keith

Anyone know if the AD does exit interviews with players to understand their motivation for leaving...or maybe even an inquisitive journalist could do some digging? Are there any common themes, do they change over time or is each case unique?

Can they shoot make free throws?

I don't know if we will ever see a 4-year player (or should we take this path) with recruiting or player development again. IMHO we should not waste our time recruiting HS players unless they are certified difference makers that will or are ready to start game one. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to a attract that type of player (yet). Our path to relevancy in the college basketball dialogue is winning by bringing in older, more experienced players even if it's only for a year or two at the end of their eligibility and then do this season after season, hanging banners and firmly establishing our program. We need to do this with 22-23 year old players not 18, 19 and 20 year old players.

It is weird that his stint at North Texas was omitted. Didn't he go to UCF right after us? I think that's when the program there really started to get going.

FIFY.

Recruiting has gone from "We would really love to see you in a Mean Green uniform next year, you would fit in perfectly with the team and culture we are building at UNT. It's a wonderful academic institution with with many opportunities for a young (man or women) to take advantage of. We have excellent degree programs in your desired field of study and we are excited to offer you a four-year full ride scholarship to join our team" to "We would really love to see you in a Mean Green uniform next year and we're excited (or maybe embarrassed) to offer you a starting salary of $xxxxx."

If someone can tell me the width of the new seats, I have a really long tape measure. I'll do it for the low, low price of a black lot parking pass. SMH.

I'll play or at least try to explain the reaction we observe. Can't speak for everyone, but I think most (maybe all) would be absolutely fine with the scenario you lay out above. I think your real question is why do people react negatively when our players (especially starters/stars) hit the portal, but welcome with open arms players that transfer in. The latter doesn't need a lot of explanation. I'll try to dissect the former. I think the initial visceral reaction when "our players" choose to leave is deeply-rooted in the fragile psyche of the Mean Green fan base. Those here are passionate about the University of North Texas, want good things for the school, want the athletic teams to be successful and desperately want the recognition that comes with winning and championships. In the case of athletic success much of that is dependent on the athletes. They become the vehicle for that recognition. When athletes choose to come to UNT over other schools it serves as a type of consensual validation of the choice each of us made to attend here. When those same player spend 3 or 4 years developing their skills, becoming starters or stars on the team, they are seen, rightly or wrongly, as a catalyst that will surely get us over that hump and the recognition we are all starved for. Plus we get to know them well...they are one of us. Then on the cusp of everything good that will come next season, they choose to leave. It's like they are saying they have outgrown us and they cannot get where they want to be if they stay associated with UNT. For those that are so passionate about North Texas, that's hard to hear and it hurts. On top of that, throw in the realization that any success that athlete may have in his or her one year at XYZ U will accrue to XYZ U and not North Texas. That's like rubbing salt in the wound. Eventually, I think everyone gets over it, but for the long-suffering fan base it's just another hit. It's a rather ordinary and understandable emotional reaction when you think about it.

The Hall of Fame may need to go the same way 4-year scholarship players has gone. It does really make sense any more.

So you don’t want to see North Texas ranked #10 in the nation based purely on our reputation as a power basketball program?

And yet…. We know it, but it hasn’t permeated the consciousness of the basketball world. We’ve also built on defense which I suspect Is harder to recruit to.

We are not going to get the 4* or 5* recruits out of high school. If a high school recruit doesn’t have a chance to contribute and get minutes as a freshman, I don’t think we can “afford” to have him on the bench for a year. Where we are right now as a program, we need to get older via the portal. I will take a bunch of one and done players to establish our brand as a winning program over multiple years to the point where we do have a shot at the high end recruits.

That was well done. Excited that we'll get to watch you show off your basketball skills one more season.

She’s a rescue. According to the DNA test, dominant breeds are beagle, collie, English harrier and indeterminate.

