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Just got word.....will post the Vito link as soon as he puts it up.

Then how come the week of the interviews for the job....the Vito blog reported that RV and the committee were "wowed" by Stephens. Stephens interviewed on a Tuesday....and the word got out in Vito's blog that the committee was blown away ("wowed was the exact word he used). I told someone when I heard that....that the search was over. This was three days before Capps interviewed. Revisionist history is a great thing.....especially when the one being blamed (Bataille) is no longer here to defend herself.

I used this and am now never voting for Rick Santorum. Gross.

Where did you find the stats on each of those categories? I would love to check it out. Thanks in advance.

major sport???? Really?.....You do realize we're talking about WOMEN'S basketball here right?

Have we worked up a matrix of her free periods and whether she works A or D lunch? I'd hate to miss the opportunity to talk live while Texas or Houston have her on the phone. I know she's popular with a group of folks and I respect what she did at UTA, but being the better choice than what we had shouldn't be the only qualification.

This was NOT RV's hire. He was pressured to make this hire by then President Batille. Coach V had another candidate ready to select, but was told "no" and that he needed to make this hire! Sorry, but that is the word I have been given by more than one source over a fairly long period of time. I really don't think this gets laid at the doorstep of Coach V. Yes, he is the AD and maybe could or should have said "no" to Prez B, but word was that you just didn't say "no" to Prez B if you wanted to keep your job or not have life made fairly miserable for you along the way and have every decision made questioned and approvals stalled. Now, do I know this to be 100% true...no, as I was not involved in the process. I am only repeating what I have been told by numerous sources within and outside the athletic dept. and around the UNT campus and will admit to such here and now. So, yes, call it rumor as I cannot confirm as 100% factual. But, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...well....and if several folks you trust tell you the same thing at different times.......just sayin' Either way, this is a good day for the women's basketball team and opens up the very real possibility that women's basketball at UNT will start seeing much better days, bigger crowds, more interest from recruits and many more wins. Can't wait. GO MEAN GREEN!

TCU experiencing success does not necessarily mean that we will not be. Both can happen at the same time. If we can move up a conference we will be fine. As far as SMU, until they actually show they have some balls, they are insignificant to me.

I'm also fearful of TCU's potential NT03. However, Depaul has even more potential with their rich history, and they've been stuck in the Big East basement for years now.

Good grief, I missed it too... in fact, this was one of the calmest, most sane and positive responses you could imagine (on a college sports message board) after a gut wrenching loss in the conference title game. Add to the fact this was a senior laden team coming off a NCAA bid, one we almost ALL expected to have a special year and run all-but-roughshod through the Belt, and I feel like a 4 seed in the SBC west with double digit losses and a completely unexpected (by even the most stubborn of pessimists) .500 record in conference - culminating in a gut wrenching 7 point collapse in the final minute plus of the conference tournament - was a season and result that would send other message boards into a bloodlust-worthy tizzy. I'm not just talking about Big XII schools, either... with our expectations and our results, Hilltopper Haven (among others) would be a load nastier than this place was, I assure you. Still, around here, no one was bashing the players. No one wanted the coach's head (some questioned his strategy, but where/when does that NOT happen?). No one said anything but glowing things about this senior class, and rightfully so. It's okay to admit this season was a disappointment and still laud the seniors, the staff, and their achievements - and from everything I observed, this crazy-ass board did a pretty decent job of that. If THIS warranted a bowing-up, defensive personal reply from the AD, I pity the poster who is going to end up with a hockey mask wearing, machete wielding RV come football season. I miss the good ol' days, when ADs ignored fan boards, and when Bill Byrne personally threatened to beat your ass via voicemail. You know, keeping it in house.

