Ron Patterson

[Grant.UNT]

... i would rather miss the final puzzle piece, than win by throwing out players on short notice who have given their all . Provided this is true, I am not sure what to make of Benford

Top tier programs capitalize whenever they have the opportunity to gain talent.

This is going to be the price we pay to win big. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but that is the way it is.

[cdizzle86]

Trey wasn't gonna get any minutes here anyway. He'll get a scholarship somewhere else where he can actually get some solid run. Is Benford honestly required to sit on his hands regarding a player recruited by the former coach when there's a roster spot that can be improved? We don't even know that he flatout cut the guy anyway--hell, it's not close to confirmed that Norris is even gone.

According to his Twitter he is gone. No mention of the school, but he did say it was on the East coast.

[NTGabe15]

According to his Twitter he is gone. No mention of the school, but he did say it was on the East coast.

You are correct about an hour ago he tweeted to someone asking "lil bro what happened with you and UNT" to which he replied "man a long story but I'm up north now"

[Green P1]

well.... good

[TheTastyGreek]

People who are upset by this should be just as upset at Odoh for failing to honor his commitment.

2 way street.

I think they are very different situations (not that I was thrilled about Odoh bailing out on us).

I'm not going to try and argue or tell anyone what their opinion on this situation ought to be. To me, this is disgusting. Your mileage may vary.

Edit: "Your" meaning in general, not UNT90 specifically. We good.

[UNT90]

I think they are very different situations (not that I was thrilled about Odoh bailing out on us).

I'm not going to try and argue or tell anyone what their opinion on this situation ought to be. To me, this is disgusting. Your mileage may vary.

Edit: "Your" meaning in general, not UNT90 specifically. We good.

Because my mileage doesn't vary, it's just very high (damnit!!).

We don't know the details well enough, and I want to make sure (like nothing to do with twitter - official announcement sure) before commenting any further.

If Trey did leave, good luck to him wherever he may land.

Anyone who drives me back to the hotel in Hot Springs at 3:30AM is a good.

Some would say I was lucky to make it out of the woods alive.

Edited August 21, 2012 by UNT90

[meangreenacct]

I think they are very different situations (not that I was thrilled about Odoh bailing out on us).

I'm not going to try and argue or tell anyone what their opinion on this situation ought to be. To me, this is disgusting. Your mileage may vary.

Edit: "Your" meaning in general, not UNT90 specifically. We good.

Agreed

[cdizzle86]

I think they are very different situations (not that I was thrilled about Odoh bailing out on us).

I'm not going to try and argue or tell anyone what their opinion on this situation ought to be. To me, this is disgusting. Your mileage may vary.

Edit: "Your" meaning in general, not UNT90 specifically. We good.

I don't like it either, but college is supposed to prepare you for real life and this kind of stuff happens all the time. Life isn't always fair and that is what makes people work harder.

[Dr. Seuss]

I think they are very different situations (not that I was thrilled about Odoh bailing out on us).

I'm not going to try and argue or tell anyone what their opinion on this situation ought to be. To me, this is disgusting. Your mileage may vary.

Edit: "Your" meaning in general, not UNT90 specifically. We good.

I understand what you mean, but think about how good some of our transfers have been for us and how good our transfers can be for other schools... It happens to everyone and UNT was on the receiving end of it and now times are changing...

[NT03]

Back to the orginal topic, Patterson will attend Brewster Prep

[Censored by Laurie]

I think they are very different situations (not that I was thrilled about Odoh bailing out on us).

I'm not going to try and argue or tell anyone what their opinion on this situation ought to be. To me, this is disgusting. Your mileage may vary.

Edit: "Your" meaning in general, not UNT90 specifically. We good.

You know I understand exactly where you're coming from on this, but I'm gonna give Benford the benefit of the doubt on number one before I start thinking he does everything direct from the book of Buzz Williams.

JJ likely had very similar "you're not in my plans" conversations (Harold Edwards, Jonathon Jackson...maybe even Knoxxy) to the one Benford likely had with Norris.

[Green P1]

You know I understand exactly where you're coming from on this, but I'm gonna give Benford the benefit of the doubt on number one before I start thinking he does everything direct from the book of Buzz Williams.

