MGB: Brice commits to UNT

[Brett Vito]

MGB:

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/breaking-news-rickey-brice-commits-to-unt.html/

[BillySee58]

Wow. Very impressive commitment. Two spots left, currently. Probably a forward and a 2-guard with our last two spots.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Nice get! But Brett, his last name is not "Branch."

[NT03]

Good job Tony Benford

[ntmeangreen11]

What a huge pickup!

GMG

[foutsrouts]

Excellent get. Should be our first serious Center since the brief career of Shawnson Johnson. Look forward to seeing him play this season.

[Andrew]

You could tell at basketball madness he was going to sign. This team had a great vibe and chemistry. This is a huge get for Benford. Now let's go find a replacement for Jordan Williams!

[UNT90]

Hope.

[Harry]

Great pickup!! Very good news!

[Green Crazy]

Great get!

[UNT90]

Reminds me of a recent player.

Sure would like to here more from Cooley and 03 on this kid.

[Andrew]

Reminds me of a recent player.

Sure would like to here more from Cooley and 03 on this kid.

He is not nearly as good as Tony Mitchell......

Oh you mean Forrest Robinson? I think this guy is more of a post player than Robinson. He does have a nice touch but I think he will be used as a pure center to clean up in the post on both ends of the floor. He should also make an impact immediately. Not just due to our lack of post players next season, but also due to his ability.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Andrew

[Brett Vito]

MGB: Updated with Brice comment:

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/breaking-news-rickey-brice-commits-to-unt.html/

[All About UNT]

Two top 50 Texas recruits...not a bad haul at all TB

[chrisfisher]

Two top 50 Texas recruits...not a bad haul at all TB

Say what you want about Benford, but the quality influx of recruits is impressive... Brice, Brown, Wesley, Combs, (that's four Top 50 recruits from Texas), Reese (4 star transfer), and Whitte-Pittman (many accolades in Louisiana). Of course, we will be very small this year under the post, but hopefully can adapt.... glad we have a legit bigman for next year though.

[GrandGreen]

With improvement, could Benford be the best coach in the three major sports? Hard to believe this would have even been contemplated a few months ago. I don't expect miracles from this year's MBB, but I do think the record will be significantly better than football.

[Harry]

Benford despite his critics has done a good job of recruiting talent to UNT. Take a look at the roster. Greg Wesley was a pretty high rated recruit who will be in the mix this season. There are others. The key is what can he do to maximize the raw talent and build team chemistry. This could be an interesting season.

[BillySee58]

He is not nearly as good as Tony Mitchell......

Oh you mean Forrest Robinson? I think this guy is more of a post player than Robinson. He does have a nice touch but I think he will be used as a pure center to clean up in the post on both ends of the floor. He should also make an impact immediately. Not just due to our lack of post players next season, but also due to his ability.

Not to boo-hoo this pickup, but I'm not sure what you saw in his highlights that would lead you to believe he's more of a true post than Forrest. His highlights are mainly 8-14 footers and dunks. Not much true post play, if any. And, at 6'11" and playing the competition he plays, averaging only 7.4 rebounds a game is concernedly low.

GMG24 posted in one of the other threads about Brice that he coached against him and Brice struggled against a physical player who was a foot shorter than Brice. Brice obviously has a nice skill set and height that you can't teach, but it looks like he has a long way to go in the post. Hopefully Benford and co can develop this kid. A lot to work with here.

[Cooley]

This kid is a long way from prime time. However, this is the type of recruit UNT should pick up every year. If he improves (ability and physically) he could be a steal. 6-11 polished kids don't sign with programs like UNT. I applaud the kid for realizing that he has to play to get better. He plays here and sits at some of the other higher ranked programs that offered.

[UNTFan23]

Things could change and he de-commits. I'll get out my pompoms when he signs.

[BillySee58]

Things could change and he de-commits. I'll get out my pompoms when he signs.

I wouldn't worry as much about that in basketball, like you maybe would in football. Fall signing period is in two weeks, and he'll sign with us then.

[Cooley]

http://ny2lasports.com/article_one.aspx?articleid=2552

[untjim1995]

Things could change and he de-commits. I'll get out my pompoms when he signs.

This.

If he has offers from Okie State and Tech, among others who may get involved still, I'd just advise everyone to be cautiously optimistic here. Maybe its the Battered Mean Green Syndrome I suffer from, but I am not counting my chickens just yet...

[NT03]

He's not going anywhere. He'll stick

[greenminer]

How is Benford doing with retention? Specific to non-JUCOs.

I realize he has not been here long enough to oversee a full 4 or 5 year cycle, but it seems like most non-JUCO signees have not been here longer than 2 years.