Polyfro Primer: North Texas

Harry · November 9, 2012

North Texas was the last team to be added to Creighton’s schedule, filling the opening-night slot that has traditionally been filled by pushovers that come to Omaha with little hope for victory. They may not be the sexy “name” team that some in the local print media longed for, but make no mistake: North Texas may very well wind up being the best team Creighton plays during the non-conference slate. It’s a rare season opener that combines the anticipation of the first game with the excitement of an opponent featuring one of the nation’s best players.

Over the last 20 years, the Jays have played just two eventual NCAA Tournament teams in the opener — Iowa State in 1992, and Alabama State in 2010 (the Hornets went 17-18 but won their conference tourney). Mississippi Valley State (2006), New Mexico (2008) and Dayton (2009) went on to play in the NIT, but on the other side of the coin are seven opponents who went on to win single-digit games. Season opening games have, over the years, been glorified exhibition games more often than not.

It may be a fortuitous time to catch the Mean Green. They’re a talented squad but one that hasn’t played many games with one another, and they’re adjusting to a new coaching staff. Give them eight or nine games to gel, and beating them will be much tougher than it could be tonight. Tony Mitchell, their headline player, originally signed with Missouri but after being ruled academically ineligible, landed with the Mean Green instead. He sat out the first semester last year, and just as he became eligible, two other standout players (Chris Jones and Jordan Williams) were ruled ineligible and missed the remainder of the season. As a result, the three talented players have played just five games together.

Mitchell is, by any measure, one of the handful of best players in college basketball and a likely lottery pick in next summer’s NBA draft. He’s “Gregory Echenique with a 40 inch vertical leap”, as Greg McDermott described him on last Friday’s postgame show — an explosive 6’8″ forward/center http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SpZGKZA5ges. He’s big enough to take up space in the paint and bang with most collegiate big men, but also quick enough to lead the fast break. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports wrote that he might be the best combination of talent and athleticism in college basketball — better than anyone at Kentucky, Carolina, Duke or any other “blueblood” program. He’ll pose massive problems defensively for the Jays, who struggled to defend athletic big men last season — St. Joseph’s and Wichita State (in Omaha) come to mind as teams that exploited Creighton’s defensive liabilities inside — and it will be fascinating to see how Greg McDermott schemes to slow him down.

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