Mean Green

UNT head coach Johnny Jones was pretty upset after the Mean Green's loss to Western Kentucky on Saturday. UNT had the Hilltoppers right where it wanted them only to let a 10-point second-half lead slip away.

The reason is obvious.

UNT is really struggling to finish. UNT didn't play well defensively late and couldn't answer when A.J. Slaughter went nuts in the second half.

The loss marked the second time this week that UNT has blown a lead late, although the edge the Mean Green blew in a loss to Troy on Thursday was much smaller.

This may just be me, but UNT seems to get a little lost in crunch time. UNT has had a go-to guy in the past, but seems to lack one this year. UNT runs its offense and looks for the best shot, which sounds reasonable enough.

WKU went to AJ Slaughter every chance it got late and ended up picking up the win. I just wonder if UNT wouldn't be better off if it had a similar setup.

WKU is on a 13-4 run and has cut its deficit to one at the 2:53 mark. WKU also has the ball after Josh White was called for a charge.

UNT has gone cold offensively and WKU is starting to hit its free throws. The Hilltoppers are 5-of-6 during their run.

Eric Tramiel is back in the game. UNT needs a stop. If WKU get the lead, it could be over.

UNT is up seven at the 7:49 mark.

The Mean Green was up 10 a minute ago after Josh White scored, but A.J. Slaughter hit a 3-pointer. WKU also has the ball after Collin Dennis was called for an offensive foul.

Dominique Johnson has 14 points for UNT. Eric Tramiel is still on the bench with four fouls.

WKU cut its deficit to four a minute ago before -- you guessed it -- Dominique Johnson hit another 3-pointer.

UNT is still only up seven with WKU headed to the line.

The bad news for UNT fans is Eric Tramiel just picked up his fourth foul at the 11:38 mark. UNT head coach Johnny Jones will likely have to get Tramiel out of the game.

Tramiel and Johnson both have 12 points for UNT.

WKU cut UNT's lead to four early in the second half, but the Mean Green has answered and pushed its edge to 11 with 15:49 left.

Tristan Thompson scored four straight to get UNT back on track, and Dominique Johnson hit a big 3-pointer -- go figure.

WKU is not helping its cause at the line, where it is 6-for-16.

UNT came up with a stop on its last possession, forcing a tough 3-pointer that didn't come close. It was a fitting end to a great first half defensively for the Mean Green.

WKU shot just 43 percent from the field in the first half.

UNT is getting balanced scoring across the board. Four UNT players have at least six points, while Tristan Thompson has chipped in four. Eric Tramiel has eight points for UNT.

Steffphon Pettigrew has nine points for WKU and is keeping the Hilltoppers in this one.

Dominique Johnson just hit a big 3-pointer for UNT. WKU had pulled to within seven when Johnson lined up a deep shot and nailed it to push UNT's lead back to 10.

WKU is headed to the line and can cut its deficit to single digits again.

Steffphon Pettigrew has nine points and is keeping WKU in it.

Josh White hit UNT's first 3-pointer of the game a few minutes ago. UNT was up 11 after White's shot and is still up nine at the 7:51 mark of the first half.

UNT was 0-for-5 from the arc before White got the Mean Green on the board.

White has seven points for UNT.

UNT is still holding on to a seven-point lead in the first half against WKU. Adam McCoy had a good look from the 3-point line that went halfway down before popping back out.

Collin Dennis had a steal and a layup for UNT's last points.

UNT is off to a great start at WKU. Eric Tramiel -- who I am seriously considering nicknaming The Governor -- has six points.

Josh White found Tramiel in transition for UNT's last bucket.

White has struggled lately, but has four points already tonight.

UNT is doing a great job defensively thus far. WKU has just one basket -- a three from Steffphon Pettigrew.

For those of you who missed it, UNT head coach Johnny Jones jokingly nominated Tramiel for Governor after he had a great game recently.

UNT and WKU are going to tip off their game here in Bowling Green in a few minutes.

This is going to be an interesting one because it is a game both teams really need to win. UNT lost its last game at home to Troy, while WKU fell at Denver. Both fall into the category of bad losses. Troy and Denver are both vastly improved this year, but those are games teams like UNT and WKU should win.

Getting back on track at E.A. Diddle Arena is going to be tough for UNT, which has won just once here, although that was in its last visit two years ago.

Eric Tramiel has been terrific the last few games for UNT, but could use some help from someone in the backcourt. UNT needs to get Josh White, Tristan Thompson, Dominique Johnson or Adam McCoy going.

McCoy had 15 and Thompson 11 in UNT's last game.

This one should be a shootout. Someone besides Tramiel is going to have to score.

UNT's players didn't emerge from the locker room for more than an hour after falling to Western Kentucky. I sent in my story and grabbed lunch before sitting down to get ready for the men's game and put something up on the end of the women's game.

UNT pretty much folded like a tent in the second half against a WKU team that is down this year. Head coach Shanice Stephens was pretty upset and feels like this team has a mental hump to get over. That obstacle is believing that it can win.

It's a hard point to argue.

The problem is UNT is plummeting to the bottom of the standings, which is going to leave the team on the road in the first round of the conference tournament if the Mean Green does not turn it around pretty quick.

There isn't much of a reason to think that is going to happen for a team without much confidence at this point.

Yari Escalera was suspended for the game for a violation of team rules and Brittani Bailey isn't academically eligible for the second semester.

All in all, it wasn't a good day for UNT.

WKU has scored the last seven points and turned this one into a blowout. Kenzie Rich, a 5-7 guard who doesn't look the part, has 21 for the Lady Tops, which is kind of a catchy nickname, by the way.

WKU has pretty much put this one away. Arnika Brown is giving UNT fits and has 19 points. She is also doing a good job defensively on Amber Jackson.

WKU has opened the second half on a 20-3 run and is in threatening to turn this one into a blowout.

UNT has a short bench, which is not good in an up-and-down game. WKU is pushing Amber Jackson around. She has just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Well, here come the Tops.

WKU is on a 14-2 run to open the second half and has a six-point lead. Amber Jackson is headed to the line for UNT and has a chance to stop the bleeding for at least a while.

UNT is 1-for-6 from the field in the second half. WKU is 6-for-8.

UNT played one of its best halves of the season against WKU here in Bowling Green and is up six at the break.

Brittney James has 15 points and Tricia Lee has nine.

UNT was up 12 before WKU went on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to four. Kelli Buckley picked up a technical foul late during the Hilltoppers' run.

Arnika Brown has 17 points and eight rebounds for WKU.

UNT is still up nine and has Tricia Lee headed to the line for a pair of free throws. Brittney James has 13 points for the Mean Green and is having one of the best games of her season.

UNT also has a 21-16 edge in rebounds.

UNT is playing perhaps its best game of the season and is up nine at the 7:26 mark of the first half. Brittany James has 11 points and Tricia Lee nine for the Mean Green.

UNT has forced nine turnovers so far.

UNT is really playing well early here at Diddle. The Mean Green is 11-for-12 at the line and has a six-point lead.

Mary Taylor-Cowles (or Run-MTC as we like to call her on the Mean Green Blog -- it's an 80s thing) just got a technical foul.

UNT is down two at the 15:19 mark of the first half.

Yari Escalera and Brittani Bailey are not on the Mean Green's bench.

There are just a couple of minutes left before UNT takes on WKU here at Diddle Arena, where the Mean Green has historically done about diddly squat.

The Toppers have beaten UNT in all five of the teams' meetings in Bowling Green.

If UNT is going to break through, this seems like a good time. WKU is having a down year at 11-8. The Hilltoppers lost to Denver in their last game. That just doesn't happen at WKU.

The key matchup in this one will be Amber Jackson vs. Arnika Brown. Jackson had 30 in her last game, while Brown averages 15.9 points a game.

A couple of UNT fans have asked me about the status of former Houston recruit Ethan McMillan, who blew out his knee and ended up walking on at UNT.

I made a phone call and it McMillan, a former Aledo standout, is not on UNT's roster for spring practice.

We are now officially into the final weekend before national signing day, so I thought it would be a good idea look at where UNT stands and how this might all play out.

First, let's look at where UNT sits, including who is committed, who is still out there and where the Mean Green is listed in the recruiting rankings.

As of Friday night, UNT had 18 players committed. The number has changed over the last few months, but UNT is supposed to have in the neighborhood of 22 scholarships available. There is at least one player coming in this weekend, while JUCO defensive tackle Shavod Atkinson and defensive end Chris Knighton are considering bolting for West Virginia and Texas Tech, respectively.

UNT already lost JUCO linebacker Tony Charles when he failed to qualify. Losing Charles hurt because he was a potential playmaker for a defense that has finished last in points allowed nationally the last two years.

UNT still has some really good players in its class, including linebacker Daniel Prior and cornerback Ira Smith, who passed on an offer from Ole Miss.

UNT could add a player or two late. This is just a guess, but I think David Lazenby, a junior college offensive tackle, will be in town this weekend.

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is a good for UNT at this point because the ranking services are not as high on the Mean Green's class this year as they were a year ago.

One has to take ranking services for what they are worth. Some argue adamantly that they are not worth a darn, and it is true that sometimes they miss on a player or a class, but I believe they are a good gauge of how teams are doing.

Everyone was thrilled with how UNT was ranked a year ago. How many times have you heard that UNT finished with a better class than SMU and TCU in 2008? Well, you have to take the good with the bad.

At this point, both Rivals (which I firmly believe is the most accurate service) and Scout have UNT ranked fifth in the eight-team Sun Belt. Rivals has UNT tied with UTEP for the lowest rated Bowl Subdivision class in Texas. Scout has UNT ranked several spots ahead of UTEP, which is bringing up the rear in Texas in their rundown. Both services have UNT sitting at 101 nationally. UNT finished 86th last year in the Rivals rankings and 68th in the Scout rankings.