JJ likely had very similar "you're not in my plans" conversations (Harold Edwards, Jonathon Jackson...maybe even Knoxxy) to the one Benford likely had with Norris.

We all know Knoxxy quit cause he was a big white sissy... but even if he had been pressured to open up a spot nobody would care! He was a goofy lookin white guy!

[MeanGreenTexan]

2 ways this thing could have gone (of course there could be variances, but overall, there are 2 different scenarios):

1. Coach Benford was ecstatic with his 13 man roster this season and ready to roll, when T.J. Taylor leaves Marquette and reaches out to him for a spot. Of course, coach Benford wants to try and make room for him... there had to be someone who needed to be placed on the altar though. Coach Benford has that difficult "you're at the end of my bench, kid" talk with T-No and works his butt off to find a place for him to land after an agreement is reached. It's all good. This is bittersweet, but this is the way I hope it all went down.

2. Coach Benford goes to work on T.J. Taylor immediately after getting here. Smiling in T-No's face all the while knowing that if he doesn't get T.J., he's got a nice PG on his bench, but IF T.J. jumps on board, this is the guy who is going. Trey is somewhat "strung along" until Benford gets the commitment from T.J. Once he does, it's time to have the difficult "you're at the end of my bench, kid" talk with Trey, reaches out to some buddies at other schools to do Trey a favor,etc... If this is the way it went down, I'm more inclined to agree with Tasty, it's not something I would be proud of. If this is the scenario, then who knows how many others were targeted like T.J., and who else on the team was in the cross-hairs?

Either way, it looks like we are done making moves. So hopefully we don't see this again.

[Eastwood Eagle]

I feel bad for Norris, he seemed like he wanted to play for UNT. I have no doubt he will land nicely and get some solid minutes.

[GangGreen]

JJ likely had very similar "you're not in my plans" conversations (Harold Edwards, Jonathon Jackson...maybe even Knoxxy) to the one Benford likely had with Norris.

You might want to add to that list:

Ty Thomas

Ron Harris

Marquis Mitchell

Scott Roninger

Lionel Brown

Michael Sturns

Johnathan Jackson

I'm sure there are more. Parting ways with players before their senior year is nothing new, even at NT. This happens and it has happened with our alma mater before. This time, however, we have a bona fide upgrade. If, by the way, you don't recognize any of the names listed above, you will probably have the same reaction 5 years from now with the current movement in the roster.

[Censored by Laurie]

You might want to add to that list:

Ty Thomas

Ron Harris

Marquis Mitchell

Scott Roninger

Lionel Brown

Michael Sturns

Johnathan Jackson

In fairness...

Ty and Ron left because they felt they were better than bit players...pretty sure JJ wanted them to stay.

Mitchell finished his eligibility.

Scott Roniger was starting when he left the team...can't imagine he was asked to leave.

Lionel Brown left for family reasons

Sturns...well...

Jackson I mentioned...he almost certainly was asked to pack his bag

[GrandGreen]

Shameful on many levels. My opinion on Benford and RV went down a little. We can all make excuses, this is the way it is done in big time ball, it is better for Norris in the long run, etc. JJ didn't do this to anyone to my knowledge after one year, and it is not like Norris didn't have some skills and I am sure JJ didn't do it to anyone in the last possible minute like this.

Didn't RV state in an interview that he would not allow a new coach to get rid of a player based on talent?

This will be forgotten quickly especially if NT wins, but that does not make it right. Not renewing a ship is common and so is running off non productive players. However, this was neither of those; Norris was sacrificed to make room for a better player and all the "do it the right way" talk is just that, talk.

Edited August 22, 2012 by GrandGreen

[GangGreen]

In fairness...

Ty and Ron left because they felt they were better than bit players...pretty sure JJ wanted them to stay.

Mitchell finished his eligibility.

Scott Roniger was starting when he left the team...can't imagine he was asked to leave.

Lionel Brown left for family reasons

Sturns...well...

Jackson I mentioned...he almost certainly was asked to pack his bag

Well, it all sounded great last night after a few too many Lone Stars.

