Mean Green

One of my old friends from the Abilene Reporter-News sent me his first major story as the Louisiana-Lafayette beat writer for Lafayette Daily Advertiser yesterday. The story should be of particular interest to UNT fans because former Mean Green assistant coach Jai Steadman is back at it in the Sun Belt Conference and it appears as if he is playing a key role in recruiting for one of UNT's rivals.

Steadman stayed only a short time at UNT, but showed the ability to find and help land Division I transfers. ULL head coach Robert Lee hired Steadman after his somewhat mysterious departure from UNT and suddenly transfers are arriving at ULL. It could be just a coincidence, but it makes you wonder.

ULL's first Division I transfer now that Steadman has arrived is Emmanuel Adeife. The former UNLV center said he plans to transfer to ULL after being dismissed by the Running Rebels. He will sit out until the end of next season's fall semester.

ULL has also signed Jeremy Barr (New Providence, The Bahamas), Lester Ferguson (Baton Rouge) and Colby Batiste (Lafayette), a trio of frontcourt players who all stand at least 6-8. Hoop Scoop ranked ULL's three-man early signing class the best in the Sun Belt.

ULL is already off to a 2-0 start in Sun Belt Conference play and appears to be one of the Mean Green's key rivals in the conference this year.

UNT has plenty of time to put together a solid recruiting class of its own. UNT has already signed center Ben Knox of Arlington Grace Prep. At 6-10, Knox could be a power in the Sun Belt, but a high school coach familiar with Grace Prep said Knox would be a project and might need a year or two to develop into an impact player at the college level.

I mentioned on the blog the other day that UNT is after Chris Babb, a 6-5 guard from Arlington Oakridge. Texashoops.com ranks Babb No. 10 on its list of the best players in the state. It will be interesting to see if UNT can land Babb and how the Mean Green's class will stack up with the players Steadman and ULL sign.

Here's a link to the Daily Advertiser's story:

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/SPORTS/712290331

I have just about fallen asleep here in the second half, but I thought I would mention that the score is now 97-66 with about two minutes left. This has gotten pretty ugly, but UNT will move to 9-4.

The important games will resume after the New Year when Sun Belt Conference play starts back up.

Dez Willingham hit a layup at the buzzer to put UNT up 53-21 at halftime. The 53 points the Mean Green scored in the first half is its high for first half this season. That total represents a dramatic change from UNT's last game when it scored 20 points in the first half of its Sun Belt Conference opener against Denver.

UNT is hammering Texas A&M-International. The Mean Green scored the first 11 points of the game and is now up 20-3 at the 12:14 mark of the first half.

In a surprise move, UNT head coach Johnny Jones has put junior shooting guard Collin Dennis in the starting lineup for the first time this season along with Ben Bell and Josh White.

It's a great move if you ask me. Dennis can flat shoot it and could provide the Mean Green the threat it needs to be more effective against the zone. Dennis is averaging 13.1 points a game, despite playing just 18.7 minutes a game, a figure that is skewed a little by an injury that limited him early in the season.

By the way, while I was writing this entry, Dennis scored four points to help UNT jump out to a 6-0 lead over Texas A&M-International.

There are about 40 minutes left before the UNT men tip off their game against Texas A&M-International, so I thought I would take a minute or two to post a recruiting note I have been sitting on for a few days.

It turns out, that UNT is indeed trying to get into the sweepstakes for Arlington Oakridge shooting guard Chris Babb. A few days ago, I noted on the blog that one of writers at the DRC spotted what looked like a UNT coach watching Babb at a tournament. Turns out Adam was right, it was a UNT coach.

TCU, Mississippi and Oral Roberts have all offered Babb. Mike Kunstadt, the official hoops recruiting guru for the state of Texas, told me that a lot of the second tier Big 12 and SEC schools are also interested in Babb, who is rated as the 10th-best player in the state in the Class of 2008 by Kunstadt's Web site, Texashoops.com.

UNT already has Ben Knox, a 6-10 power forward from Arlington Grace Prep, in the fold for its 2008 class. It should be interesting to see what Jones adds in the late signing period and if he can land Babb.

In this case, it might not be a bad thing to corner the market on private school players from Arlington.

After a few days off for the holidays, I am back on blog duty.

