Tony Mitchell's return makes North Texas a potential Top 25 team

Harry · April 9, 2012

He would have likely been a first round pick had he decided to enter the draft this year.

But with the decision to return, he becomes a player to keep an eye on. Remember, the numbers that he put up this year came after he sat out for a year-and-a-half. What kind of player can he develop into with a full offseason of training within a program?

The bigger question is how good can North Texas be? The answer: very … IF things play out the right way.

Jordan Williams and Chris Jones, two members of head coach Johnny Jones’ lauded recruiting class, were ruled academically ineligible in the middle of the season and missed the last 13 games. Jones was averaging 14.1 ppg at the time while Williams was averaging 10.5 ppg. With junior-to-be Alzee Williams also back, along with Oklahoma State transfer Roger Franklin, the Mean Green have a core that is worthy of top 25 consideration. Throw in Grambling transfer Justin Patton and, well, UNT is a couple of favorable breaks away from being one of the nation’s most dangerous mid-major teams.

Read more: http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/09/tony-mitchells-return-makes-north-texas-a-potential-top-25-team/

chrisfisher · April 10, 2012

Nice. Pre-season Top 25 talk for the Mean Green. When was the last time that happened?

untwillrise · April 10, 2012

2008. The last time I played ncca college basketball on xbox

emmitt01 · April 10, 2012

Top 25???? Don't they know our coach purposefully keeps bigtime program's out of the pit? Don't they know we've ONLY made three straight conference finals (everybody does that)?? Aren't they aware that the players from the good ol' days were FAR superior...you know, cuz it was the good ol' days.

I'm tired of these people with an obvious agenda (and no North Texas ties) overhyping what this program has become.

Higher expectations people!!!!

KRAM1 · April 10, 2012

This is the kind of chatter that can pay recruiting dividends going forward. Just imagine what this could do after a successful season next year for recruiting and for the future of Mean green basketball...WOW...I would expect UNT to see bigger crowds and increased season ticket sales beginning this next season. Thank you Tony and all the other players and coaches for working hard to make this happen!

TheTastyGreek · April 10, 2012

Not to be a downer, but... Unless our 3 point and midrange shooting improve, we may not even be a mid-major top 25 team.

Amazing talent, amazing potential... But our most devastating flaw from last year will be our undoing if we can't improve on it this season.

cl_1_2008 · April 10, 2012

Not to be a downer, but... Unless our 3 point and midrange shooting improve, we may not even be a mid-major top 25 team.

Amazing talent, amazing potential... But our most devastating flaw from last year will be our undoing if we can't improve on it this season.

If I recall correctly, Jordan and Chris had vastly improved their shooting before they were deemed ineligible. That should be a big help. Then you have Walton and Overlander who can also shoot. My only question is whether or not Odoh can have the impact we all hope for and allow Tony to slide over to the 4. I know he's got the frame and the numbers, but junior college basketball can be downright awful. Time will tell I suppose.

meangreendork · April 10, 2012

The team is good, Mitchell makes them better, but there's a lot to be improved upon from last season. Rebounds, 3 pointers, mid-court stuff. Again, our guys make for a really good team, but they're just at the tipping point of good to great.

Green Dozer · April 10, 2012

Don't forget free throws. Maybe Josh could come back as the free throw coach.

TheTastyGreek · April 10, 2012

Don't forget free throws. Maybe Josh could come back as the free throw coach.

We shot free throws at 71.2%, good for 98th in the country. Just outside the top 25% among D-1 schools. Not our greatest showing ever, but still much better than average.

Meanwhile, we shot field goals at 43.4%, tying us for 169th in D-1. Right at mediocre.

Free throws, we're good but not as great as we were with the last group of guys we had. Field goal shooting, we're mediocre at best.

GreenFlag · April 10, 2012

Not to be a downer, but... Unless our 3 point and midrange shooting improve, we may not even be a mid-major top 25 team.

Amazing talent, amazing potential... But our most devastating flaw from last year will be our undoing if we can't improve on it this season.

So true. I'm not a basketball guy so I ask the bb guru's this: Can a player at this level really improve their shooting? If the answer is yes, by how much? I would think by the time a kid gets to college his stroke is his stroke and it isn't going to get much better.

CMJ · April 10, 2012

So true. I'm not a basketball guy so I ask the bb guru's this: Can a player at this level really improve their shooting? If the answer is yes, by how much? I would think by the time a kid gets to college his stroke is his stroke and it isn't going to get much better.

I've seen players improve their range sure. They just have to put in the work. Going old school here, Magic Johnson was not known for his range early in his career, but he busted his ass to the point where he could make 3's consistently by the later 80's.

Edited April 10, 2012 by CMJ

Censored by Laurie · April 10, 2012

So true. I'm not a basketball guy so I ask the bb guru's this: Can a player at this level really improve their shooting? If the answer is yes, by how much? I would think by the time a kid gets to college his stroke is his stroke and it isn't going to get much better.

A kid's stroke likely won't change much, but his consistency certainly can. Building strength and muscle-memory through repetition are key, knowing the difference between a quality look and a forced one and one simply gaining confidence and allowing the game to slow down a bit in front of you.

Jordan has a very good looking perimeter stroke...good elevation, good balance, good release...his problem, in my opinion, last year was that he never fully adapted to the speed of the college game...that showed in other areas of his game, but namely in his poor shooting percentage.

