Unt Inks Transfer Mccoy

[MeanGreen61]

Mean Green Basketball Inks Transfer Guard Ryan McCoy

Courtesy: University of North Texas

Release: 04/11/2007

Courtesy: Rick Yeatts

DENTON (4/11/07) – North Texas head basketball coach Johnny Jones added another winning pedigree to the Mean Green roster when guard Ryan McCoy signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the program next season.

McCoy, the state’s 40th ranked player out of high school according to Texashoops.com, comes to the Mean Green after back-to-back NJCAA national titles at Arkansas-Fort Smith and Midland Junior College.

A potent shooter from distance, McCoy hit 54.8 percent from the floor and 53.9 percent from beyond the arc for Midland last season.

"We are excited at the addition of Ryan to the Mean Green family. He has proven himself a pure point guard with an uncanny ability to find the open man and knock down open shots," Jones said. "Ryan has the ability to initiate our offense on one end of the floor while setting the defensive tone out front. He is coming from a great program in Midland with an excellent coach in Grant McCasland."

McCoy, who will have two years of eligibility at North Texas, was sidelined early last season with an injury, but was very productive once he returned to the court. He made his debut with a nine-point, seven-assist performance against Frank Phillips College and reached double figures in each of his next three games, including a 12-point night against South Plains College.

An integral part of the Chaparrals’ 29-8 championship run, McCoy racked up seven points and an assist in the title game against Chipola College.

"Ryan is an extremely talented point guard that has his best years of basketball ahead of him," said McCasland. "His awareness of the game is really amazing, and I think he will be a very exciting player for the North Texas fans."

At Arkansas-Fort Smith, McCoy ran the point in all 29 games en route to the 2006 national championship. He not only ranked second on the team with 2.9 assists per game, but led the Lions with a 46.7 three-point percentage and was second on the team with a 71.1 percent free throw clip.

A former star at Houston Madison High School, McCoy played along side Mean Green three-point king Calvin Watson. Despite being picked to finish near the bottom of the 2005 District 20-5A standings, McCoy led the Marlins to a 26-7 record and was named the district’s MVP.

McCoy joins a Mean Green squad coming off the best season in school history. North Texas piled up a school-record 23 victories while winning its first Sun Belt Conference Championship, and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament since 1988.

Today marks the first day of the Late Signing period that extends through August 1.

[CMJ]

I know it was expected, but nonetheless welcome aboard Ryan.

[Keith7]

McCoy Will Play in The Pit

by texashoops.com recruiting staff

It needs to be repeated - the relationships that are built in the recruiting process can go a long way. Out of Madison High School in Houston, Ryan McCoy originally planned on going D-I but academics dictated another route. Two years and two junior colleges later - most recently at Midland College - the waterbug 6-foot, 160-pound point guard is heading to the Sun Belt Conference to a program he never lost contact with.

"I decided to go to North Texas," McCoy said, who inked his letter-of-intent on Wednesday. "One reason is because they've been recruiting me since forever. Even though I signed with Tulsa out of high school, I was still cool with the coaches and had a good relationship with them."

"One former player from my high school (Calvin Watson) played with them and he liked it there," McCoy said. "So everything was good."

McCoy has been on UNT's campus both officially and unofficially many times - starting back in high school when he played AAU ball with the Houston Swoosh. In truth, it's like a second home to him and during his official visit when he had a sit-down with the North Texas athletic director, it sold him on going Green.

"When I talked to the Athletic Director, he really got me going and that caught my attention," McCoy said. "I really like the campus and the area around it, and the program is nice too."

McCoy has the rare distinction of being a two-time NJCAA National Champion - he won as a freshman at Arkansas-Fort Smith and was a member of Midland's title team this year. Unfortunately injuries derailed his sophomore season at Midland and McCoy only got into a handful of games. He admits he got a little down about not playing but he'll never forget the experience he's had the past two years.

"When we made it through regionals, I just had a feeling that we would win in nationals," McCoy said. "The past two years I've really been working on my shooting and I've been able to knock down big shots. I've also become a leader too."

Texas Hoops Analysis (Fall '04): RYAN is steady floor leader who makes good decisions with the ball. He always seems to know what is going on around him and understands the game situation. He can create, gets into the paint and finds a way to score in traffic. He is a very good passer on the break, gets the ball to the open man and creates easy buckets. He can score when needed and has 3 point range but is satisfied running the team.

[GrandGreen]

Anybody else worried about this recruiting class? Most believed that NT might get a little bump in recruiting from the NCAA appearance and it may happen but the signs at this point aren't good. First, most of the highly recruited are now taken in the early signing period, NT did not sign anyone. The highly ballyhooed last year class has turned out to be far less than expected. Fleming is now gone, Muse never qualified, Jackson was hurt all year. Magrum played little and Dennis although generally thought to be good player is still a mystery to most. The only signing so far this year is a greatly needed backup point, but not exactly a highly sought recruit. Losing a recruit to maybe the most impoverished program in the nation, conference mate New Orleans is not exactly promising.

Edited April 12, 2007 by GrandGreen

[mean green d]

No I'm not worried. We still have time and will find some players to fit the system in place. When the recruiting period is closed, we can than make an evaluation.