As to scheduling....I can probably think of 100+ schools that would give us home and homes....that would help our strength of schedule and thus our RPI. There are I think 33 leagues.....so there's a huge gap between the top 5-6 leagues and the bottom 5-6. We seem to schedule way too many games with the bottom 5 leagues (Southland, SWAC) and NAIA/Division II schools. Not saying to avoid the Southland....but contact some teams from other leagues. The Horizon, the Big West, the WAC, the Missouri Valley, the Atlantic 10....and many, many more. Or we can keep doing what we do: Play a lot of Sisters of the poor, rack up a lot of wins that don't do anything for our RPI......and then bitch when a 22-11 record doesn't get us a NIT bid.

Not to steal anyone's thunder here... But we've won more than a majority, and we've been doing it for more than the past 2 years. Since the first 20 win season (2006-07): 3-4 against BCS teams not ranked in the top 20, all 4 losses coming on the road. 4-1 against CUSA, the only loss coming on the road. 8-1 against Southland schools other than UTA (10-4 overall), the only loss coming on the road. Last loss to UTA was in 2008. 7-0 against SWAC teams, also undefeated against non-D1 opponents. 9-1 against other D-1 conference (Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley, WAC, Summit, etc.), the only loss coming on the road. So, basically... We're playing .500 ball against power conference teams that aren't the equivalent of a Top 6 BCS football team. These schools have basketball budgets an average of 4-5 times higher than the Sun Belt average, and more often than not they're paying us to show up expecting us to be a guaranteed win. Instead (other than the ones who would be ranked in the top 6 if this were football), we've been taking it to them just as well as they've been playing against us. We're .800 against CUSA opponents and .900 against other mid-major conference schools. We never lose against "lesser" opponents. Also, the only coach that has won more Sun Belt conference games over the past 3 years than Johnny Jones is Ken McDonald. Ken has 33. JJ has 32. That doesn't count SBC tourney wins... Throw those in, and JJ takes the lead. The only teams outside of the BCS conferences that have longer 20 win streaks than we do are Gonzaga, Memphis, Butler, Xavier, BYU, San Diego State, Utah State, and Akron. Say what you will about what just one 20 win season means today vs. 25 years ago... But looking at the company that 5 or more in a row puts you in shows me that a sustained streak like this means something. The next longest 20 win streak in the Sun Belt is 1 year. One team: FAU. At the end of last year, the longest 20 win streak in the Sun Belt was also 1 year. One team: Troy. Someday, this run of success in basketball is going to end. I hope it isn't next year, or any time soon after that. I feel fortunate that this run came at a time when I was old enough to appreciate it, young enough to embrace it, and professionally flexible enough to experience as much of it in person as I've been lucky to see. Something very special and historically rare has happened and continues to happen with this basketball program. Hopefully the next group of guys can keep this tradition growing and thriving.

Thought some of you "classic rock" guys might like this video. This is a Canadian guitar player named David Barrett, and he's playing with my cousin Jason Farrar on bass in the David Barrett trio. For those of you who remember '70's era Rush, this might be right up your alley. No vocals, as this is a guitar/bass/drums showcase medley of Rush tunes. Hope you enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_IVvEVMknQ

I went into a guy's home the other day and he was talking about how his kids are the best kids and not acknowledging my kids at all, so I punched him in the face.

I think I posted this once before but we actually told this guy "No". (We wanted a female coach) http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/blair_gary00.html

The 2nd guy? Makes me want to kick sand in his face.

With all due respect, I think it is pretty obvious what his intentions were. Yes, they have a good schedule, but I fail to see any reason to go and post it on someone elses board unless for the purpose of subtle gloating. I think you are being a little too quick to differentiate between UTSA and TSUSM. The only difference is that the TSUSM fans are a tad more realistic and more intelligent than UTSA fans, plus, at least TSU has played football before.

