cousin oliver

I as well!

DENTON – The UNT men’s basketball team has signed 6-foot-6 Longwood transfer guard Johnathan “John John” Massie, fresh off a conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. The Houston native was Longwood’s second-leading scorer last season averaging 11.3 points per contest and playing in 34 games and making 16 starts for the 21-win Lancers who won the Big South championship. Massie joins the Mean Green with one year of eligibility remaining. In the NCAA Tournament, Massie was Longwood’s leading scorer against No. 1 seed Houston. In their conference tournament, Massie helped lead the Lancers to wins over the tournament’s No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 seeds as he averaged nearly 10 points per game and shot 66.6 percent from deep. He shot 77.7 percent from 3 over Longwood’s final nine games of the year. Massie scored in double figures 19 times last year including a career-high 31-point explosion versus Winthrop on Feb. 10 to lead his team to an 84-74 win. He was named the Big South Player of the Week following his heroic performance. On the final regular season game of the year, Massie led the Lancers to a 74-72 win over the league’s regular season champion High Point with a 16-point and 5-rebound performance in 22 minutes of action. In addition to scoring, Massie is a solid rebounder as he pulled down an average of 5.2 boards per game last season, which was the third-highest average on the team. Longwood was one of the nation’s top rebounding teams as they had an +8.8-rebounding margin for the season – sixth best in the country – and averaged 13.4 offensive rebounds per game ­– 12th best in the country. Massie had eight or more rebounds eight times last season and had a season-high 12 rebounds versus Charleston Southern on Jan. 6 in a 21-point win. Massie has been tremendous at getting to the foul line in his career. He attempted 151 free throws last season, which would have been a close second on UNT last season. He’s a 72.7 percent free throw shooter in his three-year career. The incoming senior began his collegiate career at McNeese State where he was named the 2022 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore at McNeese, Massie led his team to the Southland Conference Tournament championship game, as he averaged 10.5 points per game that season and averaged 15.1 points per game during the season’s final month. North Texas is coming off a 19-win season under first-year head coach Ross Hodge where they reached the second round of the NIT. He was the only rookie head coach last year to lead his respective team to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT. The Mean Green won 10 league games in their first season in the American Athletic Conference. It was the most league wins by a first-year UNT head coach. UNT is one of just seven schools in the country who has won a NCAA postseason game in each of the last four seasons. For more information on UNT men's basketball tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of DATCU Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

I am pretty aroused at the potential impact of this signing for the program! This kid is a player!

I though Farrar was good!

I poste dthis in another thread, but will repost here. Did we not see an increase in attendance? I saw postings on that here on this site as I recall? Maybe I am mistaken.

I may be mistaken but our attendance has increased significantly over the past few years. May be wrong.

Sorry to hear this. Are we still looking at adding baseball? Seems like we lose good kids to the fact we don’t offer baseball as an option.

I mean like wow, we must have the highest exit rate of any program pertaining to NIL. I think UNT needs to focus on one and done guys that will graduate or whatever until these type of NIL and portal rules get addressed by our politicians.

It is disheartening to see some of our very best such as @UNTLifer begin to question their commitment.

Yes. He obviously wasn't happy here or he would have stayed most likely.

Wow he would be great!

Someone just posted Arkansas has zero scholarship players. Sort of puts things in perspective doesn’t it.

I agree with @UNTLifer none of any of this is official in my estimation

Beautiful couple

East Carolina leads the league in NIL donations? I am sorry but that seems like stinky dung to me.

NIL deals seem to be changing everything in college athletics, from the talent level on the court to how long athletes stay at certain universities. They appear to revolutionize the way college sports are played. Between NIL and new transfer portal rules, student-athletes aren’t staying at one college for four years. Transferring has become so normal that schools like UTA have started refocusing their pitches to student-athletes currently in college rather than incoming freshmen. The decision was met with mixed reactions, and I initially supported it. Athletes were making their universities millions of dollars, and it felt right that they could now earn a piece of that pie, especially as many struggled with food insecurity and the ability to afford rent because they didn’t have enough time to pursue a job. UTA NIL director Holland Sutton said these deals help student-athletes pay rent, support their families back home or fund trips home to see their families. The money is often used for groceries or extra clothes. “I wouldn't say any kids are getting rich, but getting some of that extra money to be able to spend on things you need is really essential, and that's the good part about NIL,” Sutton said. Link: https://www.theshorthorn.com/sports/opinion-nil-deals-are-changing-college-athletics-for-better-or-for-worse/article_f6151174-f079-11ee-abec-7f3b26c12e3a.html

I fell very sad about how this all unfolded. Ross must be beside himself. His whole team is leaving him.

I really don't know what to think about all this. Seems like our foundation is showing some hairline cracks.

agreed

One positive here is we probably could enlist Rondel's help in landing him given they were teammates at TCU. I love also that he is from Duncanville.

Good player and contributed a lot to this team. I wish him well!

I feel like you underestimate the damage losing a star player does to a fanbase like ours. And Tyler wanted to be at UNT his whole life!