2015 - HS - Gage Ellis SG 6'4

NT03 · June 20, 2014

HS: Greenville Legacy , South Carolina

AAU: SC Raptors

Rivals - https://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/player-Gage-Ellis-150960

List offers : Citadel, Gardner-Webb,Radford & Western Carolina

24/7 - http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Gage-Ellis-20229/RecruitInterests

List additional offers from : Appalachian St , Jacksonville

Future 150 scouting report - http://future150.com/hs/basketball-profiles/gage-ellis-sg-2015

Edited June 20, 2014 by NT03

NT03 · June 20, 2014

Vito talked with him earlier today -

UNT pursuing South Carolina combo guard Gage Ellis (@12Gage_XII), who has seen stock soar over last few months: http://t.co/RN1hrbdYo0
— Brett Vito (@brettvito)
June 19, 2014

UNT90 · June 20, 2014

Competing with some real powerhouse programs, I see.

Andrew · June 20, 2014

Other than Tony Mitchell or Jordan Williams when (recently) have we had a player who has had offers from just exceptional basketball schools? I guess TJ Taylor could be thrown in there was well but he like Jordan is currently on the team. We have never been know for getting players when going up against the UTs, Kansas states, and the Oklahoma states.

MeanGreenTexan · June 20, 2014

Other than Tony Mitchell or Jordan Williams when (recently) have we had a player who has had offers from just exceptional basketball schools? I guess TJ Taylor could be thrown in there was well but he like Jordan is currently on the team. We have never been know for getting players when going up against the UTs, Kansas states, and the Oklahoma states.

I may be crazy, but even if we were never winning recruiting battles with UT, we weren't mired in recruiting 'battles' with the likes of:

Citadel, Gardner-Webb,Radford & Western Carolina

TheTastyGreek · June 20, 2014

I hope Benford gets his guys in there and starts winning.

Putting aside all other dumbassery... The only guy on next year's roster (hopefully) who ever played for or signed under Johnny will be Jordan Williams.

No need to hope. What you'll see next year is all 'his guys'.

Andrew · June 20, 2014

Putting aside all other dumbassery... The only guy on next year's roster (hopefully) who ever played for or signed under Johnny will be Jordan Williams.

No need to hope. What you'll see next year is all 'his guys'.

I'm just giving him one more year. Every other coach at UNT has received the same treatment so why not Benford. Having guys who you think can fit your system will always help and they do not have to be spectacular players. Not saying this is very comparable, however I have played on inter mural teams and city teams back in the day with some very un athletic people. Sometimes people get over looked or are capable of more with the rights pieces. It's more about chemistry and how they play as a team then having nba caliber players. Granted it does not hurt to have NBA talent on a team. Having a point guard who can run the floor and be the coach will always help. I am ok with getting players with no offers as long as they can play as a team.

UNT90 · June 21, 2014

Other than Tony Mitchell or Jordan Williams when (recently) have we had a player who has had offers from just exceptional basketball schools? I guess TJ Taylor could be thrown in there was well but he like Jordan is currently on the team. We have never been know for getting players when going up against the UTs, Kansas states, and the Oklahoma states.

Forrest Robinson

Tristan Thompson

Jacob Holman

Josh White

George Odufawa

And those are just off the top of my head.

But ya, this is the same caliber recruiting that was happening under JJ.

Again, statements like this is why many think you are fictional or RV's wife.

Edited June 21, 2014 by UNT90

Andrew · June 21, 2014

Forrest Robinson
Tristan Thompson
Jacob Holman
Josh White
George Odufawa
And those are just off the top of my head.
But ya, this is the same caliber recruiting that was happening under JJ.
Again, statements like this is why many think you are fictional or RV's wife.

Holman had centenary, josh white was only offered by Tulane. Tristan is the only name mentioned above who had a larger school seriously going after him. You can see their offers on rivals among other sites.

UNT90 · June 21, 2014

Holman had centenary, josh white was only offered by Tulane. Tristan is the only name mentioned above who had a larger school seriously going after him. You can see their offers on rivals among other sites.

Your basketball knowledge is such a joke.

