UNT takes on Tulsa,Ryan alum McDade

MeanGreen61 · January 2, 2006

UNT takes on Tulsa, Ryan alum McDade

Son of former Mean Green player a Golden Hurricane

09:24 AM CST on Monday, January 2, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Fred McDade couldn’t have been happier when he found out a few months ago that North Texas had added Tulsa to its schedule for a home-and-home series.

The deal will give Fred a chance to see his son, Brett, play in their hometown next season, but it will also present a unique problem — deciding whom he should root for.

Fred played for North Texas for two seasons in the early 1980s under head coach Bill Blakeley and still follows the Mean Green. He also follows Tulsa, where Brett is a standout sophomore guard.

Fred will have his loyalties tested for the first time tonight when the Mean Green (6-4) travel to Tulsa (4-7) for the first game in the series at 8 p.m.

“I will have my Tulsa shirt on, but I might have Mean Green on under it,” Fred said.

The game will also have a strange feel for Brett, who went to several UNT games while growing up in Denton. The Mean Green recruited Brett, who said he seriously considered following in his father’s footsteps before deciding to play for the Golden Hurricane.

“North Texas was my second choice,” Brett said. “I liked the academic program at Tulsa and the school has a good basketball tradition. My dad let me make my own decision. He told me that I was the one who was going to have to spend the next four years at the place I chose.”

So far Brett has fit right in with the Golden Hurricane. He spent one season as a redshirt at Tulsa before moving into the starting lineup and averaging 9.6 points a game as a freshman last year.

McDade’s 270 points rank fourth in Tulsa history for freshmen.

A solid first season proved to be just the beginning for Brett, who enters tonight’s game leading the Golden Hurricane with an average of 12.5 points a game.

Brett credited his solid start in part to the afternoons he used to spend at UNT playing pickup games against a host of former Mean Green players, including Chris Davis and Leonard Hopkins — two of the top players in UNT history.

“Brett is a very talented basketball player,” UNT coach Johnny Jones said. “He has been really good for Tulsa. He is one of their key guys.”

Fred was just as important to UNT’s success during his two years with the Mean Green. He averaged 4.7 points off the bench in the 1980-81 season after transferring to UNT from Tyler Junior College. He averaged 9.9 points as a senior in the 1982-83 season after spending the 1981-82 year as a redshirt.

UNT won 15 games in each of Fred’s seasons playing for the Mean Green.

Brett built on the McDade family basketball legacy in Denton during a standout career at Ryan. The Raiders won the state title Brett’s freshman season and returned to the regional semifinals during his senior year, when he averaged 26.8 points a game.

“Brett is one of the best all-around players I have ever coached in 30 years,” said former Ryan coach Richard Scofield who is now at Liberty. “He was definitely the best guard I have ever had. He could shoot, dribble, play defense – he could do it all.”

UNT will look to stop Brett and build on its recent run of success heading into Sun Belt Conference play. The Mean Green’s game against Tulsa will be their last before opening league play at home against Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday.

UNT has won four of its last five games behind a balanced attack that features junior guard Kendrick Davis, who is averaging 16.0 points a game.

“This is a good opportunity for us play another tough opponent on the road,” Jones said. “It’s an ideal time because it’s right before conference play. It would be good to go into conference play on a winning note.”

UNTLifer · January 2, 2006

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class84 · January 3, 2006

My memory of Fred McDade is him missing an open jumper that could have tied #1 DePaul in the last minute of our game in the Pit in 1980. We had 9,500 in attendance, Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings..... now that is college basketball.

IslandEagle · January 3, 2006

My memory of Fred McDade is him missing an open jumper that could have tied #1 DePaul in the last minute of our game in the Pit in 1980. We had 9,500 in attendance, Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings..... now that is college basketball.
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That was a great game. Don't think the atmosphere in the super pit has ever been better than that night.

GrandGreen · January 3, 2006

My memory of Fred McDade is him missing an open jumper that could have tied #1 DePaul in the last minute of our game in the Pit in 1980. We had 9,500 in attendance, Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings..... now that is college basketball.
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My memory of that game. Kenneth Lyons elbow to Aguirre that staggered him all the way into the bench. All heck almost broke out.