New Transfer For Unt

[Green Mean]

Football: Former Ryan LB Garden transfers to UNT

Mean Green land two more commitments

08:36 AM CST on Monday, January 29, 2007

BY Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Former Ryan standout Greg Garden is headed back to Denton to play for his hometown team once again — only this time it will be at the college level.

Greg Garden

Garden spent the last year at the Naval Academy but confirmed on Sunday night that he is transferring to North Texas to play safety. The 5-11, 187-pound two-time all-district selection with the Raiders was among three players over the weekend who said they intended to spend their college careers at UNT.

UNT also picked up oral commitments from Lufkin linebacker A.J. Penson and Plano West center J.J. Johnson.

Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day recruits can sign national letters of intent is Feb. 7.

Penson, 6-1, 210, is among the most highly sought after recruits UNT has landed to date. He is rated a two-star recruit by Rivals.com and was offered a scholarship earlier in the recruiting season by Houston. The Cougars filled their scholarship allotment for linebackers a few weeks ago and withdrew their offer to Penson, who still had an offer from Texas State.

Penson, who was a two-time first-team All-District 14-5A selection, named the arrival of head coach Todd Dodge at UNT as one of the reasons he committed to play for the Mean Green.

“I played against coach Dodge in the playoffs in high school,” Penson said. “He is a good coach who can win. He is starting over, and I wanted to help build the program. I also liked Denton and all the coaches.”

Johnson, 6-2, 270, is also ranked as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com. He was offered a scholarship by Utah State, Louisiana-Monroe and Navy.

Johnson was an All-District 9-5A selection last season in one of the most highly regarded leagues in the state.

“Playing in that district prepared me for college,” Johnson said. “I am confident I can play at the college level.”

Johnson believes he is joining a team that will improve rapidly over the next few years.

“The program is going to turn into something special,” Johnson said. “I wanted to be a part of it.”

Garden knows perhaps better than any other UNT recruit what playing for the Mean Green will be like after growing up in Denton. A chance to play close to home is one reason Garden decided to transfer to UNT.

Garden didn’t play at Navy as a freshman due to a shoulder injury.

“I am extremely excited about playing for coach Dodge,” Garden said. “He is similar to [Ryan head coach Joey] Florence in a lot of ways in the way he handles players.”

Garden was named to the all-district team both as a defensive back and linebacker in high school.

Kansas State, Rice, UTEP and Villanova were among the teams that recruited Garden out of high school.

UNT now has commitments from 16 high school players and three transfers, including Cam Montgomery, a former Northeast Mississippi Junior College running back who transferred to UNT at the semester break and will be eligible next season.

NORTH TEXAS COMMITMENTS

The following is a list of players who have orally committed to play for North Texas

Pos. Player School

LB Marquese Davis Atlanta

DL Jesse DeSoto San Antonio Lee

WR Sam Dibrell S.A. Alamo Heights

S Bron Hager Austin Westlake

WR Breece Johnson Colleyville Heritage

OL J.J. Johnson Plano West

WR Marcus King Euless Trinity

WR Jason Martinson Birdville

RB Micah Mosley Nederland

LB Justin Padron Southlake Carroll

LB A.J. Penson Lufkin

WR Sam Roberson Sommerville

DE Kyle Russo Southlake Carroll

DT Jordan Scoggins Euless Trinity

QB Giovanni Vizza S.A. Alamo Heights

WR Evan Walker Colleyville Heritage

Transfers

WR Evan Fentriss Rice*

DB Greg Garden Navy*

RB Cam Montgomery NE Miss. Junior College**

* — Will be eligible beginning in the 2008 season

** — Midterm transfer

Edited January 29, 2007 by Green Mean

[SilverEagle]

I'm still very impressed that we could get a young man like Scoggins, who wanted to play TE (and could have at Iowa St.), and talk him into coming here to play in the defensive line. Now THAT'S recruiting.

[Green Mean]

Whoops didnt see this was already posted. Oh well nonetheless heres the whole Vito article with all the oral commitments thus far.

[pollock]

I'm still very impressed that we could get a young man like Scoggins, who wanted to play TE (and could have at Iowa St.), and talk him into coming here to play in the defensive line. Now THAT'S recruiting.

No kidding. I wonder if he made a visit to the frozen hell known as Ames, Iowa and decided to go Green.