Forrest had multiple P5 offers, including Arkansas, USC, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma St. Here is his offer sheet:

http://sports.yahoo.com/alabama/basketball/recruiting/player-Forrest-Robinson-93769

Odufawa actually SIGNED WITH AND ATTENDED Arizona St. Here is HIS offer sheet. Wrong again, basketball genius:

http://sports.yahoo.com/indiana/basketball/recruiting/player-George-Odufuwa-25492

And yes, Tulane IS a better offer than Western Carolina. Look at the conference affiliation. One of the reasons we got Josh is because it was assumed he was going to sign with LSU, but didnt for whatever reason. See Vito's article here:

And should we talk about Tony Mitchell? You remember, that 5 star recruit that had UNT in his top 3 as a high school senior?

And finally, Jacob Holman signed early. He was in the mid 50s in the Texas top 100 before his senior year and moved up to the high 20s, low 30s by the end of his senior season. His offer sheet is no longer listed by Rivals, but he would have had P5 offers after his senior season.

I really should go back to my old policy of just ignoring you, but sometimes the misinformation that you post on here is just so mind boggling stupid it needs to be addressed.

Edited June 21, 2014 by UNT90

BillySee58 · June 21, 2014

Holman had centenary, josh white was only offered by Tulane. Tristan is the only name mentioned above who had a larger school seriously going after him. You can see their offers on rivals among other sites.

Holmen also had listed offers from La Tech, Santa Clara, UTEP, Oral Roberts (was coming off 3 straight NCAA tourney appearances heading into Holmen's senior season, and Drake (was coming off a 28-5 season in which they received a 5-seed heading into Holmen's senior season).

UNT90 · June 21, 2014

Holmen also had listed offers from La Tech, Santa Clara, UTEP, Oral Roberts (was coming off 3 straight NCAA tourney appearances heading into Holmen's senior season, and Drake (was coming off a 28-5 season in which they received a 5-seed heading into Holmen's senior season).

Thank you, BillySee. I knew he had more offers.

Cooley · June 22, 2014

There's been several signings and offers to kids with multiple and larger offers under Benford. Not trying to defend him but his offers/signings aren't any less impressive than what the McCarney staff offers out in football. In fact, most of our football offers are the first and/or only offer these kids have received. It doesn't matter that you occasionally offer ships to kids with multiple P5 offers if you don't land any.

Benford's problem is getting kids in school or keeping them here. A few of his recent signings and offers:

Greg White-Pittman (Tulane, Auburn)

Jeremy Combs (Texas Tech, Colorado St, Murray St)

DeAndre Harris (Top Juco prospect and jewel in the class with Ahmed)

Maurice Aniefiok (Mississippi, Tulsa, Rider, Marshall)

Carrington Ward (Fairleigh Dickinson/Md. Eastern Shore - Top 100 Juco)

Vertrail Vaughns (George Mason, Colorado and Wichita St)

Kelvin Gaines (Cincinati, UCONN, Georgia, Memphis, OU, Miami)

Keith Coleman (Nebraska – Top 25 JC)

TJ Taylor (OU, Marquette, Ariz. St, TCU, A&M, TX Tech)

Greg Wesley (Arkansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M, UTA, Texas Tech, and Texas State)

Mohammed Ahmed (Top Juco prospect)

PJ Hartwick (Mississippi St, Texas A&M and South Florida)

Arthur Casimiro (Brazil National Team)

Anthony Norris (Memphis, Marquette, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Baylor, West Virginia, Penn State, Virginia and Arizona State)