Back to the original intent of this thread, I don't think the players were the target of the criticism late in the year. I was probably one of the most critical of the program this year, but the target of my criticism was not the players, but the mirage that our record, up until the late season swoon, was full of wins against poor competition. The result of these wins didn't fully prepare us to face the tougher competition in conference and along with the numerous injuries, resulted in the losses late in the year. Now I did question some of JJ's strategy which I think is fair considering he really has a track record of questionable in-game management. Back to our schedule, we celebrated wins against Tech and LSU which were nice considering their conference affiliations, but were actually not as impressive as everyone thought considering the year those two programs had. Yes, it is nice to beat schools from the "power conferences", but I felt those were nullified by losses to questionable teams such as Sam Houston, Troy, etc... Then again, maybe RV didn't realize my posts throughout the tournament were a tongue-in-cheek inside joke. Of course, my first post in that series of posts was how I truely felt. I was shocked that we turned it around late in the season, which I think is a testament to the character of the players on the team.

I think South Florida might have an argument about better weather. I think TCU will get better but I don't think they'll ever finish in top half of Big East. There is very little turnover between top half and bottom half of that conference. St. John's is the only team in the past several years that went from bottom half of conference to top half of the conference. I still don't think TCU will get that many players from northeast (only players they'll have a shot at will be guys with Providence, Seton Hall, etc type offers) and guys from this area will want to play with Big 12 schools. They'll be able to get better guys than they get now but I don't see them developing into anything better than a bottom half BCS conference team. Billy Gillispie is going to Tech so you don't have to worry about him going to TCU. I don't think there is a great difference between TCU, SMU and North Texas in basketball right now. UNT has been the better program the last 4 years but TCU and SMU could catch up pretty easily (esp if UNT slips a little with all the new players). SMU had a decent season in conference and are showing some signs of life for the first time in Coach D's tenure.

I've been holding off on posting about TCU for a while, mostly because I don't want to acknowledge what might be and really don't want to admit it. TCU has access to $$$ that currently, we don't. It doesn't mean we can't, but we don't right now. TCU sold out it's game this year against BYU and Jimmer Fredette. Not because of TCU fans, but because that game attracted basketball fans. The Big East teams that come here will attract basketball fans to TCUs stadium. They will soon outgrow their current digs and will have the $$ to build a new one. TCU will be looking for a coach next year provided Christian has another year like this. One that can recruit. Billy Gillispie is probably a name on their short list. Many TCU alumns felt that Christian should have been fired this year, but I don't think that's fair. All it takes is one or two decent season of basketball significance in the Big East for TCU and they're off to the races. It will take a while to build and it won't be easy. You can't build a D1 basketball power overnight, let alone the Big East, but I'd say their potential bar just got a bit higher.

Yeah, I didn't want to make a thread about it either - because I already feel like we spend too much time looking at them. But it was a nice win for SMU, that's for sure. Especially after ORU forced overtime.

True , it's sad how far they have fallen off the basketball map But if someone wants to play in the Big East , TCU will have the best weather , hottest chicks & the best football program. I don't think they will struggle for too long

This is probably going to get me ripped , but TCU is about to join the Big East. The Horned Frogs will see a improvement over the next few years with better rercuits and probably a splash hire for hoops soon. As much as I dislike them, SMU plays in a superior conference , has a very nice recruiting class coming in & just won a post season game. We are not leap years ahead of either and if we stumble anytime soon both could pass us by pretty quick. The one thing that currently seperates our programs is Johnny Jones & the coaching staff If Tony Mitchell suits up in December then I will expect to be playing again for the title in Hot Springs !

The Roman Coliseum? How old are you greenjoe?

Maybe he was mad at himself for missing the opportunity to play smu down at Moody tonight? Then again maybe not. Either way, it's nice to see that "management" monitors this board on occasion. Almost makes you feel like your posts mean something whether they like them or not.

If we have a supposed "liberal media", 1/5th of America wouldn't think that Obama is a Muslim. If we have a liberal media then 50% of Americans (last I checked) wouldn't think that Saddam was involved in the 9/11 attacks.

