UNT target at national tourney, other hoops notes
Paris Junior College forward Eric Tramiel posted an impressive line at the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., on Tuesday.
The 6-7 sophomore appears to be one of UNT's top recruiting targets and showed once again why a host of mid-major schools are talking to him by scoring 15 points and pulling down six rebounds. Both totals were team highs for Paris in a 63-57 loss to Southeastern Illinois.
The latest list of schools that are talking to Tramiel includes UNT, Arkansas-Little Rock, George Mason, Georgia State, New Orleans, South Alabama, Murray State and Weber State. UNT lost Keith Wooden and Quincy Williams to graduation and is set to turn its frontcourt minutes over to forward Harold Stewart, Arizona State transfer forward George Odufuwa, center Justin Howerton and forward Kedrick Hogans. Center Ben Knox is on the way from Arlington Grace Prep, but appears to be a project who is not ready for the college game.
Tramiel appears to be the perfect fit for the Mean Green, especially considering UNT assistant coach Bill Foy was the head coach at Paris before joining Johnny Jones' staff and still has ties to the program.
UNT should find out soon if it is going to land Tramiel now that his season is over. It probably didn’t hurt UNT’s cause that the rather large batch of college coaches that descend on Hutchinson only saw Tramiel play in one game. Players have a tendency to blow up if they lead their team deep in national tournaments and spend a lot of time in the spotlight.
In other hoops notes, it appears as if UNT is taking the early steps in finding a new women's basketball coach. UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said that he has received a few applications and that the school has identified some coaches it is interesting in talking to. Athletic department officials were making some calls Tuesday afternoon.
Villarreal said UNT is not in a huge hurry, but would like to have someone in place with enough time to recruit. UNT has some good players coming back, including All-Sun Belt Conference selection Amber Jackson, but needs help in the post after losing Talicia Sanders and Erica Howard. The tough part is the best place to find players who are ready to contribute immediately is at the junior college regional and national tournaments. The women’s national tournament started today in Salina, Kan., and will be crawling with college coaches. UNT won’t have a coach in time to get into the feeding frenzy at the national tournament.
Weigh in on the blog with your thoughts. Who would you like to see the UNT men land in recruiting and who would you like to see as the school’ next women’s basketball coach?
Posted by Brett Vito 
at 9:29 PM | Permalink
Comments
I would like to see UNT interview former UTA women's coach Donna Capps. She always had very good teams and NCAA Tourney experience. As for men's recruiting we should go after a juco center. Someone with experience already at the college level and 6-10 or better.
Posted by: Peter | March 19, 2008 6:00 PM
UNT should not settle for just anyone as it's next women's BB coach.The best canidate regardless of gender is who you hire.This job could potentially could be the best in the Sun Belt given the location to the metroplex.Hire someone with age and experience so they won't leave after 3-5 yrs..and move on to something bigger and better.A canidate who should be approached by the AD is Bill Brock of Texas Tech,long-time head coach at Grayson County College in Denison and then the associate head coach @ Baylor for 6 yrs. including it's national champ team..great recruiter and coach who has long been interested in this job if it ever came available.....
Posted by: mark hughes | March 22, 2008 9:57 AM