DRC.1st BB commit, women BB Vilma out with illness

[OldTimer]

Mean Green gets first hoops commitment

11/06/2002

By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer

Former McLennan Community College forward Mike Jones has orally committed to play basketball at North Texas.

Jones, who is no relation to UNT coach Johnny Jones, averaged 19.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists last season. He was an all-region selection and the runner-up player of the year in the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.

The 6-7 Jones, a teammate of UNT forward Michael DeGrate at McLennan, will sit out this season to complete the academic requirements necessary to transfer to a Division I school. He expects to make an immediate impact for the Mean Green next season.

"I?m a player," said Jones, who played his high school ball at Lancaster. "I?m going to bring something to the table. I?m going to hold my hand down."

McLennan coach Wendell Hudson said Jones, who chose UNT over several Southland Conference schools, is a quality person who does not have any flaws in his game.

"Michael Jones is a complete player," Hudson said. "He plays both ends of the court. He was our best defensive player. He guarded the best player on the other team from 6-9 to 6-0. And he led the team in scoring."

Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day a recruit can sign a national letter of intent is Nov. 13. Jones is UNT?s first commitment of the year.

Lady Eagles center out with illness

Senior center Vilma Grismanauskaite was hospitalized for four days last week with a blood disorder and will not return until Nov. 11 at the earliest, coach Tina Slinker said.

Grismanauskaite?s hemoglobin count reached a dangerously low level, leading to her hospitalization. Slinker said Grismanauskaite, a 6-4 senior from Lithuania who was a preseason All-Sun Belt selection, is anemic and has bleeding ulcers.

While Slinker hopes Grismanauskaite will return to health quickly, she left open the possibility of redshirting the senior.

"You can?t risk her life," Slinker said.

Volleyball team?s streak ends at eight

The Mean Green volleyball team?s school-record winning streak was snapped at eight matches when UNT suffered a 3-1 loss Saturday at New Orleans.

Coach Cassie Headrick said she hoped the loss would get her team?s attention entering this weekend?s home matches against Denver and New Mexico State.

"We?re going to use it as a learning experience," Headrick said. "We hope it gets us re-focused. This is probably the biggest weekend that we?ve had thus far."

Player of the Week

Reserve running back Patrick Cobbs stepped into the spotlight by rushing for a career-high 128 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries during the Mean Green?s 41-2 win Saturday over Louisiana-Monroe.

Cobbs, a sophomore, scored on runs of 33, 28, 7 and 2 yards to become the first UNT player since Scott Davis in 1988 to score four touchdowns in a game. For his efforts, he was named the Denton Record-Chronicle UNT Player of the Week.

TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-381-9572.

[Buford_Julep]

Wow.

Mike Jones played on the same team with Mike Degrate last season and scored more points, had more rebounds and more assists than DrGrate.

He is a keeper.