And the first order of the day is to provide a small recruiting update. Edward Prince, a tackle from Copiah-Lincoln (Miss) Junior College and one of UNT's top remaining targets, committed to Kansas State today.

UNT has three high school offensive linemen committed so far for its 2008 class. The Mean Green started several young players on its line last season. It appears more and more as if the Mean Green will feature pretty much the same group next season unless one of its high school recruits can crack its rotation.

UNT's comeback against Denver is going to come up short. The Mean Green is down 63-59 with 8 seconds left.

UNT is making a run late in its game against Denver. The Mean Green has pulled to within 53-49 with 2:28 left.

UNT is going to need a couple of stops late to pull this out.

After sending in a story on the UNT women's win over Denver, I am back to provide a few updates on the Mean Green men.

Unfortunately for all you UNT fans out there, nothing seems to be going right for the Mean Green against Denver and its Princeton-style offense.

UNT has missed more layups than in any game I can remember and is down 41-34 with 11:57 left in the game. The Mean Green does not have a single player in double figures.

UNT is up 59-41 with 8:11 left in the second half. There is a long way to go, but UNT has a cushion to work with.

UNT has picked where it left off in the first half at the opening of the second period here in Denver. The Mean Green is up 45-30 with Brittney James headed to the line at the 15:55 mark.

UNT junior guard Yari Escalera hit a big 3-pointer for the Mean Green just before the halftime buzzer. UNT is up 37-24 at halftime. Junior guard Jo Hall has a career high 19 points in the first half alone.

UNT has taken its largest lead of the game at 34-20 on a 3-pointer from junior Tricia Lee. The play of Jo Hall seems to have given the Mean Green a boost of confidence.

Jo Hall is still on a roll in the first half of UNT's game against Denver. The junior has scored all nine points in a UNT run that has put the Mean Green up 25-18.

Denver answered UNT's early run with a 14-0 surge of its own. The game is tied up at 14 at the second media timeout with 10:53 left in the half.

Jo Hall has scored 10 early points for UNT, which is up 12-3 on Denver. UNT held the Pioneers without a point until the 14:40 mark.

UNT has jumped out to a 6-0 lead on Denver with 16:48 left. Both teams are ice cold from the floor, but UNT has picked up a couple of buckets early to take the lead.

The UNT and Denver women are about to tip off their game at Magness Arena. UNT is on a five-game slide, but this is the start of Sun Belt Conference play and a new season for the Mean Green.

Check back on the blog for updates and a few random thoughts.

I am a little behind today on the blog. Believe it or not, I have bronchitis. I blame unseasonably cold weather in the overly air conditioned Super Pit (no, not really). I actually missed UNT’s win tonight to try and recover before heading out to Denver for the weekend.

Between hacks, coughs and a trip to the doctor, I did manage to find a few recruiting tidbits. UNT has received two letters of intent, one each from the Northeastern Oklahoma duo of safety Kylee Hill and cornerback Adryan Adams. Both will transfer at the semester break.

Since both are signed, sealed and delivered, head coach Todd Dodge could comment on both and did for a notebook in tomorrow’s Denton Record-Chronicle. Be sure to check it out.

The other interesting comment Dodge made was that the NEO duo would be the only midterm transfers for UNT.

I also got in touch with DaWaylon Cook, who confirmed that he has decommitted from TCU and will sign with UNT instead. Cook, who plays for Dallas Samuel, said he was more comfortable at UNT than he was at TCU. Cook will be a cornerback at UNT.

OSU has pretty much put UNT away early in the second half with a quick 6-2 run to take a 42-28 lead.

UNT has struggled offensively since the early going.

UNT led by as many as six in the early going and is still in its game with 20th-ranked Oklahoma State late in the first half. The Cowgirls are up 28-24 with 2:59 remaining before the break.

OSU hit a couple of 3-point shots to take its lead.

UNT is looking good early in its game against 20th-ranked Oklahoma State. Jo Hall and Erica Howard have four points each and the Mean Green is up 13-11 at the 11:49 mark.

I asked around today to see if UNT was going to release a list of midterm transfers who have sent in their national letters of intent. Today is the first day of the signing period for junior college players.

As in previous years, UNT will wait until national signing day to release its class.

A few of UNT's recruits have already said they are transferring at the semester break, including Northeastern Oklahoma A&M defensive back Kylee Hill.

UNT is about to begin its game with No. 20 Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls lost to TCU last night and is looking to get back on track.

