July 11, 2014

What is the biggest question facing North Texas teams heading into the 2014-15 season? MeanGreenSports.com is asking that question to our coaches this summer. What does every sport need to accomplish in order to be successful?

Next up in our weekly installment is the men's basketball team. We asked Coach Benford what the biggest offseason question was for his team.

North Texas head basketball coach Tony Benford issued a challenge to Jordan Williams in his first meeting with the talented guard after taking the job two years ago.

The challenge? Become a complete basketball player and the vocal leader of his locker room. No pressure for a shy sophomore with Tony Mitchell, a future NBA Draft pick, on the roster, right?

But two years later it's a role that Williams has begun to understand and embrace as he heads into his senior season. The 6-6 combo guard already ranks 19th in Mean Green history with 1,045 career points, but Williams now knows that for North Texas to succeed he has to do more than score.

Monday brought the team's first full-squad strength and conditioning workouts, and all the accompanying administrative nuisances that comes with it. Physicals began at 6 a.m. at the Athletic Center, so Williams took it upon himself to round up his teammates. He had all of them piled into the car and lined up 15 minutes early.

Williams has also taken it upon himself to develop his ball-handling skills and defense with a relentless offseason program that he has involved his teammates in. You'd be hard pressed to find a time when Williams isn't in the Ernie Kuehne Practice Facility.

With this kind of leadership, Benford knows the answer to his team's biggest offseason question - can Williams step into the leadership spotlight?

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