Other things not deserving of stuff: Rantings on a message board, especially by the AD.

The Trojans have shot their way into oblivion, having lost the play in game to North Carolina-Ashville. Another crouch shot for the Sun Belt.

We will figure this whole Lybia and Japan thing out. Well, right after a quick 18 holes, but not before we all make sure to do something much more important; fill out our brackets.

Let them figure out this whole civilization thing... What I'm more concerned about is why the President hasn't done anything to lower oil prices. He must be in the pockets of big oil! Why hasn't he flipped The Magic Cheap Oil Switch yet? Turn those machines back on! Turn those machines back on! Turn those machines back on!

There's also this: WE CAN WIN THIS REVOLUTION BY OURSELVES! GO AWAY USA! F-U, EU! followed by: WE NEED A NO-FLY ZONE! read as: we want a no fly zone only, only to follow with: WE WANT A NO-FLY ZONE! WE WANT TACTICAL AIRSTRIKES! which of course, is always a precursor to demands for ground forces, and then with the arrival of ground forces, there will probably be: GO AWAY USA! F-U, EU! It's a catch-22 for UN/NATO nations.

Just wait til the Horns get bumped in the first round.... DeLoss Dodds is gonna set Orangebloods STRAIGHT.

This is my preemptive "HOF worthy" post AND my "In before the lock" post all rolled into one. Carry on.

If we would have taken care of business in conference play we also could have been playing in the NIT, so no whining from fans when other teams get in because they actually won their conference regular season, we did not take care of business, end of discussion.

Dude, don't you realize how posh a lifestyle those in the education field live? Don't you watch the news?

Think we could re-issue the same slogan used last time we hired a high school coach?

I've also heard Stephens was more of a Dr. Bataille hire than a RV one.

Rick

This is good news for the team. I had head that up to 8 players were thinking of leaving the team if Coach Stephens remained the HC. Like Matt said...every time I spoke with Coach Stephens she was very nice, but she was definitely in over her head with he first HC job here at UNT. I wish her well and hope that her experience here will be a learning one for her in her next job. BUT, this is a move that really did need to be made at this time and RV once again stepped up and did what he had to do for the players on the team and for the athletic program at UNT. Thank you RV. I wish Coach Stephens well, and I am now anxious to see who UNT gets to be the next HC. If it is anywhere near as good as the selection of Dan McCarney and Coach Chico to lead the football program we are in for a real positive move for the ladies! WOW...great news. It';s a great GREEN DAY at UNT. Time to celebrate the green. By this I do not mean to dance on Coach Stephens misfortune, but I am very excited to see that the ladies will be getting a new HC and can move forward from here.....GO MEAN GREEN! GREAT NEWS!