That would be a pretty significant drop on both accounts.

While the rankings are a good gauge of where teams stand, it is probably more important for teams to meet their needs. UNT can make a pretty good argument that it did just that, if it can hang onto Atkinson. The Mean Green's defensive line was terrible last season, and Atkinson would be the anchor for a three-man haul of JUCO defensive linemen who could help right away. The addition of Mike Outlaw and Jamaal Jackson out of the JUCO ranks and high school product Daniel Mayberry will also help UNT make up for a six-man class of wide receivers in head coach Todd Dodge's first recruiting class two years ago that has been pretty much a collective bust.

It is also pretty interesting to note that UNT could sign seven JUCO players on national signing day, the highest total in the Dodge era. Dodge vowed to build UNT's program on Dallas area players, but appears to be looking for the quick fix before a year in which UNT needs badly to win in order to turn the program around.

Here are the rankings, and remember teams get a ton of points for big-time recruits, which explains why ASU is sitting third in the Rivals rankings. The Red Wolves picked up the ninth-rated dual-threat quarterback in the country after he decommitted from Tulsa.

Post your thoughts on the blog:

Rivals Sun Belt rankings:
Team No. 3-4 star pts
1. Troy 21 8 238
2. FIU 22 4 80
3. ASU 11 1 71
4. MTSU 21 2 70
5. UNT 18 3 66
6. ULM 23 1 65
7. FAU 12 0 36
8. ULL 7 1 26

Rivals Texas rankings (No. is national rank)
4. Texas 20 20 2,375
18. A&M 27 26 1,416
35. Tech 22 19 964
43. TCU 19 15 786
57. Baylor 26 16 457
60. Houston 21 10 343
76. Rice 23 3 205
78. SMU 26 8 190
101. UNT 18 3 66
101. UTEP 12 6 66

Scout Sun Belt rankings
1. ULM 23 2 723
2. Troy 19 3 691
3. FIU 20 0 543
4. MTSU 15 1 542
5. UNT 15 2 360
6. ASU 10 1 311
7. ULL 14 0 311
8. FAU 10 0 195

Scout Texas rankings
4. Texas 20 19 3766
8. A&M 26 21 3467
40. Tech 22 15 2090
49. Baylor 26 12 1731
54. TCU 19 12 1595
57. Houston 25 10 1531
66. SMU 24 7 1170
70. Rice 23 4 1058
101. UNT 15 2 360
111. UTEP 10 1 325

Rockwall Heath linebacker George Bamfo has committed to Houston. Bamfo visited UNT over the weekend before heading to Houston on his next recruiting visit. He is a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.com.

The following is the story for those of you who subscribe:

Bamfo to Houston

Don Williams, the long-time columnist at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, confirmed what we already knew today. Longview defensive end Chris Knighton is headed to Texas Tech for an official visit this weekend.

Knighton appears to be Plan B for the Red Raiders. Williams says Tech only has two or three scholarships left to give and has not offered Knighton yet.

Tech is hosting Keller Fossil Ridge linebacker and Oklahoma recruit Brandon Mahoney and Carrollton Newman Smith defensive end Aundrey Barr in addition to Knighton. Barr has offers from Air Force and New Mexico.

If Tech fails to Mahoney -- which seems like a real possibility -- it could decide to offer Knighton, a UNT soft commitment. If Tech offers, it could be hard for UNT to hang onto Knighton.

Here's a link to Williams' story:

Knighton to visit Tech

There was a question posted on the blog today about whether or not UNT has a shot at landing Denton Guyer linebacker Cody Marley to replace Tony Charles, who didn't qualify and is headed to a Division II school.

I asked our Guyer beat writer, who told me UNT has no shot.

UNT tried to get in on Marley, but he wants to go to a BCS school and it looks like Pittsburgh is going to offer. If that doesn't work out, he also has offers from UTEP and Tulane. Historically, the top players in Denton don't end up at UNT. That hasn't changed in the last couple of years.

I did pick up a tip that UNT might have an offensive lineman in from Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College coming in this weekend. The only player that makes sense is David Lazenby, a tackle with an offer from South Alabama. I don't see offensive line as a big area of need considering how many linemen UNT has coming back, not to mention Jeremy Bean coming in.

Riley Dodge could have a small army on hand to protect him next season. The following is a link to Lazenby's Rivals.com page. He is supposed to be a good player. He is rated a three-star prospect.

Lazenby

UNT was stuck in a back-and-forth game with Troy for most of the night at the Super Pit, but appeared to finally have the game in hand when it was up four with four minutes left.

It's a situation UNT usually thrives in. UNT shoots free throws well and can normally stuff the ball inside to Eric Tramiel or have Tristan Thompson go to the basket and draw a foul. Against a team like Troy that plays about zero defense, it seemed like UNT had this one in the bag.

That's what made UNT falling in this one somewhat surprising. UNT, which is a good offensive team, couldn't buy a basket down the stretch in a key game.

UNT came into the night just a game back of Arkansas-Little Rock in the conference loss column. The Mean Green will now head to Western Kentucky to try and right the ship, which will be tough. WKU is soid on its home floor and it leads the Sun Belt's East Division.

I am going to say it one more time. Hey, it's my blog. I think UNT ought to put the ball in Thompson's hands in crunch time.

Troy closed the game on a 12-0 run and picked up the win. I will be back later with some thoughts.

UNT is up two with 3:10 left, but Troy is headed to the line with a chance to tie the game up.

UNT is on an 11-2 run late in the second half and is up two at the 6:17 mark. UNT had a chance to push its lead to four, but failed to convert.

Eric Tramiel has four points during UNT's run. Adam McCoy has 12 big points, all from the 3-point arc. George Odufuwa has 15 rebounds.

UNT is down three at the 11:49 mark of the second half. The Mean Green keeps hanging around, but isn't getting the stops it needs.

UNT has put Collin Dennis in to try and get some pressure on the perimeter.

UNT is down one, but Tristan Thompson is headed to the line to try to complete a 3-point play and tie the game.

No one is getting any stops in the second half, although that isn't a big surprise. Brandon Hazzard has 16 points and is giving UNT fits defensively.

This one might come down to who has the ball last.

Antywan Jones scored the last points in a back-and-forth first half for Troy, which has a 1-point lead at the break.

George Odufuwa is dominating the paint for UNT and has 12 rebounds. Troy has 16 rebounds as a team.

Eric Tramiel has nine points for UNT, but is an uncharacteristic 2-for-7 from the field. In an interesting twist Troy has outscored UNT 16-8 in the paint.

UNT is down one at the 3:10 mark of the first half. The Mean Green was down four before Eric Tramiel converted a 3-point play.

Adam McCoy has six points for the Mean Green.

UNT is up two at the 7:54 mark of the first half. Troy leads the Sun Belt in 3-point shooting, but it is UNT that has early edge from the arc. UNT has four 3-pointers to three for Troy. Adam McCoy has come off the bench to hit two.

UNT has taken its first lead of the game on an Adam McCoy 3-pointer. The Mean Green is on a 10-2 run.

It looks like UNT is going to try to get the ball inside and kick it out to its 3-point shooters if it can't get a good look inside.

George Odufuwa has six boards already.

UNT has struggled against Troy's 2-3 zone early on and is down two at the 13:34 mark of the first half.

UNT was down seven, but started to pick it up here in the last couple of minutes. The surprising aspect of this game thus far is it has been a half court game. Troy has three 3-pointers already, which is the key to the game defensively for UNT.

The Mean Green can't allow Troy to get on track from deep.

I got to the Super Pit a little late after tracking down the Tony Charles story, more on that later.

This is a big one for the UNT men, who have won four straight. After a slump earlier in the year, the Mean Green is in the mix for the Sun Belt West Division title and a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.

I just got off the phone with former UNT recruit Tony Charles, a linebacker out of Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College.

The last time I talked to him a few months back, he said he had committed to UNT, but was keeping his options open. I called him back today to see if anything has changed, and sure enough Charles will not play for UNT.

He needed to pass three classes last semester to qualify to play at a Bowl Subdivision school and didn't quite get it done. He can still play at a Division II school and is headed to Arkansas Tech. Guys that don't qualify out of high school have to get their two-year degrees to play on the Bowl Subdivision level, but can play at Division II schools if they have enough transferable hours. UNT had the same thing happen with defensive end Alonzo Horton, but he actually signed before falling short.

It's a weird NCAA rule, but it is the rule.

Charles was among the Mean Green's highest-rated recruits and was a three-star prospect on Rivals.com.

By the way, don't shoot the messenger.

UNT jumped in the running for Taylor Martin when he decommitted from Iowa State a while back following a coaching change. The Antelope (Calif.) Valley Community College defensive end pondered his options and ended up recommitting to ISU on Wednesday.

It seems like UNT saw this one coming and grabbed Itawamba (Miss.) Community College defensive end John Weber while it had the chance. UNT could pair Weber with Eddrick Gilmore next and be pretty solid. UNT beat out Louisiana-Lafayette for Weber.

Weber isn't as highly rated as Martin, but at this point landing a potential impact defensive player -- even if he wasn't at the top of the board -- is a nice win for UNT.

Show of hands out there for all of you who follow UNT women's hoops.

If I told you UNT would jump out to a 13-point lead in the opening minutes of a game against Troy, get a career high 30 points from Amber Jackson and put together a 12-1 run in the final minutes of regulation what would you think the outcome would be?

Somehow, it was another loss for UNT, which fell to a slumping Troy team at the Super Pit 80-78 in overtime.

