A few random notes
Football practice starts back up tomorrow, which is a good thing as far as I am concerned. I am about out of blog material after spring break.
HOWEVER! (Channeling Stephen A. Smith there) a few notes remain.
The men’s basketball coaching staffs at Rice and TCU have officially been ousted, which could open the door for UNT -- if it likes some of the players who have committed to those schools for 2008. I don't think UNT is after any of TCU's commits, but I wonder about Rice.
UNT needs a point guard and Rice has two in its class -- Anthony Hill of Plano East and Jesse Sanders of Houston HCYA. Hill is ranked No. 28 in the state by Texashoops.com, while Sanders checks in at No. 65. Hill would be a nice get for UNT.
It's also worth noting that a few players who have been mentioned in connection to UNT have committed to other programs. Small forward Austin Brown of Lewisville is headed to Montana State, while fellow small forward Chris Busch of Okland Merritt CC is going to Eastern Washington.
On another front, I was blasted on the blog the other day for mentioning that I had done some work covering UNT softball lately and hadn’t been at every moment of spring football practice. Be forewarned, a UNT minor sports mention or two is on the way.
The UNT tennis team beat Marquette on Sunday to improve to 9-7 on the season, a big improvement over the 2-25 record the Mean Green posted last year. The UNT softball team is also faring well under first year coach T.J. Hubbard and is sitting at 6-3 in conference play.
I happen to be of the belief that sports other than football, men's basketball and women's basketball matter in the grand scheme of things. Yea, they don't make money or draw the interest of the Big Three, but they can bring some recognition to a program, and it's not like a school doesn’t have to field secondary sports in the Title IX era. UNT's women's soccer team has been a good example of a women's program that has done a lot for the Mean Green athletic department. John Hedlund’s team is good every year and has made a couple of trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Football is king and I spend all the time I possibly can on it, but there is more to life – not to mention the UNT athletic department.
Hang on a second ... climbing down from soapbox.
Anyway, post your thoughts on the blog on the possibility of pilfering a player committed to Rice or on the relative importance of anything other than the every move of Todd Dodge, the football program and what takes place on the hardwood.
Posted by Brett Vito 
at 12:46 AM | Permalink
Comments
While I enjoy news of the "Big 3" sports the most, I agree that the secondary sports deserve just as much coverage, and the student athletes that represent North Texas in these sports deserve much more coverage and recognition than they currently receive.
I know that with only one reporter, you, covering NT sports this will not likely happen unless the DRC assigns another reporter to cover these sports. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: JD | March 25, 2008 9:32 AM
Hopefully NT can land a big man from a JUCO, recruiting has been a little slow, but then again they were last year and ended up great. Thanks for covering the "other" sports it's good to hear how they are progressing....Now get over to the football fields and tell us what color shirt TD is wearing!!!
Posted by: Drew | March 25, 2008 7:10 PM
Is Anthony Hill former Cowboy WR Tony Hill's son? Anyway...he helped lead PESH to the Regional Finals. Hill had 21 points and at least 5 threes in a Regional Semi blowout over College Park. Hill can shoot the lights out and in the Semi game he really had his stroke working, confidently stepping up to knock down threes.
From what I saw, he's not at his best in traffic...he's mainly a perimiter player. He did push the ball pretty well up the floor and he distributed very well.
Overall, I agree that Hill would be a great get for the Mean Green...but I'm skeptical that he would want to come to Denton when he's got a full ride at one of the best academic institutions in Texas.
BTW, I asked Brandon Bass last week if he had heard anything about Johnny Jones maybe coming back to LSU. He responded with, "I not sure I know who that is." I don't think Johnny's under serious consideration for the Tigers job.
Posted by: Green Guy | March 26, 2008 7:47 AM
High School point guard William Weathers of Lewisville High is now a 3-star recruit according to Rivals.
Weathers missed much of the season with an injury, but recovered late in the season enough to score 25 points against Duncanville in the UIL Playoffs.
I wonder if UNT is in the running for his services. The Rivals list shows no one interested in Weathers. That is doubtkess a leftover from when he was injured.
Posted by: dwight "BJ" Skinner | March 26, 2008 11:20 AM
Weathers wasn't injured. There was a different reason he missed the time. That said, Weathers is a very active player that would be an awesome addition to any team talent-wise. Heck, he averaged about 4 steals a game. He reminded me a lot of Michael Sturns. Weathers is a great defender that averaged 4+ steals a game.
Posted by: Green Guy | March 27, 2008 8:52 AM