Benford
UNT landed a commitment from one of the better prospects to elect to play for the Mean Green in the last couple of years yesterday in Rickey Brice.
That was good news.
The better news is that Brice, a 6-11 center, is one of those highly important, homegrown, Dallas-area high school talents. He plays for Arlington Pantego Christian.
After a bit of a slow start on the recruiting front and some misses, including P.J. Hardwick, Tony Nunn and Josh Friar to name a few, UNT appears to be picking up a bit of steam in terms of bringing on Texas talent under third-year coach Tony Benford.
If UNT is every going to get to where it wants to be, or where it was a few years ago when it was rolling to 20-win season after 20-win season, landing top local (or Texas) players is going to be its path to get there.
That’s how UNT got there in the past behind players like Calvin Watson and Tristan Thompson and Josh White (Ok, he was from Louisiana, but the point is still the same).
After a few failed experiments that appears to be what UNT is getting back to.
This year’s freshmen include Jeremy Combs, a good prospect from Dallas Carter, and Greg Wesley, although Wesley did sit out a year.
Ja’Michael Brown, a point guard who will play the upcoming season at Pro-Vision Academy in Houston (again, another Texas product) will join Brice in UNT’s 2015 class.
There ‘s nothing wrong with a team that adds a few JUCO transfers. Several have been key elements of UNT’s better teams over the years. Rich Young comes to mind.
Depending too much on two-year transfers always seems to spell trouble for UNT — and any other team for that matter.
One had to wonder if UNT wouldn’t go that route after a couple of tough seasons. The Mean Green finished a stunning 12-20 in head coach Benford’s first season two years ago, despite featuring a loaded roster that included Tony Mitchell, Jordan Williams and Roger Franklin.
Last year wasn’t much better at 16-16, including a 6-10 finish in conference play.
UNT grabbed four junior college players in its last class and is banking on them to come through.
The commitments of Brice and Brown show that UNT isn’t going to get away from the Texas high school pipeline it needs to build to be successful.
UNT will be better in the long-run because of that approach — as long as a few of the quick-fix two-year guys who arrived this fall can provide a bridge to them.
And in an important side note, the UNT athletic department posted its highest ever score this week on the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate report that measures a school’s academic performance.
UNT has really done well academically the last couple of years.