UNT came into this one off a win over Florida International and had a chance to show it was finally about to turn the corner, but didn't get it done.

UNT is getting to the point where it had better start stringing some wins together or it is going to have to go on the road in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament to play a pretty good team.

Traditionally, that spells doom in this league.

UNT had a chance to tie its game up with Troy in the closing seconds of overtime, but Jackson's turnaround jumper rolled halfway down and then back out. The senior is just about automatic around the basket. She was 13-for-18 from the field when she took the shot.

It has just been that kind of year for UNT.

I will be back later with more

Amber Jackson forced overtime with a turnaround jumper with under 10 seconds left in the game.

UNT is up 75-72 in the extra session.

UNT was down 11 a couple of minutes ago, but has scored the last five points. Yari Escalera just hit a 3-pointer to cut UNT's deficit to six at the 3:51 mark.

I skipped a media timeout there while talking with a UNT fan.

UNT is down six, but has Amber Jackson headed to the line for a pair of free throws. Jackson has 17 points and is having a really good night for UNT

Troy is shooting 53.3 percent in the second half, which has been the difference.

UNT cut its deficit to one early in the second half on six straight points from Amber Jackson, but Troy has answered with six straight points. The Trojans lead by seven.

Jackson has 13 points for UNT. Tricia Lee has 10.

UNT squandered a 13-point point first-half lead and is down by five at halftime.

UNT was up 25-12 before falling apart. Troy finished the half on an 8-1 run and scored on a jumper at the buzzer.

UNT has blown what was a 13-point lead in the first half. Troy has cut its deficit to 28-25 and is headed to the line for a pair of free throws.

This is just what UNT didn't want to do, let Troy back in this one.

UNT is up by 13 in the first half of a game it has dominated. The Mean Green is already bringing players it seldom plays off the bench. Tricia Lee has seven points for UNT.

The Mean Green is shooting the ball really well early, hitting 10 of 20 from the field.

UNT went on a 7-0 run a few minuets ago and is up eight in the first half. Jo Hall has four points for the Mean Green. Troy has already turned the ball over nine times.

The telling stat is UNT has a 14-6 edge in shots.

UNT is taking advantage of what is a terrible matchup for Troy and has run out to a 10-4 lead. UNT is quicker and stronger and is using its pressure defense to create turnovers and easy baskets. Troy has five turnovers already, make that six coming out of the timeout.

There are a few minutes left before the UNT-Troy women's game, and guess where I am?

At the Super Pit.

Chances are you are not here because there are about 100 people in the green seats. UNT won its last game against Florida International and is looking to win consecutive games for the first time since November.

Check back on the blog for some random updates.

We reported this week that Longview defensive end Chris Knighton had committed to UNT. We had good reason to do so -- he told us he had committed.

Now it is looking like that commitment is a soft one at best.

Longview coach John King saw the report and asked Knighton about it because it was the first he had heard about Knighton's decision. Knighton told him that he hasn't totally made up his mind yet. This happens in recruiting. Players get excited about a school during their visit and commit only to rethink their decision later after talking to their parents, friends and coaches.

UNT is going through the same problems while trying to hang on to defensive tackle Shavod Atkinson, who is considering backing out of his commitment to UNT to sign with West Virginia.

It looks like Knighton also has another program that is trying to pull him away from UNT in Texas Tech. King confirmed that Knighton is visiting Texas Tech this weekend, although he didn't know if the Red Raiders have offered yet.

UNT's coaches had an in-home visit with Knighton last night, but it appears as if they were unable to seal the deal.

If Knighton had cancelled his trip to Tech, I am sure King would know about it by now.

Tech has a couple of high school defensive ends in its class already, but the draw of playing in the Big 12 could be enough to pull Knighton away from UNT.

There was a good question posted on the blog today concerning Chase Baine, a former Lake Dallas quarterback.

With the departure of Giovanni Vizza and the graduation of Daniel Meager and Matt Phillips, it looks like the door is going to be open for Baine to jump into the race for the starting quarterback job.

Baine turned down a couple of scholarship offers to walk on at UNT. He is a good athlete who showed some signs of promise as a slot receiver. I can see him contributing at wide receiver and on special teams, but to be honest I just don't see much of a future for Baine at quarterback at UNT.

Baine is listed at 5-11 and he hasn't played quarterback since high school.

I think we all know who is going to start at quarterback next season. Riley Dodge didn't come to UNT to play wide receiver. He said so when he backed out of his commitment to Texas. If anyone needed any additional clues as to where this is headed, the highlight video at the UNT football banquet ended with Riley Dodge clips and some encouraging words about the promise the future holds with a quarterback who is intimately familiar with Todd Dodge's system running the show.

I wonder who they were talking about. ... Ok, no I don't.

Baine could be in play for the backup job, but my guess is that gig goes to the official player of the Mean Green Blog -- Nathan Tune. The former Celina standout has the size to play the position at 6-4 and is familiar with the system.

UNT could also bring in a JC player, if it can find one to take the bait with the head coach's son coming into his redshirt freshman year with the savior tag already written on white tape across the front of his helmet like in junior high when the coaches don't know everyone's name.

"Hey, Savior, over here. Let's see if you can throw the ball in the big net basket."

It's not that Baine isn't a good player and won't contribute. I think he will. But it might take two or three injuries for Baine to find his way under center next year.

Come to think of it, with Alabama looming on the schedule, Baine playing quarterback isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Rockwall Heath linebacker George Bamfo has named a pair of favorites heading into his final two official visits this week.

North Texas is not among them.

Bamfo visited UNT during its banquet weekend a few days ago and is headed to Houston on Wednesday before a visit to Colorado State over the weekend.

Bamfo spoke with the guys at the CSU Rivals site, who quoted him as saying he is favoring CSU and Houston. It's not a direct quote, but I don't see any reason to doubt those guys.

I thought UNT might pull an upset after Bamfo showed up at the banquet in a UNT jacket. The Mean Green could still pull this off, but the prospects don't look good considering he left campus without committing and said afterward he was leaving his options open.

Here is what you need to know about Kelvin Jackson. He is a big guy, 320 pounds of big guy, and was a second-team All-North Division player in the Mississippi JC ranks. He is also a teammate of DE John Weber, but Jackson said that didn't have a whole lot to do with his decision.

Jackson is a Shelton Gandy recruit (who isn't a Shelton Gandy recruit at UNT these days?). He is also another recruit that UNT went head-to-head with another Sun Belt school for. Louisiana-Monroe was the only other Bowl Subdivision school to offer Jackson a scholarship, although Texas State and several Championship Subdivision schools were interested.

I know that is not what UNT fans want to hear, but Jackson is a good get for UNT, especially if Shavod Atkinson opts to sign with another school.

There is a full story in tomorrow's paper on Jackson. Be sure to pick up a copy or check our Web site.

Everman athlete Deantre Harlan has committed to Baylor in advance of his visit to Waco this weekend, according to Scout.com.

Harlan was among the players who visited UNT last weekend for its football banquet. He is a defensive end/tight end prospect.

I will be back on the blog later to run down where UNT stands at this point, including who is in, who is out and who is left on the board.

About an hour after I put on the blog that Shavod Atkinson has an offer on the table from West Virginia, I got a call from Kelvin Jackson, a defensive tackle from Itawamba (Miss.) Community College.

Jackson has committed to UNT.

Jackson (6-2, 320) chose UNT over offers from Louisiana-Monroe, Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State.

I actually ran across a lot of good stuff today. Check back on the blog later for more.

I received a tip today that Independence (Kan.) Community College defensive lineman Shavod Atkinson might be pondering his options a bit.

Turns out, my tip was right.

Atkinson -- who returns text messages promptly, which makes him my favorite UNT recruit ever -- said that West Virginia has offered him a scholarship.

This is different than what Colorado and Arkansas offered a few weeks back. Those schools wanted Atkinson to visit. West Virginia is offering him a spot and all that goes with it -- playing in the Big East for a program with a recent history of success. West Virginia finished 9-4 and beat North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last year.

UNT has not fared as well the last couple of years.

West Virginia also has only one defensive tackle in its recruiting class thus far and he is a high school player.

Atkinson genuinely seems to like UNT and its coaches, but he said this is going to be a tough decision for him. He is going to talk to his coach about his options. This is just my take, but that doesn't sound good for UNT. If I am a junior college coach, I like the sound of one of my players signing with West Virginia a whole lot better than the sound of him signing with UNT.

This is going to be a key battle for UNT in the recruiting game. The teams that are successful in the Sun Belt steal players from what most people (not hard core UNT fans, but most people) believe are higher profile programs.

UNT has already gotten a couple of those players in this class in cornerback Ira Smith, who had offers from Ole Miss, UAB and Louisiana Tech, and linebacker Daniel Prior, who had offers from Iowa State, SMU and Rice.

Troy, Florida International and Middle Tennessee, all of which hammered UNT last season, are pulling in several players with options. UNT needs to continue to do the same to keep up.

Landing Atkinson certainly would help.

We will have a full story in tomorrow's paper about JUCO defensive end recruit John Weber, but here is some additional information.

Weber grew up in Louisiana and wanted to try living somewhere else. Committing to UNT afforded him that opportunity. He will play defensive end for UNT.

Weber's other offer was from Louisiana-Lafayette. UNT has gone head-to-head with Sun Belt schools for several players this year. That wasn't exactly what the Todd Dodge regime was supposed to bring, but at this point it isn't such a bad deal either for reasons I think we all know.

At least UNT won't have to have to worry about Weber having a big game against the Mean Green.

What is interesting is UNT has taken seven JC players so far for 2009 and is after a few more.

