Mean Green Blog

A good question was posted on the blog today -- and since we encourage this sort of interactive activity on the Mean Green Blog -- I have an answer for the query of the day. Just how many scholarships does the UNT men's basketball team have left?

One.

UNT lost seniors Keith Wooden, Quincy Williams and Ben Bell after last season. The player everyone is forgetting is Dez Willingham, who was lost in the middle of conference play with a knee injury. A member of the UNT staff reminded me about Dez the other day.

So just what does UNT do with that last scholarship? My guess is give it to a Division I transfer. UNT seems to land at least one a year and has yet to grab one. The Mean Green could also go after Anthony Hill, the point guard from Plano East who recently backed out of his commitment to Rice, but I doubt it. UNT just added a point guard to its class in Arkansas-Fort Smith's Dominique Johnson and Josh White is only going to be a sophomore next season. With Tramiel in the fold to battle down low and Johnson coming to handle the ball the way Bell did for two seasons, UNT should be in position to take the best available player. At this point that player could be a transfer or a freshman who is dropped by a big-time program at the last minute before signing day like White was last year by LSU.

A few people have asked me about whether or not UNT is going to be small up front with Tramiel potentially starting along side George Odufuwa or Harold Stewart next season. UNT will lose a little, but not as much as people think in the way of frontcourt power. Tramiel is 6-6, but is supposed to be a rock. Quincy Williams was a similar player and was really only 6-7 or so. Odufuwa and Stewart are 6-8, only an inch shorter than Wooden. Justin Howerton is 6-10 and showed signs of becoming a more effective post player at the end of last season and Kedrick Hogans is 6-7.

In an interesting side note, Western Kentucky's recruiting class is falling apart now that Darin Horn has left for South Carolina. Former WKU recruit Bryan Narcisse committed to Clemson after being released by the Hilltoppers, while point guard Ronald Nored skipped out to play for Butler.

The Hilltoppers will recover. This is WKU we are talking about, but it is interesting to note that this might not be one of its better recruiting classes.

WKU will always be a threat in the Sun Belt, which makes the Hilltoppers worth watching for all of those people out there wondering about UNT's chances to make it back to the NCAA Tournament in the future.

Post your thoughts on the blog. Who would you like to see UNT land with its last scholarship?