Coach Andy Mac

University of North Texas alumni, musician and Oklahoma County Clerk David B. Hooten joined actor and musician Pat Boone in receiving UNT Presidential Medals of Honor in celebration of their musical talents and undeniable impact on the entertainment industry. Hooten received a B.A. in music education from UNT in 1987. He is a multi-Grammy and Emmy nominated musician who has released more than 20 albums and produced or played on over 100 albums. He has performed at both the White House and the Vatican. Hooten established the Children’s Music Education Foundation and chaired Red-Tie Night, Oklahoma’s single-largest fundraising event benefitting the Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund. Boone, a celebrated musician, actor and motivational speaker studied at UNT from 1954-55. He was a soloist for what is now UNT’s One O’Clock Lab Band and went on to sell 45 million records with three No. 1 records, 38 "Top 40” hits and 13 Gold Records. He has appeared in more than 15 movies, is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Boone’s family founded Mercy Corps, a Christian humanitarian and relief organization. read more: https://okcfriday.com/hooten-joins-pat-boone-in-receiving-unt-presidential-medal-of-honor-p17068-92.htm

Former University of North Texas administrator Fred Pole was remembered by friends and family as a caring and hardworking person who served the Denton community in multiple ways. Pole died on April 19. He was 89. James Pole remembers his father being dedicated to his work but also recalls the times the family went on road trips. read more: https://dentonrc.com/news/denton/fred-pole-former-unt-administrator-and-denton-community-leader-dies-at-89/article_eb7f6083-5cc7-5329-8167-92a1cffd0ab9.html

On Monday, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Asoau-Afoa received a scholarship offer from the UW, his 17th in a hodgepodge of football options. Asoau-Afoa's other choices include a who's who of lower-level schools in Alabama A&M, Buffalo, Campbell, Idaho State, Jacksonville State, Lamar, Lynchburg, Nevada, North Texas, Northern Arizona, Robert Morris, Southern Utah, Tarleton, UTEP, Weber State and Western Illinois. read more: https://www.si.com/college/washington/recruiting/huskies-offer-bay-area-jc-linebacker

Jackson State football has landed a commitment from three-star quarterback Jackson Jones. Jones is the No. 15 prospect in Oregon and No. 115 quarterback in the nation. He's also the top-ranked quarterback prospect in Oregon. He led Tualatin to a Class 6A state championship in 2021. The Tigers also listed Ohio State transfer JP Andrade, Temple transfer Matt Vitale, North Texas transfer Greyson Thompson, and Norman Douglas as quarterbacks on their spring roster. Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/jackson-state/2022/05/11/jackson-jones-three-star-quarterback-commits-jackson-state-football/9723370002/

DENTON, Texas – North Texas Athletics and The Brandr Group (TBG) have established a group licensing agreement for the university’s student-athletes covering all the Mean Green’s 16 sports. Joining an exclusive list of Division I TBG partners, the University of North Texas now affords its student-athletes the opportunity to combine their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) with official trademarks and logos as part of the group licensing program. “We are happy to announce today a partnership with The Brandr Group and open the door to group licensing opportunities for our student-athletes as the next phase of Paramount, our name, image and likeness program,” UNT Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said. “This relationship reinforces our commitment to Building Champions and Preparing Leaders here at UNT and will allow our student-athletes to participate in exciting opportunities in the ever-changing and growing landscape of NIL. “We believe this program will provide multiple advantages to our student-athletes and create new avenues for our tremendous fans to support the Mean Green. We are incredibly excited about this next phase, and we will continue to explore additional ways to grow opportunities here at UNT.” The partnership with TBG allows for the collective use of student-athletes' NIL in licensing and marketing programs, co-branded with University of North Texas logos and marks. Student-athletes will have the option to voluntarily join a group licensing program. TBG will facilitate group licensing opportunities on behalf of the student-athletes, and the program does not limit individual NIL rights. Potential licensees interested in learning more should contact Jim Neish at TBG. TBG, a brand management, marketing and licensing agency, will manage and administer the program as well as develop licensing opportunities on behalf of the student-athletes. With decades of collective management experience for some of the world's largest brands, TBG also manages the group rights program for the NFL, NBA and MLB players' associations in the college space. The company will develop and facilitate group licensing opportunities on behalf of current student-athletes. Some examples of group licensing include athlete’s inclusion in trading card programs, video games, and co-branded jerseys, which would include the student-athlete’s name and number, as well as University of North Texas trademarks and logos. “NIL opens up new avenues for student-athletes across college sports, and this group licensing agreement with the University of North Texas will enable its athletes to take advantage of this new environment,” said Rick Perko, Vice President of Program Development at TBG. “Through co-branded opportunities across the University of North Texas’ merchandising and sponsor portfolio, Mean Green student-athletes can benefit from their NIL. We’re excited to be working together to bring this new program to life for University of North Texas student-athletes, as well as their passionate fans who now have new ways to support their favorite players.” While no specific timeline is set, fans can expect to be able to purchase official University of North Texas merchandise as soon as TBG enters into agreements with applicable University of North Texas trademark licensees. About The Brandr Group The Brandr Group (TBG) is a brand management, marketing and licensing agency powered by a team with decades of collective management experience for some of the world’s largest brands. TBG has emerged as the leading agency in group licensing programs, with rights to over 40 college athletic programs and their student athletes in the Name, Image and Likeness category including the biggest brands in college athletics. TBG partners with prominent brands, colleges, sponsors, corporate trademarks, athletes and events to cultivate, diversify and monetize intellectual property through professional brand management and licensing endeavors. For more information, please visit tbgusa.com.