UNT is in full win-now mode after two terrible years.

JUCO players are a high-risk, high-reward proposition. UNT has had a few JC players contribute in the Todd Dodge era, including Cam Montgomery and Kylie Hill. Montgomery was great last year. UNT has also had some busts with Alonzo Horton and Justin Edwards.

UNT is depending heavily on Weber and the rest of its JC recruits and can't afford another couple of misses.

It is pretty interesting that Middle Tennessee hasn't taken a single JC player this year and appears to have decided to go exclusively with high school recruits. Even Troy, which has dominated the Sun Belt and hammered UNT the last couple of years with a lineup heavy on JUCO players, has had its share of misses.

Weber appears to be a solid player as do all of the JC players UNT has landed so far. This team had better hope they all turn out because UNT needs the help next season.

I will jump back on later with more details. I am at basketball practice right now, but I just talked to John Weber. He has committed to UNT.

My gut feeling was right about Wichita (Kan.) offensive lineman Alex Schooler. He has committed to Marshall, according to the guys at Rivals.com. I talked to him at the banquet and once over the phone and he never sounded that excited about UNT, while he always sounded enthusiastic when he talked about Marshall.

Schooler could develop into a really good offensive tackle. He was rated among the best players in Kansas.

Take a look a little farther down in the blog and I have an entry on a guy who could be Plan B for UNT, although he doesn't play the same position.

It looks like UNT running backs coach Shelton Gandy is still hitting the recruiting trail pretty hard in Louisiana. Darius Carey, a defensive back/wide receiver prospect out of Helen Cox, might visit UNT next week, according to the guys over at Rivals.com.

Carey (5-10, 178) runs a 4.5 40-yard dash and is ranked No. 54 on the Rivals Louisiana Top 75 list. He has an offer from Nicholls State, but a lot of the other Louisiana Bowl Subdivision schools have shown interest at one time or another.

UNT is running out of spots pretty quick. Carey might be a backup plan if UNT fails to land one or two of the top remaining targets on its board -- linebacker George Bamfo, offensive lineman Alex Schooler, ect.

In an interesting side note, Carey went to the same high school as UNT JUCO defensive end target John Weber, who has spent the last two years at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi. UNT and Sun Belt rival Louisiana-Lafayette are battling it out for Weber.

There is no telling if there is a connection between the Carey and Weber.

File that one under, "Things that make you go hmmmmmm."

I talked with Rockwall Heath linebacker George Bamfo today.

Bamfo visited UNT over the weekend, but didn't commit. He said he is still considering his options and is down to UNT, Houston and Colorado State.

Bamfo will visit Houston on Wednesday and then head to CSU on Friday.

UNT could really use Bamfo, a late qualifier and three-star rated prospect.

I would worry about Houston, if I were a UNT fan. The Cougars have had some success recently and Houston isn't too far away.

I have made the calls and here is where UNT stands as of about noon on Sunday.

Two players -- not three -- have committed to UNT.

Chris Knighton, the defensive end out of Longview I mentioned last night, has committed to UNT. He is a pretty good prospect who had offers from UTEP and Louisiana-Monroe. Louisiana Tech had offered at one point, but pulled its offer when it got a commitment from another player.

De'Andre Stewart of North Forest in Houston also committed to UNT. He didn't have any other offers, but was an All-District 21-4A selection as a safety.

And now for the bad news. The recruiting services put up that DeAntry Harlen of Everman had committed to UNT, but I don't think they talked to him. We have a policy of always talking to a kid before saying he is committed.

This is why. I talked to Harlen and he told me directly that he is not committed to UNT and that he will visit Baylor next weekend. Kids will often give coaches the impression that they are committed on their visit and then change their minds.

That doesn't mean he won't end up at UNT, but it isn't a done deal.

I also talked to Kansas offensive lineman Alex Schooler. He said he will make a decision between Marshall and UNT in the next couple of days.

My gut feeling is this might not go UNT's way. Schooler has visited Marshall and UNT. UNT's chances of landing him were probably the best when he was on campus.

I wait until later in the day to start hitting the phones to track down who decided to do what after official visits. Kids usually want to go home and talk to their parents.

But I did notice one UNT target is off the board.

Michael Venson of Katy Morton Ranch committed to TCU. UNT had offered the running back/defensive back, who is projected to play cornerback for the Frogs.

Venson had eight Bowl Subdivision scholarship offers and was pretty highly regarded. If it makes you feel any better Troy also offered and didn't land Venson.

I did a little more digging to put together some information about the four recruits UNT had in for its banquet tonight. And as a party bonus, I ran them all down after the banquet to at least get a quick update on where they stood.

I was in a big rush to get something up on the blog and didn't have time to check the spellings of their names earlier tonight. Here is the full rundown.

As everyone already knows, the gem of the group appears to be George Bamfo, an outside linebacker from Rockwall Heath. I talked to Bamfo and he said he is visiting Houston in the middle of the week and then will head to Colorado State next weekend. He was wearing a UNT jacket at the banquet. Take that for what it is worth. UNT's main competition appears as if it will be Houston.

Deantre Harlan is a defensive lineman/tight end from Everman. My guess is UNT is looking at him as a potential defensive end. Tulsa, Colorado State and UTEP have offered.

DeAndre Stewart is a wide receiver/safety from Houston Forest Brook. I didn't have a chance to ask who has offered him a scholarship and I came up empty looking for more info on him on the Houston Chronicle Web site.

Alex Schooler is an offensive lineman from Kansas, who has visited Marshall and will make a decision on where he is headed later in the week.

This is just my gut feeling after briefly talking with all four, but it seems like UNT has a good shot at landing DeAndre Stewart pretty quick. UNT's chances with the other three don't look as good. They are all going to take a hard look at their options.

In other news, I picked up an interesting tidbit today on Longview defensive end Christopher Knighton. It doesn't look like La. Tech is going to offer him a scholarship, which could open the door for UNT.

I wll have an update on all four recruits who were on hand a little later, but here are their names: George Bamfo, Deontre Stewart, Deontre Harlon and Alex Schooler.

Odus Mitchell Award (Team MVP) - Casey Fitzgerald, senior wide receiver
Steve Ramsey Award (Outstanding Offensive Player) - Casey Fitzgerald, senior wide receiver
Joe Greene Award (Outstanding Defensive Player) Tobe Nwigwe, junior linebacker
Shawn Kramer (Most Inspirational Player) - Ryan Davenport, senior defensive end
Abner Haynes Award (Outstanding Special Teams Player) - Truman Spencer, senior punter
Ja'Quay Wilburn Award (Outstanding Offensive Back) - Cam Monttomgery, junior running back
Phillip Armour Award (Outstanding Offensive Lineman) - J.J. Johnson, redshirt freshman center
Bill Bishop Award (Outstanding Defensive Lineman) - Isaac Thomas, senior defensive tackle
Byron Gross Award Outstanding Linebacker) - Craig Robertson
Bill Brashier Award (Outstanding Defensive Back) - Kylie Hill, junior safety

I am getting ready to head over to the big Greenie love fest that is the annual football banquet. At the suggestion of a UNT fan, I thought it would be fun to put some predictions up on the blog, not all of them serious.

Here is a rundown by the numbers:

34 -- Times the word "facilities" will be uttered by UNT officials tonight.

23 - References to a new football stadium that all recruits in attendance should be thrilled about (and rightly so)

15 - Mentions of how Casey Fitzgerald thrived the last two years in Todd Dodge's offense (and rightly so)

0 - Mentions of who threw most of the touchdown passes that Fitzgerald caught

1 - Over-under on how many UNT officials shed a tear tonight while speaking to the crowd

0 - Mentions of how the team has fared the last two seasons

12 - Mentions of how the team is headed to the top of the Sun Belt Conference

11 - Mentions of how many yards UNT racked up in the passing game (and rightly so)

0 - Mentions of where UNT ranked in scoring offense in the Sun Belt last season

6 - Mentions of how many key returning players UNT has back next season.

0 - Mentions of where UNT ranked nationally in scoring defense last season

103 - Number of UNT fans hitting refresh every 30 seconds on a www.gomeangreen.com tonight to see what they missed and repeatedly asking about stadium updates.

I thought this was pretty interesting when I came across it today. FAU men's basketball coach Mike Jarvis has been suspended for a game for receiving three technical fouls in a loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

FAU is horrible.

Jarvis is one of the recycled Sun Belt coaches who is really struggling. Arkansas State is doing better with John Brady.

Here is the link:

Jarvis

My friend Josh who covers UL-Lafayette and I have spent a pretty good part of the night -- Josh at the office and me at home while the wife studies for the CPA test -- trying to run down John Weber, a JUCO defensive end from Mississippi.

Quick aside (this is why you shouldn't let your kids grow up to be journalists)

Anyway, Josh hit the jackpot and we swapped the information.

The information is that there really is no information.

Weber told Josh earlier in the week that he was going to make up his mind today after an in-home visit from UNT's coaches. He said tonight that he has changed his mind and won't decide until next week.

From what I have heard, both from Josh and people on the UNT end is that Weber wants to wait and talk to his family about his options. The family is from Louisiana. The story going around is that at least one member of the family went to the presidential inauguration and is headed back home.

It sounds like there is going to be a big family meeting or at least a discussion among some of the people involved. The longer this drags out, the more likely it seems that Weber will play for ULL, which is not to far from the family's home in New Orleans.

I am not saying that Weber won't end up at UNT. It sounds like some people on UNT's end are convinced he wants to go to UNT and is just waiting to finalize his plans with his family. He could very well end up in Denton, but the way this is playing out makes me wonder if the family connections in Louisiana won't come into play.