This could be one of the biggest tests UNT will face this season.

I ran across a few interesting tidbits today, including one involving basketball recruiting.

It has been pretty quiet on the UNT hoops recruiting front this year. Johnny Jones and his staff signed just one player in the early period in power forward Ben Knox and have a long way to go before finishing their class.

One of our high school writers -- Adam Boedeker -- spotted what appeared to be a member of the Mean Green's staff watching a player who would fit in nicely at UNT in Chris Babb. The 6-5 guard from Arlington Oakridge is ranked 10th among seniors in the Class of 2008 by Texashoops.com. Babb has visited Kansas State, but the Wildcats signed two shooting guards and two small forwards in their 2007 class. K-State already has a small forward committed for 2008.

K-State has yet to offer Babb, but Mississippi, Oral Roberts and TCU have all offered scholarships.

I wasn't there, so I don't know for sure that it was a member of UNT's staff watching Babb, but it would make sense. Babb would be a steal for UNT.

In other news of the day:

As you heard here first, freshman guard Josh White is battling a hamstring injury. He missed practice Tuesday. Jones said White's status would continue to be a day-to-day decision.

Junior guard Sanetra Jackson did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements for the second semester and will not play the rest of the year. It appears as if Jackson's career at UNT could be over. Jackson was UNT's leading scorer last year with an average of 10.7 points a game.

Losing Jackson is just one of the problems head coach Tina Slinker is dealing with heading into today's game against Oklahoma State. Senior forward Lyza Koubiteb is out 2-3 weeks with a stress fracture in her foot and junior forward Amber Jackson is battling a knee injury.

UNT has taken control of its game against Southern in the second half. The Mean Green is up 64-51 with 10:52 left in the game.

UNT had the last possession of the first half and worked the ball to junior guard Collin Dennis, who banked a shot in at buzzer to put the Mean Green up 45-34 over Southern at the break.

UNT took its first lead of its game against Southern at 26-24 on a pair of free throws from Quincy Williams and now has a 35-29 lead following a Tristan Thompson 3-pointer.

UNT is on a 15-0 run and has come all the way back to tie the score at 21-21 with 8:29 left in the first half. Junior guard Collin Dennis hit a 3 to tie the game.

UNT got down 21-6 early in its game against Southern, but might be coming out of its funk. The Mean Green has scored five straight to cut its deficit to 21-11 with 11:34 left in the first half.

Southern must have seen something it could exploit against UNT in the Mean Green's win over Hartford on Dec. 8. Hartford hit 17 3-pointers in that game.

Southern has hit four straight while taking a 14-4 lead.

I asked around the Super Pit and it turns out that Josh White's injury isn't serious. Word is he might have just pulled his hamstring a little in practice.

Freshman guard Josh White is not dressed out for UNT's game against Southern tonight and will not play.

White was injured in the Mean Green's practice last night. He sat on the bench during early warmups.

White is UNT's leading scorer with an average of 18.6 points a game.

Junior guard Collin Dennis and senior center Keith Wooden both warmed up will play despite lingering injuries. Wooden is getting over knee surgery earlier this month, while Dennis has a sprained ankle. Dennis and Wooden are UNT's second- and third-leading scorers at 13.0 and 12.7 points a game.

After a few hours of trying, I got in touch with UNT's latest recruit, cornerback Adryan Adams.

The former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M standout will transfer to UNT at the semester break and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Adams named his relationship with the Mean Green's coaching staff as his main reason for picking UNT over an offer from Charleston Southern. Having a teammate from NEO in safety Kylee Hill already committed to UNT didn't hurt the Mean Green's cause either.

Adams (6-0, 185) could end up being a steal for UNT. He was an honorable mention All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection and was receiving interest from Texas A&M, Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri and Tulsa. With four Big 12 teams involved, it seems safe to assume that if Adams hadn't found a home at UNT, he might have ended up in the league had he waited until signing day for an offer.

Perhaps the most interesting comment Adams made was that UNT's coaches told him that they felt their defensive secondary was one of the weakest parts of their team last season. UNT has now landed seven defensive back recruits, including three junior college players. It's starting to look like UNT could have a defensive backfield made up mostly of 2008 recruits next season.

For more on Adams, be sure to see tomorrow's edition of the Denton Record-Chronicle.