UNT MEN’S BASKETBALL: Mean Green Sign Transfer Big Sissoko North Texas Signs 6-foot-9 Transfer From Dayton For more information contact: Luke Della 510-725-2130, Luke.Della@unt.edu DENTON — The North Texas men's basketball team signed Moulaye Sissoko, a 6-foot-9 rising sophomore transfer from Dayton on Wednesday. Moulaye played in 30 of the Flyers' 35 games last year averaging 7.0 minutes per game and 2.4 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 12 points in 13 minutes off the bench on Nov. 20 versus Austin Peay. He grabbed a season-high eight rebounds twice. On Nov. 26 versus Kansas, Sissoko scored four points and had four rebounds — three offensive — in Dayton's 74-73 win over the eventual national champions. Sissoko will join the back-to-back-to-back Conference USA champions with three years of eligibility remaining. A native of the Republic of Mali, Sissoko moved to the United States at the age of 16. He played his prep basketball at Central Park Christian in Birmingham, Alabama and then Lincoln Academy in Suwanee, Georgia, where he graduated in 2019. Sissoko sat out his first season at Dayton in 2019-20. He played in 14 games and averaged 1.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in 2020-21 as a redshirt freshman. Over the last three seasons, Sissoko helped guide the Flyers to a combined 41-11 Atlantic 10 conference record and a 24-win season this past year and a 29-win season in 2019-20. In addition to college, Sissoko has competed internationally for his home country of Mali in numerous events. Sissoko’s Top Career Scoring Games 1. 12, vs. Austin Peay Nov. 20, 2021 2. 8, at Vanderbilt March 20, 2022 2. 8, at Toledo March 16, 2022 2. 8, vs. Alabama St. Dec. 1, 2021 5. 6, vs. Duquesne Feb. 9, 2022

Deciding to commit to North Texas Basketball and play for Coach Grant McCasland’s program is not for the faint-hearted. You won’t be playing in an offensive-oriented, track-level paced, exciting run and gun system like you did for your AAU team. You probably won’t be playing the most aesthetically pleasing basketball and you certainly won’t be seeing your name anywhere on the list of individual scoring records. Instead, McCasland’s program predicates itself on toughness, discipline, and the desire to play intense defense for a full 40 minutes. As followers of Conference USA have learned, this unique philosophy has turned the Mean Green into an annual championship contender. In McCasland’s five years at the helm of Mean Green basketball, the 2020 C-USA Coach of the Year has developed a championship-level program in Denton by priding his team’s culture on its defensive identity. In the 2021-22 season, the Mean Green held opponents to just 55.7 PPG, which was the lowest allowed in the entire country. In 32 games last year, North Texas gave up 70+ points on just three occasions; one of them to the eventual National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, who barely passed that elusive mark in a 71-59 neutral site contest. Even more impressive; over a course of the last 68 games they have played dating back to February 1st 2020, they’ve only allowed 80 points in a game one time. So how did a team that averaged just 65.1 PPG (317th out of 358 division 1 schools) this past year win 25 games and run through C-USA to a 16-2 record and a regular-season championship? Simple, they made it a priority to bring an unmatched intensity on the defensive end, paired with a resilient attitude and togetherness stemming down from their passionate coach. read more: https://bustingbrackets.com/2022/04/08/north-texas-basketball-grant-mccaslands-mean-green-defensive-machine/

https://247sports.com/Player/Moulaye-Sissoko-46048041/high-school-203344/

https://daytonflyers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/moulaye-sissoko/12126

😂

University of North Texas senior Kelly Neidert says she started paying more attention to politics when Donald Trump was elected president. “I definitely think there’s a lot of positives with just saying exactly how you feel,” she says. The University of North Texas has more than 42,000 students, but few are as infamous as senior Kelly Neidert. Since she arrived at the Denton campus in 2019, the 22-year-old marketing major has revived its Young Conservatives of Texas chapter — which had been dormant for years — and developed a reputation among students and administrators as the campus’ biggest provocateur. She’s easily recognizable in her red Make America Great Again hat and a megaphone sometimes slung over her shoulder — she uses it to troll her liberal classmates. On Twitter, she branded herself “the most hated conservative college student in the state of Texas.” When students held a protest in January to push for more online classes during the peak of the omicron variant, Neidert went to the top of a nearby parking garage and shouted through her megaphone for more in-person classes. On social media, she tweets statements like, “trans ‘women’ are men, actually,” and “One of my greatest accomplishments is giving Covid to someone who was vaxxed.” read more: https://amp.caller.com/amp/7332029001

https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/achoki-moikobu/1122

Rick is now the Executive Director of The Pines Catholic Camp in Big Sandy. UNT letterman and former Bishop Lynch Coach Greg Price is also employed there. link: https://thepines.org/about-us