You can add one name to the list of players visiting UNT this weekend. Rockwall Heath linebacker George Bamfo is at UNT now and will be at tomorrow's banquet.

Bamfo was a late qualifier and the competition appears as if it will be stiff for the three-star player.

Bamfo will visit Colorado State next weekend, Houston has offered and some of the big boys, including Texas Tech appear to be interested.

For those of you who subscribe to Rivals.com, here is the link:

Bamfo

UNT has the ball and a three-point lead with less than a minute left.

One would assume that FIU will go for the steal and will sit down and play defense on the other end if UNT gets it across halfcourt.

UNT is down just one at the 11:41 mark of the second half, but Eric Tramiel is headed to the line with a chance to tie it up by completing a 3-point play. Tramiel just threw down the dunk of the year thus far off a rebound.

UNT has cut into its deficit a little here early in the second half. The Mean Green has had several chances to hit a big 3-pointer, but can't buy one from beyond the arc here in the second half. UNT is 0 for 4.

UNT went with the unusual move of pulling Josh White from the starting lineup for its game against FIU.

UNT immediately fell behind before working its way back. FIU went on an 8-0 run late in the first half and took a six-point lead into the break.

I didn't have a chance to chase this down until this afternoon, but we will have a story in tomorrow's paper on Tyler Stradford, a wide receiver who spent time at Oklahoma who transferred to UNT at the semester break.

After a long flight from Texas, I am here in Miami for UNT's game against FIU.

UNT has won three straight and will look to match its longest streak of the season with a win over the Golden Panthers, who have won two in a row.

Eric Tramiel has been on a roll lately for UNT and should play a key role in tonight's game. FIU has a big front line. The Mean Green will need Tramiel to hold his own defensively and force Cedric Essola and Nikola Gacesa to work on the other end of the floor. Both are 6-9.

FIU is really a weird Division I venue, by the way. It is really small. and has the old school pull-out high school seating on two sides.

Independence (Kan.) Community College defensive lineman Shavod Atkinson shot me a text today to update me on where he stands when it comes to his plans.

Party on Greeenie faithful. Party on.

Atkinson told me that UNT assistant coach David Rausch came to see him Monday and talk things over. Atkinson then kicked around his options with his dad and finalized his decision to play for UNT. He will cancel his visit to New Mexico State and won't visit Colorado or Arkansas.

Atkinson is a key recruit for UNT because he should be able to step in right away and help a horrible defensive line that lost two of its only legitimate tackles (Isaac Thomas and Joseph Miller) after last season and had another backup leave the school (Jordan Scoggins).

I fully expect UNT fans out there to declare that this will fix all of the team's problems and that the Mean Green will suddenly transform into the 2002 defense that was one of the best in school history. Atkinson will help -- a lot -- but I would tap the brakes a little.

UNT finished last nationally in scoring defense in each of the last two seasons and still has a lot of work to do.

By the way, this guy is officially a member of the Mean Green nation now, so I humbly request that all UNT fans now spell his name correctly.

It's Shavod Atkinson, not Shavod Atkinsin or Shavod Atkinsen and nothing beginning with Shaved. There is a joke in there somewhere, but this is a G-rated blog and Shavod is a big guy.

I will let my friends over at the TY Sports Blog handle that one.

Post your thoughts on the blog.

It's getting down to crunch time in recruiting season, and since not much else was going on today, I thought it might be a good time to look at where UNT stands in the recruiting rankings.

Yea, I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this makes for some fun debate. UNT landed a really good class last year and is doing well this year considering the circumstances that I won't go over here for fear of flying fruit and nasty e-mail.

There are a few interesting trends when one looks at the numbers, though. For one, it looks like Troy is going to run away with the Rivals title, which I put more stock in than anything else. I just think they are the most accurate, plus they do the Morning News rankings and Belo pays my salary.

Are they always right? No. To me UNT linebacker recruit Daniel Prior is under rated by Rivals. There is also no way you can tell me that Scout is accurate when it rates NJCAA Defensive Player of the Year and Troy commit Eugene Kinlaw a one-star recruit.

My guess is Troy will end up with the Scout crown as well when all is said and done. Troy pulls in a bunch of good players late and always signs a few big-time guys at the last minute and places them in junior colleges.

UNT still could end up second in both rakings. They ought to erect a statue of recruiting coordinator Chuck Petersen if he can pull that off.

There was a lot of credit sent UNT's way last year for coming out ahead of SMU and TCU in rankings. That's not going to happen this time around, baring something unforeseen. TCU has more than triple the number of three-star players in both services' rankings than what UNT has. UNT will also have to rally late to pass SMU.

UNT is ninth out of the 10 Texas Bowl Subdivision teams in both services rankings, just ahead of UTEP, which could pass UNT with the way it has landed several highly regarded players in the last couple of days.

A lot of people site the rankings as a sign of success when they rate their teams highly and complain about the formulas when they don't back their argument. One common beef is that big-time players land the schools that they commit to so many bonus points.

Sorry, I for one would take one Jamario Thomas over a half dozen of the average Sun Belt signees out there.

A lot will be decided over the next few weeks, and there is always the promise of the secret recruit UNT will spring on the world late in the process. Can you say stealth recruiting?

Any way, that is the fun part of following recruiting - the debate and the arguing over who comes out on top. My guess? Troy will walk away with the titles, UNT will land a surprisingly solid class and every fan in the Sun Belt with try to take apart the rakings of both services and make the argument that their team was really the best because the only real way to look at it is through the average number of stars per player, the average Rivals rating or some other system they came up with to prove their point.

To me that is like going back to last season and saying that UNT really won four games because passing touchdowns should be worth 12 points because a passing touchdown is more exciting than a boring running play. Sorry, you play by the rankings, err rules.

Or my favorite argument, the rankings mean nothing until five years later when all the players' careers are complete and no one really remembers how the classes were ranked until they look up the five-year review in Dave Campbell's Texas Football.

You know what? There is nothing wrong with that, because in the recruiting game there really is no right answer.

So here they are. The current recruiting rankings:

Rivals Sun Belt rankings
Team Commits 3 star & up Points
1. Troy 14 Five 162
2. Fla. Int. 20 Four 77
3. UNT 15 Four 65
4. Ark. St. 9 One 55
5. ULM 18 Zero 39
6. MTSU 12 One 35
7. FAU 11 One 14
8. ULL 1 Zero 3

Rivals Texas rankings
Team Commits 3 star & up Points
1. Texas 20 20 2,375
2. A&M 27 26 1,416
3. Tech 209 18 836
4. TCU 17 14 771
5. Baylor 21 13 408
6. Houston 20 10 343
7. Rice 21 3 190
8. SMU 21 7 179
9. UNT 15 4 65
10. UTEP 10 6 57

Scout Sun Belt rankings
Team Commits 3 star&up Points
1. ULM 21 2 702
2. Fla. Int. 21 0 449
3. Troy 14 3 423
4. UNT 14 2 302
5. MTSU 12 1 295
6. ULL 12 0 274
7. ASU 7 1 207
8. FAU 7 1 197

Scout Texas rankings
1. Texas 20 19 3,766
2. A&M 26 21 3,467
3. Tech 20 13 1,867
4. Houston 23 10 1,570
5. Baylor 22 11 1,522
6. TCU 17 11 1,487
7. SMU 21 7 1,115
8. Rice 22 4 918
9. UNT 14 2 302
10. UTEP 8 1 196

Here is the story in today's DRC on John Noble:

John Noble

And in a side note running back John Hubert has committed to Kansas State.

Hubert on Rivals

UNT offered Hubert, but eliminated earlier in the process. He was down to Kansas State and Louisiana Tech.

I talked with John Noble for a couple of minutes today for a story that will be in tomorrow's DRC.

I came away impressed. As you probably have already read, the Rockwall offensive lineman was a four-time all-state selection in piano, which is kind of cool when you think about it. He was also a second-team academic all-state selection in football this year.

Noble played guard in high school, but UNT is going to move him to tackle. Noble told me that UNT plans to move some of its tackles to guard.

Noble weighs about 300 pounds and has the size one would want in a college tackle.

The interesting aspect of the way this all played out is a lot of elite academic schools across the country took a look, including Rice, Georgia Tech and some others, but none offered a signing day scholarship. Some wanted him to walk on or gray shirt.

UNT came into the picture late and snapped Noble up. My guess is UNT liked his potential and believes it can build him into a tackle down the line. I would bet UNT redshirts Noble, which would allow him to grow and adapt to playing a new position.

Noble was a like a lot of UNT recruits I have talked to. He was sold on the idea of getting in on the ground floor of a rebuilding process at UNT, which is selling itself as an up-and-coming program. That seems like the obvious way for UNT to market itself at this point after really struggling the last two years under a new coaching staff.

Noble is planning to major in engineering at this point, although he hasn't made up his mind. I was curious to see if Noble was interested in majoring in music. He said it's just a hobby. He doesn't play as much as he used to now that he is getting serious about football.

I haven't had a chance to run him down yet. but Rockwall guard John Noble committed to UNT today. He didn't have another scholarship offer from a Bowl Subivision school, but TCU, Vanderbilt and Northwestern offered an opportunity to join their teams as a preferred walk-on.

The following is a link to his Rivals.com page

Noble

UNT landed two players after weekend visits, including a key one in defensive tackle Kyle White. The Mean Green nation seems downright giddy, and it probably should be. UNT needs defensive linemen and White appears to be a solid prospect.

I am not ready to declare a player with offers from UNT, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe the second coming of Brandon Kennedy, but at this point UNT should be happy to land a defensive tackle that a few other Bowl Subdivision teams agreed is a solid player.

UNT also landed its punter of the future in Will Atterberry.