[UNT90]

Shameful on many levels. My opinion on Benford and RV went down a little. We can all make excuses, this is the way it is done in big time ball, it is better for Norris in the long run, etc. JJ didn't do this to anyone to my knowledge after one year, and it is not like Norris didn't have some skills and I am sure JJ didn't do it to anyone in the last possible minute like this.

Didn't RV state in an interview that he would not allow a new coach to get rid of a player based on talent?

This will be forgotten quickly especially if NT wins, but that does not make it right. Not renewing a ship is common and so is running off non productive players. However, this was neither of those; Norris was sacrificed to make room for a better player and all the "do it the right way" talk is just that, talk.

We are all commenting on things we really don't know about, but with that said:

Trey could not beat out a walk on for playing time last year. He was not going to play at all this year. South Dakota is a pretty big step down from UNT. It's not a coincidence this is where Yrey ended up.

Do y'all really think it is better for Trey to sit on the end of the bench his entire career and for UNT to waste that scholarship? Does that benefit Trey? Does that benefit UNT?

Of course not.

Good luck to Trey at USD.

[Censored by Laurie]

Well, it all sounded great last night after a few too many Lone Stars.

Green Machine said the same thing when he recently realized he has a college-aged son.

[GrandGreen]

We are all commenting on things we really don't know about, but with that said:

Trey could not beat out a walk on for playing time last year. He was not going to play at all this year. South Dakota is a pretty big step down from UNT. It's not a coincidence this is where Yrey ended up.

Do y'all really think it is better for Trey to sit on the end of the bench his entire career and for UNT to waste that scholarship? Does that benefit Trey? Does that benefit UNT?

Of course not.

Good luck to Trey at USD.

Trey was lucky to find anywhere in August. A much of bs excuses for doing the wrong thing. You have no idea were Trey would have sit the rest of his career and if you think forcing a player out that had his ship renewed and was a part of the team and still would be if Taylor didn't suddenly appear is ok than I wonder about your priorities. Whether Norris can play or not has nothing to do with with the ethics involved.

Benford did what most coaches would have done in the same circumstances, but that doesn't make it right. NT make an commitment and decided to renege on it. You can wrap that in a myriad of lame excuses but that is what happened.

[UNT90]

Trey was lucky to find anywhere in August. A much of bs excuses for doing the wrong thing. You have no idea were Trey would have sit the rest of his career and if you think forcing a player out that had his ship renewed and was a part of the team and still would be if Taylor didn't suddenly appear is ok than I wonder about your priorities. Whether Norris can play or not has nothing to do with with the ethics involved.

Benford did what most coaches would have done in the same circumstances, but that doesn't make it right. NT make an commitment and decided to renege on it. You can wrap that in a myriad of lame excuses but that is what happened.

And you have no idea what happened, how it was handled, or whether or not it was Benford that found a spot for Trey at USD.

I guess we could go back to 5-25 records, right?

As for the bold: Much like Odoh did to UNT this last class. Things happen.

Edited August 22, 2012 by UNT90

[All About UNT]

some of you just crack me up. Much like walk-ons who never get put on scholarship although they have performed on the court/field with a fair amount of consistency it is also not fair to others that a player tie up a scholarship who cannot play to the level of competition that we are playing. Don't want to name names here but a certain player who could seemingly foul out in 2 minutes of playing time and absolutely did not contribute unless you consider throwing your hands in the air to get people to cheer comes to mind. Did he really deserve a 4 yr degree just for such mediocrity? Go ahead and continue the "it's not fair" talk but then question what the hell in life is?

AND THAT is if this even went down the way some of you projected it did.

[GangGreen]

And you have no idea what happened, how it was handled, or whether or not it was Benford that found a spot for Trey at USD.

I guess we could go back to 5-25 records, right?

As for the bold: Much like Odoh did to UNT this last class. Things happen.

We have no idea how it happened. Trey may have soured when PJ was brought in and expressed it to Benford. This could have given Benford the opportunity to go after Taylor, knowing that one of his players was already looking at hanging it up.

[GangGreen]

You can wrap that in a myriad of lame excuses but that is what happened.

How do you know?