Green Dozer · April 10, 2012

We shot free throws at 71.2%, good for 98th in the country. Just outside the top 25% among D-1 schools. Not our greatest showing ever, but still much better than average.

Meanwhile, we shot field goals at 43.4%, tying us for 169th in D-1. Right at mediocre.

Free throws, we're good but not as great as we were with the last group of guys we had. Field goal shooting, we're mediocre at best.

Your right, but we had a few games where the missed ones hurt us. But that happens to every team I know. Josh & Co. spoiled us in that area.

TheTastyGreek · April 10, 2012

Your right, but we had a few games where the missed ones hurt us. But that happens to every team I know. Josh & Co. spoiled us in that area.

Missed free throws always stick out, too. The worst 3 or 4 games each year that bring down the average tend to linger in the memory. And it's always hard to forget the ones where we shoot below average and lose by just a few points.

The Josh/Tristan teams were 3 of our 5 all-time best in terms of team free throw percentage... But I still remember a few losses where we could have won it at the line.

UNT90 · April 10, 2012

A kid's stroke likely won't change much, but his consistency certainly can. Building strength and muscle-memory through repetition are key, knowing the difference between a quality look and a forced one and one simply gaining confidence and allowing the game to slow down a bit in front of you.

Jordan has a very good looking perimeter stroke...good elevation, good balance, good release...his problem, in my opinion, last year was that he never fully adapted to the speed of the college game...that showed in other areas of his game, but namely in his poor shooting percentage.

Agree.

Learning the college game, knowing when to take the shot amd when not to, and having the confidence in your shot when you do take it.

Confidence is so huge in basketball. Building confidence form freshman to sophomore year is what can take this team to a different level.

It would have been even better if everyone had a full freshmen year of experience, bit I digress.

emmitt01 · April 11, 2012

"Wish some of the crack pots would put down the crack pipes. Next years team is not going to be a Top 25 team. Now do they have the talent? Yes they do but they do not have the coaching to get them into the Top 25. I could see a Top 50 ranking and maybe get a few votes, but JJ has done nothing in 10 yrs to lead me to believe he can beat a Top 25 team much less be a Top 25 team. I would be ecstatic if the team finally wins the Sun Belt Regular Season Title."

Just more "wisdom" from the grumpy old men board. Maybe if JJ ha the team come out in John Stockton shorts with a flying worm on them they'd be satisfied?

greenminer · April 11, 2012

"Wish some of the crack pots would put down the crack pipes. Next years team is not going to be a Top 25 team. Now do they have the talent? Yes they do but they do not have the coaching to get them into the Top 25. I could see a Top 50 ranking and maybe get a few votes, but JJ has done nothing in 10 yrs to lead me to believe he can beat a Top 25 team much less be a Top 25 team. I would be ecstatic if the team finally wins the Sun Belt Regular Season Title."

Just more "wisdom" from the grumpy old men board. Maybe if JJ ha the team come out in John Stockton shorts with a flying worm on them they'd be satisfied?

He didn't show us anything to make us believe he could beat anybody outside the Belt, until OSU came in 2007. Then Tech. Then we took care of business on the road at LSU.

He might not be walloping AQ programs night in and out, but he is now trading punches. And now his peers from LSU are selling him to be the next HC.

I would find it funny if they dismiss LSU's praise JJ, but then hang their hat on Texas noticing Aston.

I'm sure they would be ecstatic if we won the regular season title, but I have no reason to believe that would change their opinion of him. They will always find something, just like you can on any coach.

CMJ · April 11, 2012

They will always find something, just like you can on any coach.

Reminds me of that one story John Wooden used to tell after UCLA won their (I believe 3rd) National Title. They'd won 2 years in a row and then missed the NCAA's, before winning the title again. Apparently he was approached by a booster in the aftermath of the championship who said something along the lines of "Fantastic victory Coach....after you let us down last year."

Edited April 11, 2012 by CMJ

UNT90 · April 11, 2012

I've seen players improve their range sure. They just have to put in the work. Going old school here, Magic Johnson was not known for his range early in his career, but he busted his ass to the point where he could make 3's consistently by the later 80's.

Or current Maverick Jason Kidd. Terrible from the perimeter early in his careeer, but has been a good outside shooter since returning to the Mavs.

With a good shooting coach, and a lot of time in the gym, any college freshman can improve his range.

UNT90 · February 28, 2015

Just in case some forgot what we were on the cusp of accomplishing.

But I'm sure all these knowledgable basketball people are wrong and RV is right...

Andrew · February 28, 2015

Who cares..... Stop harping on the past and move on. It's not like this has not happened before to other schools in the nation. We were rated highly and flopped. We get it! We went 12-20 and it was dissapoitning. Stuff happens.... People move on and live in the moment not in the past. Complain then sure! Complain now with a 5 game win streak and the team clicking? Silly! Move on. I do not care what happened in the past. Let's just win now. Maybe he should have been fired at that time, but not now. People really need to move on and stop trying to use a past failure as a reason to fire someone.

Quoner · February 28, 2015

People really need to move on and stop trying to use a past failure as a reason to fire someone.

Not sure if you were trying to recap a large portion of our history, but you nailed it.

Ben Gooding · February 28, 2015

Accidently +1 Andrew, someone tag him please.

You aren't fired for what you have done in the past? Well..that's just foolish b/c that is exactly how you are fired....body...of....work.

Rudy · February 28, 2015

I guess since I went to almost every home game Benny's first year, except the last one or two, I have no valuable insight as to how the team regressed.