Not that it matters now, but Chris Boswell, the other kicker/punter UNT was after, committed to Rice. Boswell is ranked No. 5 among kickers by Rivals.com. Jarvis Phillips, an athlete from Dallas Carter that UNT offered, committed to Texas Tech. He will likely end up being a cornerback or wide receiver for the Red Raiders. He is another three-star player.

For those of you who enjoy following who is projected to have the best class in the Sun Belt, UNT is sitting third in the Rivals.com rankings behind Troy and Florida International. Rivals is weighted heavily toward top-rated players. The Trojans landed by far the best player among Sun Belt teams thus far - at least in the Rivals rankings -- in four-star defensive tackle and national JUCO Defensive Player of the Year Eugene Kinlaw, which is a big reason the Trojans are running away from the field in those rakings.

Scout.com has UNT sitting fourth in the league. Personally, I think Rivals.com is a little more accurate, although I do think they have UNT recruit Daniel Prior, a linebacker out of Henderson, a bit under-rated.

I didn't have a chance to put this up on the blog earlier because I drew the short straw and had to put the paper together tonight, but I did get in touch with both of UNT's new recruits for a story that will be in tomorrow's paper.

I just put it up on our Web site. Here's a link:

DRC story

UNT was looking for a punter and found one in Will Atterberry. Here's the weird factoid for the night. I happened to mention that UNT used to have an assistant coach with the same last name. Those of you out there who have been around a while probably remember Duke Atterberry, who was the tight ends coach for a short time. Come to find out, he is Will's second cousin.

Small world.

Anyway, Atterberry was a second-team all-state punter and also kicked in high school. He will take over for Truman Spencer, UNT's punter who graduated and will get a shot to kick later in his career.

UNT landing defensive lineman Kyle White pretty much came out of left field, or more accurately Louisiana. White said UNT and running backs/special teams coach Shelton Gandy had been recruiting him for some time. I don't remember the last time UNT pulled a recruit out of Louisiana.

UNT needs defensive linemen really badly and probably would have gone to Guam if it had to. White sounds like a legit prospect.

UNT beat out Sun Belt rivals Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette for his commitment. UNT hasn't had a lot of high school players commit who had other options, so landing White is a good sign.

White told me he weighs 290 pounds, which is significantly less than what he is listed at by the recruiting Web sites, but he still has good size.

UNT has some guys to work with up front next season in White and Tevinn Cantly. If UNT can hang on to JUCO tackle Shavod Atkinson that would certainly help matters.

Post your thoughts on the blog.

UNT knocked off Florida Atlantic in very un-Mean-Green-like fashion tonight, pulling away for a 69-60 win.

Eric Tramiel was great while scoring 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Tramiel has quickly become a force in the Sun Belt. I am starting to wonder if he isn't going to be all-league selection by the end of the year.

Collin Dennis also hit some big shots for UNT.

This is a game UNT should have won, but there are some observations one can take from a game like this. What I really like about the way UNT is playing is that it is showing how deep it really is this season. Dennis is coming off the bench and he might be the best player on this team. Tristan Thompson, Josh White and Adam McCoy are all contributing in the backcourt.

George Odufuwa and Kedrick Hogans are helping up front.

I don't know if there is a deeper team in the Sun Belt.

UNT is still two games back of Arkansas-Little Rock in the standings. UALR is pretty good. UNT might have to go on a pretty long winning streak to catch the Trojans, but this team is capable.

The only problem I see UNT running into is it has to quit playing so many close games. They will eventually jump up and bite you. UNT fans can hope the Mean Green learned its lesson and will start putting teams away like it did tonight.

No big surprise here, but I heard from Matt Vizza, who confirmed that former UNT quarterback Giovanni Vizza has transferred to Texas A&M. The plan is for him to go to school this year, join the team (I would be shocked if it was as any thing other than a walk-on) next season, use his redshirt year and then play two more years.

I am not betting that we will see Vizza play for the Aggies. I don't think he fits their system and he was considered a mid-major prospect coming out of high school any way. From what Matt Vizza told me, Gio just lost the love of the game while losing and getting the tar beaten out of him every week at UNT.

You can scream that Vizza is a quitter. You can say he should have stuck it out with his teammates. You can cry that he left UNT high and dry.

And you would have a point.

If you look at it from Vizza's point of view, he didn't enjoy playing at UNT any longer and didn't believe things would turn around. Vizza might not play another down of college ball, but he did accomplish a lot in his time at UNT in terms of passing yards.

You can point to Vizza's record as a starter, but there is no way to pin the Mean Green's dismal performance of the last two years on one guy. I don't think UNT would have done much better with just about anyone else at quarterback - not with that defense or the way the Mean Green played on special teams.

UNT will go into the season next year with Riley Dodge as its starting quarterback, baring some shocking development.

With Vizza's destination set, it seems like it's time to open a new chapter is the tale of the Todd Dodge era at UNT.

Check the paper or our Web site later for the full story. I am out.

UNT has gone on a 12-4 run over the last several minutes and appears to have this one in hand at the 2:29 mark. Collin Dennis is headed to the line and can give the Mean Green a 10-point lead.

Dennis has 12 points for UNT.

The UNT women took forever and a day to come out of the locker room after their loss to FAU, which put me a bit behind, but I am back on the blog.

UNT is up just at the 10:38 mark. I think I would die of shock if UNT ever put anyone away early.

Eric Tramiel is having a huge game with 18 points for UNT.

The UNT men are about to begin their game against FAU here at the Super Pit.

The good news for UNT -- Howard Schnellenberger is not in the house.

Oh, come on. It was funny.

Seriously, this is a game a UNT team on a roll should win. The Mean Green keeps making it interesting, but has won two straight and needs to keep right on winning if it wants to complete for the Sun Belt West Division title.

FAU is terrible and is without Carlos Monroe, its best player. If UNT plays it game, it should win this one going away.

UNT is up five with just 1:17 left and appears to have this one in the bag. Amber Jackson has been huge down the stretch and has 22 points. Mansa El just hit a big layup that put UNT in position to put this one away.

UNT is up four with 7:22 left in the second half and can't quite seem to put FAU away.

The Owls were down just two a few minutes ago when Torrian Timms hit a layup. Timms has been an unsung hero in this game with seven points and nine rebounds.

UNT is up six midway through the second half and has Jo Hall headed to the line for a pair of free throws.

UNT has two players in double figures -- Amber Jackson with 16 and Yari Escalera with 10.

UNT was up six a few minutes ago after Yari Escalera hit a 3-pointer, but FAU has scored the last four points to cut its deficit to two at the 15:20 mark of the second half.

Amber Jackson has 14, but has not scored since halftime.

Amber Jackson had a big first half with 14 points and four rebounds for UNT, which is up four at the break.

UNT has a 20-13 edge on the boards and has 12 points from its bench, which has helped matters.

The Mean Green really needs to hang on for the win as we head into the second half.

UNT is up five with 3:46 left in the first half. Amber Jackson has 10 points for the Mean Green. I think I cursed Yari Escalera. She has missed her last two shots, but stil has five points on the day.

Tamara Torru has four points, all from the line, for UNT.

UNT is on a 7-0 run in the first half and is up three with 7:14 left before the break. Amber Jackson has started to heat up and 10 points.

Yari Escalera just hit her first three-pointer of the game. UNT could stand to get her a couple of more looks the way she is shooting the ball lately. Yari is 2-for-2 on the day for five points.

FAU is up two on UNT midway through the first half. Torrian Timms has five points for UNT, nearly double her season average of 3.4.

Timms stole a pass and went the length of the court for a layup a few minutes ago. Carla Stubbs has six for FAU.

FAU scored its first six points from the free-throw line and is up two at the first media timeout of the first half.

FAU guard Andrea Taylor has four points for FAU.

In an interesting note, FAU has three shots. UNT has nine.

The UNT women snapped a six-game losing streak in its last game against Denver and should have a good chance at winning its second straight game against FAU today.

FAU has won five games on the season, while UNT has won six.

UNT has Jo Hall back after an eight-game suspension, which will help matters. Yari Escalera has been playing really well the last couple of weeks, and Amber Jackson is still Amber Jackson.

Carla Stubbs, FAU's best player is averaging 12.8 points a game. The key to this one could be how the defensively challenged Mean Green handles the junior guard.

I caught up with Independence (Kan.) Community College defensive lineman Shavod Atkinson today.

Those of you who are following the way UNT's class is shaping up probably already know that Atkinson's commitment to the Mean Green is a soft one. He is still looking around. The last time I talked with Atkinson, he didn't have any visits set up.

That has changed.

Atkinson is headed to New Mexico State on Jan. 23. Arkansas wants Atkinson to come in on the 30th, but Atkinson said whether he takes that visit will depend on if assistant coach Garrick McGee remains on the Razorbacks staff.

Colorado is also pushing Atkinson to visit before signing day.

Atkinson said that, "As of now, North Texas has nothing to worry about."

Atkinson seemed like a pretty smart guy when I talked to him for the story I wrote when he committed. Plus, he returns messages, which makes him a great guy in my book.

I am sure he feels good about UNT.

With that said, I wonder if the draw of playing in a big-time league for Arkansas or Colorado won't tempt him to reconsider. And you never know what could happen at New Mexico State. Players make surprise decisions all the time.

A couple of years ago, it looked like UNT was going to be able to sell Phillip Tanner of Dallas Kimball on following in the footsteps of Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas as a feature back at UNT. He ended up at Middle Tennessee instead, and, well you know the rest of the story.

You have to hand it to UNT's staff, though. They must have done a good job on selling Atkinson on UNT, despite its struggles of the last couple of years.