UNT90 · June 22, 2014

There's been several signings and offers to kids with multiple and larger offers under Benford. Not trying to defend him but his offers/signings aren't any less impressive than what the McCarney staff offers out in football. In fact, most of our football offers are the first and/or only offer these kids have received. It doesn't matter that you occasionally offer ships to kids with multiple P5 offers if you don't land any.
Benford's problem is getting kids in school or keeping them here. A few of his recent signings and offers:
Greg White-Pittman (Tulane, Auburn)
Jeremy Combs (Texas Tech, Colorado St, Murray St)
DeAndre Harris (Top Juco prospect and jewel in the class with Ahmed)
Maurice Aniefiok (Mississippi, Tulsa, Rider, Marshall)
Carrington Ward (Fairleigh Dickinson/Md. Eastern Shore - Top 100 Juco)
Vertrail Vaughns (George Mason, Colorado and Wichita St)
Kelvin Gaines (Cincinati, UCONN, Georgia, Memphis, OU, Miami)
Keith Coleman (Nebraska Top 25 JC)
TJ Taylor (OU, Marquette, Ariz. St, TCU, A&M, TX Tech)
Greg Wesley (Arkansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M, UTA, Texas Tech, and Texas State)
Mohammed Ahmed (Top Juco prospect)
PJ Hartwick (Mississippi St, Texas A&M and South Florida)
Arthur Casimiro (Brazil National Team)
Anthony Norris (Memphis, Marquette, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Baylor, West Virginia, Penn State, Virginia and Arizona State)

You make some valid points, but Wesley was signed before Benford coached one game at UNT.

And wasn't Coleman's Nebraska offer pulled after a bad JC performance?

It will be interesting to see whether the talent level we are able to sign decreases now that Benford has coached 2 years and AAU coaches know whether he can or can't.

Also, you can't compare football and basketball recruiting. Two very different animals.

And you are right, it doesn't matter how great the recruits are if they never make it to UNT, or if they play one year and leave.

Edited June 22, 2014 by UNT90

BillySee58 · June 22, 2014

There's been several signings and offers to kids with multiple and larger offers under Benford. Not trying to defend him but his offers/signings aren't any less impressive than what the McCarney staff offers out in football. In fact, most of our football offers are the first and/or only offer these kids have received. It doesn't matter that you occasionally offer ships to kids with multiple P5 offers if you don't land any.
Benford's problem is getting kids in school or keeping them here. A few of his recent signings and offers:
Greg White-Pittman (Tulane, Auburn)
Jeremy Combs (Texas Tech, Colorado St, Murray St)
DeAndre Harris (Top Juco prospect and jewel in the class with Ahmed)
Maurice Aniefiok (Mississippi, Tulsa, Rider, Marshall)
Carrington Ward (Fairleigh Dickinson/Md. Eastern Shore - Top 100 Juco)
Vertrail Vaughns (George Mason, Colorado and Wichita St)
Kelvin Gaines (Cincinati, UCONN, Georgia, Memphis, OU, Miami)
Keith Coleman (Nebraska Top 25 JC)
TJ Taylor (OU, Marquette, Ariz. St, TCU, A&M, TX Tech)
Greg Wesley (Arkansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M, UTA, Texas Tech, and Texas State)
Mohammed Ahmed (Top Juco prospect)
PJ Hartwick (Mississippi St, Texas A&M and South Florida)
Arthur Casimiro (Brazil National Team)
Anthony Norris (Memphis, Marquette, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Baylor, West Virginia, Penn State, Virginia and Arizona State)

A big part of what UNT90 is getting at is that Benford isn't winning any recruiting battles. A lot of the players you listed, you gave us their high school offer lists, even though we got them via transfer. Getting Kelvin Gaines as a grad transfer after two years of riding the pine at cincy is hardly like beating out UCONN or Memphis for him. Same with Vertrail Vaughns, wanting to come home for his last season. The offers you listed for Anthony Norris were retracted in high school after he regressed and he didn't start for Midland JC.

I'm really not sure why Benford chose to portray Deandre Harris as the jewel of this class. He didn't have any other offers, came off the bench his freshman year, and redshirted last year. Ahmed looks pretty good, but not sure what his offer list was. Doesn't show anything on his recruiting profiles so hard to know for sure. Also, Greg White-Pittman said his only other offer was New Orleans, so Auburn never offered.

And as 90 said, Wesley, Hardwick, and Taylor came in before he ever coached a game so they were recruited on someone else's merits.

We signed 4 guards this year who had 1 offer combined. We saw how Benford-recruited bigs led to bottom of the conference production. Scary to think what it's going to be like with his guards as well.

UNT90 · June 22, 2014

Very well put, as always, BillySee.

