Mean Green

The UNT board of regents will consider a two-year extension for Johnny Jones this week.

I don't have the exact details, but when it gets to the regents stage, it's pretty safe to say that the deal has been hammered out.

The contract would extend Jones' deal through the 2014-15 season. He is currently in the third year of a five-year deal he signed after taking UNT to the NCAA Tournament after the 2007 season.

This is a good move anyway you look at it for UNT,

Jones took over a total disaster of a program at UNT before the 2001-02 season and has gradually built it into the pride of the athletic department when it comes to the Big Three of football and men's and women's hoops.

UNT has had a grand total of five coaches in those sports who have posted winning career records since 1942 -- Johnny Jones and Bill Blakeley in men's hoops, Odus Mitchell and Hayden Fry in football and Cherri Rapp in women's hoops.

That's not bad company to be for Jones, who is sitting at 141-120 at the moment.

The bottom line is Jones wins and his players graduate.

That's the name of the game. Very few have played it as well as Jones has at UNT.

It looks like he will be around a while as long as he doesn't make it back to the NCAA Tournament and make an extended run, which would make him a prime target for another school.

UNT has landed a player to help fill the void that will be left in its frontcourt next season with the departure of Eric Tramiel.

Alonzo Edwards, a 6-8 forward out of Lon Morris College, said today that he has committed to UNT and will sign in the upcoming period. I talked to him for a story that will be in tomorrow's paper.

Edwards was also considering Wright State and visited UNT's Sun Belt rival South Alabama before picking UNT. UNT recruited Edwards out of high school before he committed to Nebraska.

He eventually transfered to Lon Morris, where he is averaging 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds a game as of the latest Region XIV weekly release

Edwards named his relationship with UNT head coach Johnny Jones and how he fit into UNT's offense as his reasons for picking UNT.

Edwards makes a lot of sense for UNT, when you think about it. UNT will still have George Odufuwa next season, Kedrick Hogans will return from a redshirt year and Jacob Holmen has been a find as a freshman.

Ben Knox is still developing.

UNT's big window of opportunity will still be open next year with Josh White, Tristan Thompson and Odufuwa back and Dominique Johnson coming back off a redshirt season due to a broken ankle.

The one hole UNT was looking at was in its frontcourt where it needs a scorer to pair with Odufuwa and Hogans, who is more of a defensive-minded player who scores his points around the rim. Holmen could be that guy, but will only be a sophomore. The addition of Edwards, who is shooting 35 percent from 3-point range will give UNT another option and the depth that has made the Mean Green so tough to match up with in the past.

UNT has lacked that depth this season, which might catch up with the Mean Green at some point.

It should be interesting to see what UNT does with its remaining scholarships from here on out. With its main need covered, UNT will have the freedom to target a Division I transfer who would sit out next year or the best high school players on the board to develop while the core of this team tries to get UNT back to the NCAA Tournament this season and next year, the final season of their careers.

It's getting to that time of year when people start to consider who they are going to vote for on the All-Sun Belt team.

It got me to thinking today, just who are UNT's All-Sun Belt players?

UNT rarely gets the credit it deserves on the all-league team, largely because UNT is -- well, a team. The Mean Green doesn't usually have a guy averaging 20 points a game.

That's the case this year as well. If you look at the Sun Belt stats that came out today, UNT has four players ranked between No. 13 and No. 24 in scoring for the entire season in the Sun Belt -- Tristan Thompson (No. 13 -- 14.3), Josh White (No. 14 -- 14.2), Eric Tramiel (No. 16 -- 12.9) and George Odufuwa (No. 24 -- 11.4).

Thompson is second in the league in scoring during league play at 18.6 points a game.

Odufuwa leads the league in rebounds with an average of 10.4 on the season and 10.8 in league play.

You could make a case for all four players as all-conference types.

It wouldn't surprise me if UNT only gets two on there if things keep going the way they are. There is no way Odufuwa isn't on the team as the leading rebounder in the league and a double-double guy. Thompson should get a spot as well if he doesn't fall off dramatically in terms of his scoring average.

It wouldn't surprise me to see White bumped off. He has changed his game to fit UNT's needs for a full-time playmaker, which impresses the heck out of me, considering his is a scorer by nature. He might get bumped off, though, since he isn't scoring at the rate of guys like Brandon Hazzard of Troy and AJ Slaughter of Western Kentucky.

Tramiel might be the best power forward in the league, but being hurt for part of the year will hurt him.

Put those guys together and I don't know if there is a better core four in the league. Throw in glue guy Shannon Shorter, and this team has a great starting five.