UNT has some impressive high school recruits and a couple of JC wide receivers committed, but I don't think there is any question that Atkinson is the player UNT needs to land more than anyone. UNT struggled to get anything done at the line of scrimmage defensively last season, lost Isaac Thomas to graduation and struck out on about a half a dozen other JC defensive tackles it offered.

Throw in the fact that Jordan Scoggins isn't coming back and UNT lacks both experience and depth. That's not a good sign for a team that finished last nationally in scoring defense in each of the last two seasons.

CFN put out a list of top 100 returning players in college football next season after all the underclassmen declared for the draft. The list has several players from the Sun Belt Conference.

No, there isn't anyone from UNT.

Here's the Sun Belt guys who made the list:

99. LB Cardia Jackson, Jr. ULM
95. RB Reggie Arnold, Jr. Arkansas State
84. DE Brandon Lang, Jr. Troy
65. QB Rusty Smith, Jr. Florida Atlantic
55. DE Alex Carrington, Jr. Arkansas State

Carrington and Lang should be pretty solid draft prospects next season. Troy tends to have someone drafted every year (which is part of the reason they recruit so well). A lot of services project defensive back Sherrod Martin to go in the top three to four rounds this year.

Here's the link:

College Football News Top 100

UNT did a little in-house switching around on its football staff and will look outside over the weekend for an interior defensive line coach. I went through the changes on the blog earlier, but the big news was Shelton Gandy is taking over UNT's special teams.

WARNING -- TRUTH ABOUT TO BE TOLD

Gandy will be in the spotlight next season, but to be honest, UNT can't be any worse on special teams. UNT finished dead last nationally in kickoff coverage, had some kicks blocked and finished near the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference in just about every special teams category.

Those struggles had UNT's fans calling for head coach Todd Dodge to hire a guy just to coach special teams. UNT couldn't afford that luxury with the way its staff is set up. Dodge said he can't think of a team that has a guy just to coach special teams, and he is probably right.

Nearly every special teams coach also coaches a position. And considering UNT is a one-back team, Gandy seems like a good pick. He is a college coach, knows what he is doing, and he doesn't have a lot to do coaching UNT's running backs.

Dodge plans to hire an interior defensive line coach next week. I would just about bet the farm on the guy having some college experience.

UNT will also have a strength coach as I mentioned earlier. Again, it's a good idea. Most teams have a guy just for football. UNT already has a good strength and conditioning coach who has a lot to handle in Chris Seroka, who has a small staff that handles the entire athletic department. UNT's new guy is another college veteran and will work with just the football team.

By the way, anyone else notice UNT seems to be bringing on more and more college assistant coaches to join Dodge's staff?

The only other move was the departure of UNT's football operations guy, which is a position that has more to do with what goes on in house than what goes on during games.

We will have to see how this all plays out with a defensive tackles coach, but so far, this looks like a solid set of moves.

UNT avoided a disaster in the making tonight and came from 21 down to beat Denver at the Super Pit.

UNT guard Collin Dennis talked after the game about how important this one was for the Mean Green. The point is hard to argue. UNT dug itself a hole in the Sun Belt standings in some closes losses and needs to go on a run to get out of it.

Falling to a team that has not won a road game in approximately forever would have been tough. UNT avoided that fate with a comeback that tied for the largest in school history.

A triple overtime win over Arkansas State in its last game was a step in the right direction for UNT. Knocking off Denver will only help matters.

The interesting part of this one was that Dennis and Adam McCoy won this one off the bench for the Mean Green. Both are bigger guards and play solid defense, which was critical when Denver trapped UNT in a half-court game and posted up the Mean Green's smaller backcourt players.

UNT will look to win its third straight on Saturday.

Dominique Johnson just nailed a 3-pointer. UNT is up 54-52 and the Pit is jumping -- at least as much as one can expect with only a few hundred in the house.

UNT got to within three points at 46-43, but has seen Denver answer and push its lead back to seven points.

UNT doesn't have a player in double figures. Collin Dennis and Harold Stewart have eight each.

Here come the Mean Green.

UNT opened the second half on a 18-5 run and cut its deficit to three a couple of minutes ago. Denver has answered with a couple of baskets and is headed to the line looking to extend its lead.

UNT is 6-for-10 from the field in the second half.

UNT has opened the second half on a 7-2 run to cut its deficit to 12 at the 15:33 mark. Tristan Thompson scored the first five points of the second half. UNT had a chance to cut into its deficit a little farther, but Adam McCoy missed a 3-pointer.

UNT is 0-for-9 from the 3-point arc.

Denver had hit five 3-pointers in the first half and has pushed its lead to 19 points, more than UNT has scored thus far.

UNT doesn't have a single player with more than one field goal on the night. The Mean Green is digging itself a hole that is going to be darn near impossible to get out of.

This is getting ugly. Denver is on a 10-2 run and has opened up a 15-point lead on UNT in the first half.

UNT is getting nothing on the offensive end and is leaving too many shooters open at the 3-point arc.

UNT needs to make a move going into halftime.

And to make matters worse, Eric Tramiel has a sprained foot. His return is doubtful.

UNT is totally out of sorts and down eight at the 11:54 mark of the first half. Denver is packing it in with a zone that UNT can't seem to figure out. The Pioneers are also running their offense to perfection, getting easy looks at the basket.

Denver has jumped out to a three-point lead at the 15:34 mark of the first half of its game against UNT. The Mean Green has just one field goal so far and is struggling to figure out what it is doing in the halfcourt.

UNT is trying to get the ball inside, but hasn't had much success. UNT has just two shot attempts to six for Denver.

The Mean Green men are getting ready to tip off a game they really need to win against Denver tonight.

UNT broke out of its funk with a triple overtime win over Arkansas State in its last outing. The Mean Green needs to build on that win tonight against a Denver team that has been terrible on the road for approximately forever.

Denver has lost 38 straight away from its home arena.

I talked with Todd Dodge this afternoon and he confirmed that Shelton Gandy will serve as special teams coordinator next season.

He also confirmed that Aaron Ausmus will serve as UNT's strength and conditioning coach.

Mark Barrow, who served as the Mean Green's director of football operations, has left the program to move back to California with his family. Not a big shock, but this is the first time I had a chance to get confirmation.

There will be a notebook in tomorrow's paper that runs through all the specifics.

A source over at UNT has just let me know that Shelton Gandy has been appointed the Mean Green's new special teams coach.

Gandy was a special teams coach at Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech.

UNT will now look for a defensive line coach to complete its staff.

After some back and forth dealing, UNT and Giovanni Vizza have settled on the terms of his transfer.

UNT originally was not going to allow him to transfer to another Sun Belt school or any school in the Mean Green's schedule for the next three seasons. People with knowledge of what was going on later told me that UNT had changed its mind and was not going to allow Vizza to transfer to any other Bowl Subdivision school.

UNT backed off that stance and returned to its original stipulations.

Matt Vizza indicated it was a done deal and UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal later confirmed the terms of Vizza's release.

This seems like the only reasonable conclusion. UNT doesn't want Vizza to end up going to another team it will play during his career and potentially having a hand in beating his old team, which is understandable.

UNT could have tried to slap tougher sanctions on Vizza, but it would have taken a huge public relations hit it cannot afford at this point. Schools recruiting against UNT already have enough ammunition after the last two seasons.

I might be alone in this thought, but I wouldn't be all that surprised to see Vizza go to another school and do really well. I made some calls, and unless I am being led astray, I don't think Vizza is headed to Rice or Sam Houston State.

But don't be surprised if he doesn't land somewhere real quick. The NCAA has rules that are designed to prevent players who are already playing at one school from talking to another, but there are back channels for this type of situation with high school coaches and other intermediaries.

It would be naive to think Vizza doesn't have some idea of what the market for him will be like and who might be interested in landing him.

Jo Hall is back and the UNT women are back in the win column -- finally.

The Mean Green knocked off Denver tonight at the Super Pit, thanks to a 9-0 run late in the second half and another big game from Yari Escalera, not to mention a career game by Mansa El.

Escalera hit what proved to be the shot of the game, a 3-pointer that pushed UNT's narrow two-point lead in a back and forth game to five. The Meran Green pulled away from there.

UNT playe better defensively and also had a balanced scoring attack.

Getting Hall back could be big for the Mean Green. Hall is a big guard, who is tough for opponents to handle and gets a lot of points in the paint. Tricia Lee was out with fluid build-up around her heart. Don't ask me. All I know is that she is supposed to be back Saturday.

UNT is up just one at the 3:30 mark of the second half, although Mansa El is headed to the line for a pair of free throws.

UNT has four players in double figures, including El, who has 15.

The Mean Green is going to have to make some plays down the stretch to hang on.

UNT is up four at the 7:46 mark of the second half. Mansa El is having a nice game and has 13 points. Amber Jackson is finally in double figures with 10.

UNT has outscored Denver 29-16 in the second half.

Denver has regained a one-point lead at the 11:46 mark of the second half. UNT was up three, but the Pioneers have scored the last four points. Yari Escalera still leads UNT with 13 points.

UNT has come all the way back from a nine-point halftime deficit and has a one-point lead at the 15:08 mark of the second half.

Yari Escalera has 13 points for UNT.

UNT cut its deficit to four points late in the first half, but Denver closed the half on 7-2 run. Andie Mason hit a 3-pointer for Denver to end the half.

Denver extended its lead to 12 points a few minutes ago, but UNT has gone a little run to cut its deficit to eight. Mansa El is headed to the line and can bring the Mean Green to within six.

UNT is taking a risk and playing Amber Jackson while she has two fouls, but she six points.