Outside of Combs, this last recruiting class was extremely unimpressive. And with Benford's recent track record, it's fair to wonder if Combs ever even makes it to UNT.

And lets go back to Benford's 1st class. Out of the 5 or 6 that signed, only 2 made it to UNT. PJ left after year one (because he was a cancer, of course. Just like Mitchell and CJ, and anyone else who dares to do what is best for their development and GTF away from Benford) and Wesley has yet to take the pine for UNT (and part of me wonders if he ever will).

So what did Benford do with all that preseason publicity and expectations of being a mid major power? Remember, early signing occurred right as the season started:

He produced exactly zero players who contributed last year in any way (Coleman was a busy of the highest order and was signed as a late addition to the previous class, anyway. As was PJ, actually).

Just a failure of the highest order. And RV continues to back this obvious mistake.

It really is a microcosm of the history of UNT athletics.

BillySee58 · June 22, 2014

Benford's first full class (after Coleman and Hardwick) was actually 2013. He signed a total of 10 players. 5 signed in the spring and all made it in as transfers (Vaughns, Aniefiok, Voss, Flannigan, Gaines) while 5 signed in the fall (Casimiro, Norris, Nunn, Friar, and Wesley). Of the 5 signees from his first early signing period, none have played a game for us yet with hopefully Wesley set to play this season.

But honestly, this shouldn't become another Benford bashing thread. Whether we get this kid or not. We need this class to be successful, regardless of who our coach is going forward. We have 5 seniors and 1 extra open spot for this class. History suggests we'll sign more than just the amount of open spots we have for our class. If these players aren't good then we'll be in big trouble.

Edited June 22, 2014 by BillySee58

UNT90 · June 22, 2014

Benford's first full class (after Coleman and Hardwick) was actually 2013. He signed a total of 10 players. 5 signed in the spring and all made it in as transfers (Vaughns, Aniefiok, Voss, Flannigan, Gaines) while 5 signed in the fall (Casimiro, Norris, Nunn, Friar, and Wesley). Of the 5 signees from his first early signing period, none have played a game for us yet with hopefully Wesley set to play this season.
But honestly, this shouldn't become another Benford bashing thread. Whether we get this kid or not. We need this class to be successful, regardless of who our coach is going forward. We have 5 seniors and 1 extra open spot for this class. History suggests we'll sign more than just the amount of open spots we have for our class. If these players aren't good then we'll be in big trouble.

Correct, but weren't some of the 5 that signed in the Spring replacements for those that signed in the fall that did not make it to campus? Which means we were scrambling after the fall class failed to qualified/showed they weren't major college material, right?

BillySee58 · June 22, 2014

Correct, but weren't some of the 5 that signed in the Spring replacements for those that signed in the fall that did not make it to campus? Which means we were scrambling after the fall class failed to qualified/showed they weren't major college material, right?

Yup. We had 5 seniors and Tony Mitchell. So we only had 6 spots to fill in reality. But we ended up signing 10 because of those reasons you mentioned and we still ended up with just 11 scholarship players last season (2 short of what you're allowed). Last class we only had 4 spots and ended up signing 7, and we're still 1 short now that CJ has left. We sign more than we have initial spots.

Cooley · June 23, 2014

It was implied that Benford's recruits were not sought after, thus not talented. It really doesn't matter how kids arrive in a program. North Texas, in general, doesn't win recruiting battles. Historically, there has always been (and will be) a kid that wants to be a big fish in a smaller pond. We have to go back to the Blakeley years to find a roster where every kid was highly touted and recruited. Vic Trilli had a number of kids with impressive offers as well. We have to get kids on the rebound. (i.e Tony Mitchell) A good number of our better recruits were transfers under JJ. (George Odufawa, Collin Dennis, Shawnson Johnson, Keith Wooden, Roger Franklin, Triston Thompson (5th year Prep School) a few others were juco guys looking for immediate playing time. Josh White was not getting the love he thought he should have (height) and was available

Again, I am NOT a Tony Benford fan! There are enough valid reasons to write the guy off; other than focusing on his recruits only (without discussing offers in football) Not only do we offer a ton of kids with no other offers, we generally award 4-5 walk-ons a scholarship each year. (20-25% of the entire 85 man roster will be walk-ons at this pace). I don't rate the stuff but the media experts consistently have us ranked near the bottom in recruiting. (Especially since McCarney got here. DCTF mentions the amount of losses we need to find replacements for (most were Dodge's recruits) Where's the talented high caliber of talent McCarney has brought in? Sure we may find a 3 star guy here or there but every other team seems to bring in more.

