

Call me paranoid, but this makes me a bit nervous.

Eagle1855 · December 22, 2005

Call me paranoid, but this makes me a bit nervous.
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PARANOID!

haha, but seriously, what could cause problems with paperwork? sounds like the guys is excited to play for us though, and a couple of his teammates are coming along. And he wants to play QB. Sounds like NT is the place to be

NT80 · December 22, 2005

Can we sign their coach also?

Edited December 22, 2005 by NT80

Zeke · December 23, 2005

Still waiting on Woody Wilson.................I am concerned with SilverEagle on this.

buff64 · December 23, 2005

Still waiting on Woody Wilson.................I am concerned with SilverEagle on this.
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I am also concerned that the paperwork on the QB has not been received, or at least reported, perhaps,no one has opened the mail or looked at the faxes since the holidays began.

Eagle1855 · December 23, 2005

I am also concerned that the paperwork on the QB has not been received, or at least reported, perhaps,no one has opened the mail or looked at the faxes since the holidays began.
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I think that is highly unlikely in this situation. I would think it would be quite the opposite.

Cooley · December 23, 2005

Juco DT that got away!

December 23, 2005

Matt Hall

GoPowercat.com

The number just keeps growing. Kansas State has hit Northeastern Oklahoma A&M hard to add depth and fill holes on its defense, and the Wildcats now have a total of five commitments from the junior college program that could send as many as 12 defensive players to Division-I programs. The latest to join the fold in Manhattan is defensive tackle Brandon Balkcom.

NEO defensive tackle Brandon Balkcom will have three years to play three at K-State.

"I've committed to Kansas State, I actually committed to them on Tuesday," Balkcom, a 6-foot-1, 280-pound defensive tackle, said. "I will visit the campus on Jan. 20 with Antwon Moore, Justin Roland and Chris Wade. I'm looking forward to it."

Balkcom, like the rest of the NEO prospects, was recruited by K-State offensive line coach and assistant head coach Tim McCarty.

"McCarty is a great guy, just a really good person who is very honest with you and doesn't give you any phony stuff," Balkcom said. "He's just a good guy."

Balkcom said he will have three years left to play three. He received interest from Oklahoma State, Central Florida, North Texas and New Mexico, but said the prospect of playing with a number of former teammates at K-State was too good to pass up.

"I'm just excited to play with all of those guys at one of the most elite conferences in the country," Balkcom said.

Balkcom finished with 103 tackles and eight sacks as a redshirt freshman at NEO last year.