It should be interesting to see how many of them are recognized for their contributions to making that group maybe the best in the league.

A big win for the North Texas athletic department kind of got lost over the weekend with the men's basketball team continuing its hot streak, the women's basketball team continuing its slide, former UNT lineman Brian Waters being named NFL Man of the Year and the Super Bowl going on.

UNT beat Texas Tech in tennis.

Tennis doesn't rank real high as far as interest goes for UNT fans, but it is worth noting when UNT beats a Big 12 team in anything.

UNT has been building toward being ranked among the top 75 teams in the country since Sujay Lama came on a few years ago. Lama is proving to be one of the best hires UNT has made in the Rick Villarreal era.

Lama had skins on the way at the major college level when he got here and has built a competitive program pretty quickly. He's had a new facility to recruit to, which he says has helped matters quite a bit.

UNT actually has had some success against Tech historically. UNT has rarely beat Big 12 teams in major sports through the years, but did knock off the Red Raiders in football when Darrell Dickey was at UNT a few years back.

It's a nice win for UNT any way you look at it.

UNT picked up a nice bit of publicity today when Brian Waters was named the NFL Man of the Year.

Waters founded the Brian Waters 54 Foundation that helped youth in Kansas City and Texas.

Waters played for the Mean Green from 1995-98 and is a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Here's a link to the release:

Brian Waters

I ran out the door to get the airport for a flight back to Texas after UNT knocked off FIU.

The Golden Panthers are at the bottom of the league, but it was a good win for UNT on the road. The Mean Green fought back in the final five minutes and pulled it out, thanks to big 3-pointers from Tristan Thompson (who one expects to make those shots) and Eric Tramiel (who you don't).

It's not that Tramiel isn't a good shooter, it's that he's a post guy who doesn't take many from the outside. He drilled one when UNT needed it, though.

UNT didn't get any help from the rest of the league tonight, but is right there in striking distance of the SBC West title.

This team is playing pretty well right now and the schedule looks favorable down the stretch. This team could win 20 games and the division, if things work out right and Arkansas State drops a couple of games.

UNT coughed up an 18-1run midway through the second half and is in a dogfight now.

UNT has the ball and is down three with 3:45 left.

Tristan Thompson has 16 for UNT.

UNT was up 10 at the last media timeout, but has gone cold offensively since.

FIU has come back to take a one-point lead.

Cameron Spencer is headed to the line.

UNT has started to heat up a bit and has an eight-point lead midway through the second half.

Eric Tramiel and Tristan Thompson both have 12 points for UNT. Josh White has 11.

FIU has just one 3-pointer in the second half after knocking down six in the first half.

UNT is on an 8-3 run to open the second half and is up five.

Tristan Thompson is headed to the line for a pair of free throws.

UNT is just 2-for-10 from beyond the arc today.

UNT was up eight late in the first half following a Josh White 3-pointer, but fell apart down the stretch and is stuck in a tie game at half.

White had a great first half with 11 points.

UNT has a 21-15 edge in rebounds, but FIU has hit six 3-pointers. UNT is not doing a very good job finding the Golden Panthers shooters.

UNT is up one with 7:08 left in the first half.

UNT is an uncharacteristic 4-for-8 from the line so far. Tristan Thompson has six points for UNT.

Johnny Jones pulled his entire starting lineup with FIU up two.

UNT has tied the game at 13-13. Josh White has four points for UNT.

UNT was down 6-1 early, but has come back to tie the game at 9-9. Tristan Thompson is headed to the line for two shots.

Josh White has four points early.

All nine of FIU's points have come from behind the arc.

UNT fell apart down the stretch in a 17-point loss to FIU. I will be back with the men's game.

UNT is on the ropes with 3:58 left at FIU.

Elisa Carey is killing UNT. She has 24.

Brittney James finally scored in the second half. She hit a 3-pointer and has 13.

UNT is down seven at the midway point of the second half.

FIU has scored the last four points.

UNT is down seven at the first media timeout of the second half.

UNT was within one, but FIU dropped back-to-back 3-pointers.

Brittney James has 10 points for UNT.

UNT has 13 turnovers, which has not helped matters.

UNT is down four at halftime after Charisse Buddy converted a 3-point play on FIU's last possession of the half.

Brittney James has 10 points for UNT, while Jasmine Godbolt has eight.

The Mean Green was within one at 29-28 late in the first half after going on a 5-0 run.

UNT has cut a seven-point deficit to three and is headed to the line with a chance to pull within one.

UNT has really clamped down defensively the last few minutes, which has made the difference.

Brittney James has seven for UNT.