Anyway, just .02 cents to add to the conversation

BillySee58 · June 23, 2014

Valid points. But you and Andrew both talk about how we don't normally win these big recruiting battles and that the exception was the 2011 class with Forrest, Jordan, and Chris. That's the point. That's what state the program was left in when Benford took over. That's the state the program was in when Benford was able to land Wesley and Hardwick before ever coaching a game here. Not to mention he underperformed with that talent, and he's bringing in players who were not as highly recruited and we're supposed to expect an improvement. That's where the reason for alarm is coming from.

As for Mccarney, he did use a lot of Dodge recruits but most of Dodge's recruits were not super highly recruited. Certainly not more highly recruited than some of the kids we've been pulling lately. Did Mac and co just do an amazing job developing those players, or was it great scouting by Dodge bringing in those underrated guys? Could be a combination of both. Could be more one than the other. We haven't found out yet. We also don't know if we are capable of greater things now that we are bringing in higher rated recruits than Mac was left with, and he's actually keeping them on campus and developing them.

BillySee58 · August 5, 2014

Looks like we're out of the running for Gage. And another SG prospect we were after (Michael Kolawale of Rowlett) just committed to Fresno State.

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/08/mason-ybarbo-talks-about-the-opening-day-of-practice-recruiting-notes.html/

GrandGreen · August 21, 2014

It was implied that Benford's recruits were not sought after, thus not talented. It really doesn't matter how kids arrive in a program. North Texas, in general, doesn't win recruiting battles. Historically, there has always been (and will be) a kid that wants to be a big fish in a smaller pond. We have to go back to the Blakeley years to find a roster where every kid was highly touted and recruited. Vic Trilli had a number of kids with impressive offers as well. We have to get kids on the rebound. (i.e Tony Mitchell) A good number of our better recruits were transfers under JJ. (George Odufawa, Collin Dennis, Shawnson Johnson, Keith Wooden, Roger Franklin, Triston Thompson (5th year Prep School) a few others were juco guys looking for immediate playing time. Josh White was not getting the love he thought he should have (height) and was available
Again, I am NOT a Tony Benford fan! There are enough valid reasons to write the guy off; other than focusing on his recruits only (without discussing offers in football) Not only do we offer a ton of kids with no other offers, we generally award 4-5 walk-ons a scholarship each year. (20-25% of the entire 85 man roster will be walk-ons at this pace). I don't rate the stuff but the media experts consistently have us ranked near the bottom in recruiting. (Especially since McCarney got here. DCTF mentions the amount of losses we need to find replacements for (most were Dodge's recruits) Where's the talented high caliber of talent McCarney has brought in? Sure we may find a 3 star guy here or there but every other team seems to bring in more.
Anyway, just .02 cents to add to the conversation

Jones had just started getting the next level of recruits before his departure. The ones Benford is now bringing in are about the level Jones and others have brought in with a few exceptions. Blakeley didn't really recruit that many good players, his success was almost entirely based on Robbins/Tubbs signees: Mitchell, Davis, Williams, Bailey and Jones. Trilli's first class including cousins Chris Davis and Dexter Tennell but the others where not that highly recruited. A lot of his heralded recruits never played for NT. After his first year, he really didn't recruit all that well. He did sign Miller early and he really went up in the ratings based on his senior year. He got an injured Hopkins after most others backed off.

So really after the MVC years, I would say with the exception of Jones's one class of Mitchell, Jones, Williams,etc; I think that Benford's classes are on par with the norm and a lot better than what Jank,and Gales usually got. What Benford didn't do was recruit well even his first year ala Trilli despite inherited a North Texas program that was as highly thought of as any in history.