Egi Gjikondi talks about upcoming visit to UNT

Harry · May 24, 2013

Egi Gjikondi, a former Boston area high school standout who spent one season as a redshirt at Alabama State, will take an official visit to UNT beginning Wednesday.

Gjikondi played for ABCD Academy, a prep school in Dallas, for a year.

They just contacted me and my coaches, Gjikondi said of UNTs staff Friday afternoon.

They are really interested. They need someone at my position.

Bart Lundy and head coach Tony Benford have been heavily involved in recruiting Gjikondi

Gjikondi is a power forward with a face-up game. Hes similar in terms of his game to Zach Peters, the former Kansas forward UNT pursued who ended up signing with Arizona.

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/

H-towngreen · May 25, 2013

Is it just me or are they telling every recruit that they are looking at them to fill Mitchell's shoes?

Green Lantern · May 25, 2013

ABCD Academy? Bet the lock combination to the coaches luggage is 12345.

LakeTravis · May 25, 2013

Is it just me or are they telling every recruit that they are looking at them to fill Mitchell's shoes?

You are right.

It will take this recruiting class as a whole to fill those shoes.

NT03 · May 25, 2013

Has picked up offer from Northern Kentucky & will visit there after UNT

meangreenacct · May 25, 2013

Damn, how can we compete with Northern Kentucky...

Army of Dad · May 25, 2013

Damn, how can we compete with Northern Kentucky...

Benford'd

TheTastyGreek · May 25, 2013

Albania is fascinating. Very insular, very unique. The most isolated linguistic culture of any nation (Albanian is the last of the Phygo-Thracian languages... There is practically nothing else like it left on earth). And they make the stereotypical Sicilians look like Tibetan monks.

About 10 years ago, my parents took a trip back over to Greece. They landed, went home to the apartment, dropped off their things, and went out to buy some groceries.

Digression: I know that some people here love to pretend they know something about Greece because they saw 20 seconds of video and 5 hours of yammering on their cable news network of choice a year or two ago. But, whatever your messed up conception of the Greek economy... It was and is like the golden road of Oz to all the neighboring countries. Romanians, Bulgarians, and especially (after the pyramid schemes destroyed their economy and threw the country into anarchy) Albanians.

While they were gone, a group of guys broke in and robbed the apartment. Stole some electronics, money, and passports.

Mom called the police, who (apparently unlike the United States) still actively investigate thefts and property crimes. They came out, took some photos and an inventory of what was missing, and asked a few questions. When Mom and Dad explained that they had literally just arrived... The police immediately ruled out Albanians as the potential thieves.

How could the police know it wasn't Albanians? Well, they explained, whoever broke in obviously saw them dragging luggage up to the apartment, then watched and waited for them to leave before breaking in. So, obviously it was Romanians. Because if it had been Albanian thieves, they wouldn't have waited for them to leave the apartment. And they probably would have killed them.

Sure enough, when they caught the guys, they were Romanian. And while they were handcuffed at the police station, my mother absolutely slapped the shit out of one of them, much to the amusement of the police. Dad took her out of the station before she could get after the second guy, trying to make sure she didn't end up locked up for assault.

Anyway... Albanians can be total badasses. Multiple technical fouls? Multiple ejections? This guy sounds like a pretty intimidating interior presence. Probably not a cuddly fan favorite like Roger... But he could definitely play a role for us.

TheTastyGreek · May 25, 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Lek

A lot of Albanian law and tradition derives from the Laws of Lek. Which, from my understanding, features entire sections of codified rules governing the ins and outs of vendetta killing and murder for crimes against honor.

I hope this guy ends up coming here. Because if he does, and we ever try to pull his scholarship? Someone in his extended family with a strong traditional code might solve our coaching problem for us.

GRN-WHT · May 25, 2013

So we're down to courting a redshirt from Alabama State with a competing offer from Northern Kentucky? Really?

Green P1 · May 25, 2013

So we're down to courting a redshirt from Alabama State with a competing offer from Northern Kentucky? Really?

Yep. That Benford can really recruit!!

H-towngreen · May 25, 2013

Yep. That Benford can really recruit!!

Love those local ties

CMJ · May 25, 2013

TTG dropping international crime knowledge. What can't he do?

Shuke-D · May 25, 2013

TTG dropping international crime knowledge. What can't he do?

NT03 · May 25, 2013

TTG dropping international crime knowledge. What can't he do?

Makes me want to be Albanian

TheTastyGreek · May 25, 2013

Makes me want to be Albanian

A lot of pizza places and Italian restaurants in America are run by Albanians. One of my (sadly, former) favorites, Vinny's in Lewisville, was a great example of a delicious one. Nick's Pizza and Pasta is another one. Just like a lot of Greek restaurants here are run by Lebanese people. I guess if you want to start a family restaurant, you make it a point to start one that American people recognize and already like (that happens to be at least reasonably close to your own home country).

Anyway... During the war in Kosovo, supposedly a lot of the money funding the KLA came from repatriated earnings Albanians sent home from wherever they happened to be living and working.

So, if you ate a pizza or a plate of spaghetti from a family restaurant in the 90's... You may have been financing the war in the former Yugoslav republics. Don't let Vlade Divac know.

TheTastyGreek · May 25, 2013

Very few people hold Benford in lower esteem than I do, and I'm still on board with recruiting this guy.

I think that, given the right circumstances and appropriate coaching, he could be a Latrell Sprewell type contributor for us.

Army of Dad · May 25, 2013

Very few people hold Benford in lower esteem than I do, and I'm still on board with recruiting this guy.

I think that, given the right circumstances and appropriate coaching, he could be a Latrell Sprewell type contributor for us.

Yeah, we need to be able to +1 TTG again.

NT03 · May 25, 2013

I'd love to hear Tony Benford ask Latrell Sprewell " who's going to feed your babies ?"

emmitt01 · May 26, 2013

Very few people hold Benford in lower esteem than I do, and I'm still on board with recruiting this guy.

I think that, given the right circumstances and appropriate coaching, he could be a Latrell Sprewell type contributor for us.

Only if he believes Benford to be PJ Carlesimo.

Harry · May 26, 2013

http://in.5thvillage.com/u/gods_child_4/

MDH · May 26, 2013

This post has been promoted to an article

greenit · May 27, 2013

Very few people hold Benford in lower esteem than I do, and I'm still on board with recruiting this guy.

I think that, given the right circumstances and appropriate coaching, he could be a Latrell Sprewell type contributor for us.

So, you think he might try to choke Benford?

Rudy · May 29, 2013

ABCD Academy? Bet the lock combination to the coaches luggage is 12345.

Also the comination to the airlock.

So, if you ate a pizza or a plate of spaghetti from a family restaurant in the 90's... You may have been financing the war in the former Yugoslav republics. Don't let Vlade Divac know.

And Vlade won't be happy with that.