This isn't specifically AD or attendance related, but generally speaks to how tone-deaf UNT can be. About 4 or 5 years ago, my ATM card needed to be renewed at Wells Fargo. They have a customization option and one of the categories is/was college and universities. I took a shot and what do you know UNT was listed along with all the other universities. Shocker, I know. It was almost like we finally arrived. So, I customized my card with the North Texas logo below. It's not like a lot of other people see this, but I liked it. Fast forward to a month ago and I get a notice that my card is going to expire and it's time to renew. I go back into the Wells Fargo design studio, select colleges/universities and UNT is no where to be found. Since the logo is trademarked, Wells Fargo will not use it for customization without the approval of the trademark holder and apparently we refused or didn't provide approval for its use. There's protecting your brand and then there's stupidity. My ATM card is now customized with a photo of my dog.

When the ACC took in Cal, Stanford and SMU wasn't that a signal that they had resigned themselves to the fact that they would have to negotiate and accept an early exit for Clemson and Florida St?

Thanks...I tried that as well. Our ticket office is getting calls from Seton Hall fans looking for tickets.

Sucks that the game is being played in such a small venue. All the tickets were quickly scarfed up by Seton Hall fans. I'm on a wait-list, but that isn't happening. Seton Hall is handling all the ticket sales. Seems like they should have set aside at least a few for the visiting team.

Curious to hear about the student ticketing process for games. It seems there is always a press to get students to "claim" their tickets early, why? I suppose from a planning perspective it's nice for the AD to know expected turnout prior to game day. What does this do to the student that can't make up their mind or procrastinates and doesn't decide until an hour or so before the game to get out of their dorm room and walk over to DATCU or the Super Pit for the game? How does it work for these students? In the past, the student ID was the ticket and you just flashed that at the gate. Easy-peasy. Let's say a student doesn't have a ticket loaded on their phones comes to the tailgate and decides minutes before kick-off that they want to attend the game. What do these "game-time decision" students have to do to get a ticket for a game?

Are Byes overrated in these tournaments? Is it better to play your first game against another team that is also playing its first game (and all the first-game jitters that may go with it on both sides) as opposed to playing your first game against another team that has a win (or two) under its belt, has some momentum going and has those first-game jitters out of the way?

Still thinking it’s appendicitis for Scott. I didn’t see a hit or collision that would have caused that much discomfort and the pain isn’t necessarily localized. Whatever it is, get well soon Aaron. Maybe gallstone based on where he was holding his abdomen? Whatever it is, heal up fast. We will need you for the big dance.

Did I miss something? Who is wearing the boot?

With the tournament still to be played, the story of the 2023-24 edition of men's basketball has not been fully written yet. While this is far from a exhaustive analysis and only looks at our regular season games, this team was sooooo close to repeating the success we had in the regular season last year. Finishing the regular season at 17-13, our average margin of victory in our 17 wins was 15.12 points. On the flip side, our average margin of defeat in our 13 losses was only 5.38 points. In our 17 wins, 2 were one possession games and 2 more were two possession games. 13 of 17 were double-digit wins. In our 13 losses, 6 were one possession games and another 4 were two possession games. Only 2 of the 13 were double-digit losses. One other was a 9 point loss. Another shot or two drops over the course of a 40 minute game and things may have ended differently and flipped a loss to a win.

Apparently we lost that technology after a very successful national program to build, test and deploy t-shirt cannons back in the 60s and 70s.

Has FAU become our nemesis on the hardwood or what? Maybe we get another shot at them in the tourney and can serve up some Mean Green revenge. Here are the final home attendance stats for the season. The '23-'24 team brought in a total of 61,982 fans to the Super Pit. The final home game attendance of 4,551 was enough to bump our season average another 30 for a 4,132 per game average. That is a 380 or 10.13% per game increase over last season. Fantastic YoY progress and hopefully something we build on next year. In terms of conference home game attendance we fared even better with one less conference game at the 'Pit. Last year we had 10 C-USA conference games at home with an average attendance of 3,975. This year, with 9 AAC conference home games we had an average attendance of 4,628. That's a 653 or 16.44% per game increase in conference games. Again, fantastic YoY progress. Let's beat Rice and make a deep run in the conference tournament. Go Mean Green!