I want to preface this post by acknowledging that many will take the opportunity to rip me, but I have become accustomed to it as nothing seems really good enough for some posters on the board. Regardless, I proceed. After suffering through the same disappointment each of you faced last Tuesday night, I drove back to Denton and had time to reflect on this team and especially the nucleus of Josh White, Tristan Thompson and George Odufawa. The disappointment and remorse on their faces in the locker room made me sick to my stomach. Not because we had lost a game but because you could feel that they were shouldering all the hurt felt by so many that night. This week that nausea increased as I received e-mails of threads from the board that these kids were a disappointment, underperforming, didn't live up to expectations and now were not going to participate in post-season play. And the comments were, as is often the case, made without the knowledge of or regard for the circumstances of this team. No excuses, but early injuries were obvious and had a direct effect on the team's fortunes. The loss of Alzee Williams forced Josh White to play almost 40 minutes in everty game. The loss of Cameron Spencer early and then Jacob Holman late (who by the way was playing better every game) forced more minutes on both George and Kedrick. And late in the season it showed as we didn't shoot well in several straight games, playing on legs that were worn out. It was a different team that played game number 25 than games 1 through 18. And then when a lot of people had given up on them, including several on this board, they dug deep as they had many times before and came within a bucket of two NCAA trips in two years. In that six game stretch they not only won but they dominated in most cases. They went to UALR to play their third game and second road game in six days and won without Josh. They vindicated losses (both on the road) to Western Kentucky and Troy in romps and eliminated the #1 seed the same way. Tristan Thompson played the tournament of a lifetime and along with George and Josh showed everyone how they game can be played. Unfortunately a team that had to practice with only eight players many times at the end of the season ran out of gas and let something very precious to them slip away. And never made an excuse or cried foul. Along the way they won more games in a four year period than most any team in school history and continued the progress that has brought respectability to a program that had mired in a wasteland for 20 years. They made it to the dance, they beat teams from the Big 12 and SEC and made it attractive enough to lure one of the country's best recruiting classes for 2011. While frustrating at times, as every team is, they have provided more great memories that will leave "true" fans saying remember when. For the first time in my years here, more people hurt and cried when we lost than complained. Those kids and those coaches created that. Now some want to add insult to injury by demanding that they "perform" again because THEY OWE US! Well let me assure you that it was not a money issue that kept this team from moving on. Obviously new facilities, stronger and better paid coaching staffs, budgets that allow all sports to recruit and prepare student-athletes to achieve national rankings and post-season play and all the other improvements are not signs that the athletic department is finacially committed. Just like those kids have always been unlike some of you who complain but don't buy season tickets or support the program financially and then are "owed" everything. Well I would hope that you would welcome this incoming basketball class (and all new incoming student-athletes) with the support necessary to continue moving the program upward. I have deep gratitude for those of you who have taken up for these kids and this team. And for those who want to criticize this outgoing team I would like to paraphrase Jack Nicholson from the movie "A Few Good Men." "I would prefer that you just say THANK YOU!" P.S. For those who condem the schedule, check the non-conference opponents of number one seeds Ohio State and Kansas that include Emporia State, Morehead State. North Carolina A&T. IUPUI, and Florida Gulf Coast among others. And we have won the majority of non-conference games played in the last two years.

smu managed to pull off a CIT win in OT tonight against Oral Roberts, despite the fact that 2-3 of their Seniors (including their star Dia) played injured. They next host Jacksonville who beat East Carolina. Would have been nice for us to have been there. Sorry to post it here, but I didn't think an smu victory was worthy of starting a new thread.

Not true. The most recent poll I can find shows that only 31% believe that. That's about the same percentage who believe in astrology, the same percentage of meteorologists that believe in man-made global warming, an the same percentage who believe the Stimulus Plan has helped the economy.

Glad they posted the results would be up the following day. Uh, that was six days ago.

Exactly. The guy is clearly getting a pass because he is a Kenyan Muslim without a birth certificate with terrorist sympathies who hates America and all she stands for and is covertly trying to form a Socialist Caliphate so he can proclaim himself Prophet. Those effers get away with everything

I think you missed the criticism threads......because they weren't there.

Why would anyone at NT care if they made it or not? If they had ended up getting a bid, more power to em.

Thanks for all you do RV.

The issue is very specific. The last President was BBQed for playing golf while the troops were at war, so much so that he stopped playing completely. Pres. Obama does the EXACT same thing when we are still at war, the economy is in the crapper, and our friend Japan is facing a triple tragedy of unimaginable proportions. No consequences from an ever idolizing media. Like I said, just let me know when the rules change again. Oh, and thanks for coming out to play

This past football season, a good friend asked RV about Stephens. His first response was that Bataille demanded that the new women's b-ball coach be a woman. So my friend then says, "Well why didn't you hire Donna Capps?" RV says "you wouldn't believe the demands that Capps made." Really? Capps was an administrator for the Mesquite ISD. Demands? Anyway, if Stephens was forced on RV....why wasn't that the first thing he said. They really should get one story and stick to it. I guess they think we're idiots.