Katelyn Murdoch has hit a pair of 3-pointers for Denver, which has pushed its lead to eight points at the 7:49 mark of the first half.

UNT has pretty balanced scoring thus far. No player has more than two points. Amber Jackson has two fouls.

UNT is down four at the 11:25 mark of the first half.

In an interesting aside, Jo Hall has come off the bench and is playing for the Mean Green. UNT head coach Shanice Stephens suspended Hall a while back. Hall has missed UNT's last eight games.

Denver is on a 8-0 and is up 8-4 at the 15:53 mark of the first half.

UNT is about to tip off its game against Denver at the Super Pit. UNT has lost six straight, while the Pioneers have been playing pretty well lately.

UNT has not had a skid this long since the 2003-04 season.

Denver has a small and quick lineup. UNT could have an advantage inside, if it can get the ball to Amber Jackon. The senior is leading UNT with an average of 17.1 points a game.

Check back on the blog for a few updates.

Taylor Martin, a defensive end from Antelope Valley (Calif.) Community College, popped up on UNT's recruiting radar after he decommitted from Iowa State when the program went through a coaching change.

UNT is in desperate need of defensive linemen and impact players in general for a defense that finished last nationally in points allowed in each of the last two years.

At this point, UNT's chances to land Martin don't sound all that promising.

I talked to Martin's coach a few days ago, and he said he would be surprised if Martin doesn't end up signing with Iowa State.

Martin told Cyclonereport.com, an extension of the Rivlas network, this week that he is favoring Iowa State again after meeting with the new coaches.

Martin said he would take another couple of visits before finalizing his decision and mentioned that UNT was interested. He mentioned Marshall and Georgia Southern as places he is working on setting up a visit with, but didn't mention heading to Denton.

My gut feeling on this one is that UNT's chances are not all that good.

Here's the link for any of you out there who subscribe to Rivals:

Taylor Martin

It's been a couple of days since we broke the news that Giovanni Vizza is leaving North Texas and will transfer to another school.

It's a move that has turned UNT upside down. Vizza was one of the highest-rated quarterbacks the Mean Green has ever signed, and he produced in impressive fashion for two seasons.

What has amazed me in the last couple of days is just how much venom has been directed at a player who gave it his all for two years by the Mean Green faithful. Yea, it hurts the program to have Vizza leave. Others have stuck it out in worse circumstances - Andrew Smith and Daniel Meager come to mind. Both were starting quarterbacks who ended up being benched only to stick it out at UNT.

The fact of the matter remains that Vizza helped smooth the transition to Todd Dodge's spread offense from a run-based attack. Vizza had the tar beaten out of him for two years. I was on the field to witness a few of the hits he took at the end of games. I have no idea how Vizza got up from a blow he took at the end of the Arkansas State game this year.

Vizza indicated that the program was not what he thought it would be and decided to move on. That is no reason to discredit what he did or what he meant to the program because he made that decision.

The fact of the matter remains that college football is a year-to-year situation. A school can pull a player's scholarship at the end of a school year and a player can leave. Only the athlete is the one that takes the hit and has to sit out if he wants to play at another Bowl Subdivision school. From the sounds of it, UNT is considering making it pretty painful to leave UNT for Vizza, who has yet to receive his official release. Vizza's father said today that the restrictions UNT is planning to put on his ability to transfer and play for another school could be a lot tougher than what was originally discussed.

Here is the part that people seem to be forgetting, and I know what the opinion of the readers of this blog is going to be about me bringing this up.

It wasn't all that long ago that Taylor Insall was on the other side of the equation when it comes to the realities of college football. Some of you out there probably remember the story. The Abilene Cooper center committed to play for North Texas before his senior season over an offer from UTEP when Darrell Dickey was using a run-based offense at UNT.

Insall stuck by his commitment when Dickey was fired and planned to sign with the Mean Green. His plans changed when UNT's new coaching staff decided he didn't fit their plans and pulled his scholarship offer. There was some question if there was ever an official letter that was sent to Insall that would cement the scholarship offer, but I know for a fact an oral offer was extended.

Insall ended up signing with West Texas A&M, a Division II school, because the other offers he had, including the one from UTEP were gone.

The following is a column Troy Shockley wrote about the issue back in the day. Ironically, he replaced me in Abilene when I came to Denton:

Abilene Reporter-News column

The situations are different in a lot of ways, but the basic principle is the same. Insall was counting on UNT. The Mean Green was counting on Vizza. Neither got what they wanted.

I don't blame either party.

Dodge needed a shotgun center and found a gem in JJ Johnson, who fit better into his offense than Insall would have. That's his prerogative. I also don't blame Dodge for being upset about Vizza leaving. Vizza made a commitment to UNT that he didn't end up honoring the way UNT hoped he would.

Insall got the short end of the stick as well, and I don't blame him and his parents, who I talked to several times, for being upset. He was essentially dropped into a bad situation, and it wasn't his fault he ended up in that spot.

It just shows the cut-throat nature of college football.

Players and coaches have rights in the system and use them. That's the nature of the business.

UNT fans defended the Mean Green's coaching staff for its decision about Insall. The decision Vizza made isn't all that different.

No, Todd Dodge hasn't left the building, but he will soon be welcoming a new coach to the Mean Green Athletic Center, according to a source close to the situation.

Aaron Ausmus, who was the strength and conditioning coach at Ole Miss until the coaching staff changed over, is the person UNT is targeting for the job. It sounds like this is a matter of the ink drying on the contract.

Ausmus was the head strength and conditioning coach at Idaho before heading to Ole Miss. He was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Southern Cal before that.

This one sounds like a good hire. UNT has a good strength and conditioning guy in Chris Seroka, who also helps out with UNT's kickers. This hire will give Todd Dodge a person who is responsible specifically for his team and give Seroka more time to spend with the other teams on campus while also continuing to be involved with the football program.

The following is a link to Ausmus' Ole Miss bio.

Ausmus

I am still planning on blogging about my thoughts on Giovanni Vizza's decision to transfer. I will get to it later today after I take care of some tasks for the paper.

In the mean time, here is the full text of Giovanni Vizza's statement that he provided exclusively to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

I am going to point out the obvious here and say that it is telling that Vizza never mentions his coaches, only his teammates.

After almost a month of pondering my future, I am requesting my full release from the University of North Texas.

I truly hope the team finds its mark and expect next season to be filled with much more success.

I traded text messages with Shavod Atkinson yesterday before the whole Giovanni Vizza news broke.

Atkinson was supposed to take a trip to New Mexico State over the weekend, but had to reschedule the trip for the 16th. He is still trying to reschedule trips to Colorado and Arkansas. Kansas State is also very much in the hunt. Atkinson said the Wildcats are gaining his attention.

Atkinson said he has offers from Arkansas, Kansas State and UNT. He said he remains committed to UNT, but that commitment is of the soft oral variety.

My gut feeling is this is going to go down to the wire. If Atkinson visits KSU or Arkansas and they follow through with a written offer, it is going to be tough for UNT to hang on down the stretch. JUCO guys want to play in the big time leagues at the end of their careers.

Waco Midway running back John Hubert has also named two leaders -- Louisiana Tech and Kansas State. Both have offered. Hubert visited Tech last week and will head to KSU this weekend. Hubert told the guys over at gopowercat.com, KSU's Rivals.com Web site, that he will make the call between those two schools after he visits KSU.

And now for the zinger. Former UNT player and KSU special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers is recruiting Hubert.

Insert rim shot here.

I put on the blog earlier that UNT head coach Todd Dodge didn't immediately call us back to comment on Giovanni Vizza deciding to transfer.

That's why we threw the immediately in there. He called me back about 11:15, which was just enough time for us to hustle a quote into both papers.

Dodge was shocked Vizza decided to leave, especially after he had started most of his first two seasons at UNT. Dodge said he only found out a few hours ago and hasn't talked to Vizza.

Drama, drama, drama.

As I mentioned earlier, I will go through the blow by blow of where this leaves UNT in Tuesday's paper.

The Denton Record-Chronicle received a statement tonight from Giovanni Vizza that states he has asked for his release from UNT and will transfer to another school. Matt Vizza -- Giovanni's father -- later confirmed that the statement was true.

There will be a story in tomorrow's Denton Record-Chronicle and a little smaller version in the Dallas Morning News.

This is a huge blow for UNT, which will now go into next season with just two players who threw a pass last year - Nathan Tune and Riley Dodge.

Vizza said his decision had nothing to do with Riley coming to UNT. He was just not happy with the direction of the program. Todd Dodge didn't call us back when we were looking for a comment.

I am sure you all have thoughts on Vizza leaving. Post them on the blog.

I will get more into this tomorrow. For now, I thought the news gives the Mean Green faithful enough to chew on.

Kolby Gray, a three-star dual-threat quarterback out of Houston Cypress Falls, committed to Pittsburgh today.

Gray is rated among the best quarterbacks in the country, and I suspect he was on top of UNT's board when the coaching staff put it together a few months back. Gray was probably out of UNT's reach. He had 10 scholarship offers, including ones from powers like Utah and Boise State. The Mean Green picked up another solid prospect in Derek Thompson out of Glenn Rose, although Thompson didn't have any other offers and isn't as highly rated.

The bigger concern for UNT is that JUCO defensive tackle Shavod Atkinson is at New Mexico State this weekend. Atkinson is the only JUCO tackle UNT landed out of the seven it has offered. Five have already committed to other schools. Pauli Latu is still on the board, but has a blown out knee and might not be ready to play in time for next season.

Atkinson's commitment to UNT is a soft one, and NMSU is only one of a few teams trying to steal him away from the Mean Green.

Losing Atkinson would be a disaster for a team that needs help on its defensive line.