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With Turgeon off the board, it’s unclear which direction Saal is turning in the Wichita State basketball coaching search. National analysts peg WSU as one of the more intriguing open positions in the country, which should drum up interest from the crop of up-and-coming mid-major coaches who have led their teams to the Big Dance this week. Furman’s Bob Richey and Oral Roberts’ Paul Mills are two potential targets, according to sources, while other potential candidates who are sitting head coaches in the tournament include Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May, North Texas’ Grant McCasland, College of Charleston’s Pat Kelsey, Drake’s Darian DeVries and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Steve Lutz. May, McCasland, Kelsey and DeVries have all been rumored to be candidates for power-conference openings. WSU would face stiff competition to land any one of them, but it’s a battle the Shockers very well could win, given what the program has to offer in tradition, fan base, resources and proven track record of winning. Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article273178050.html#storylink=cpy

LINK: https://www.katfans.com/katsforum/showthread.php?24269-NIT-Round-2

Pretty impressive hire imho

"We're thrilled," Jones told NSN. "We got off to a little rocky start in conference play and ended up being the last team (at the conference tournament). We have 12 teams, and we were the eighth seed. They only take eight teams. We were the last one to qualify for our conference tournament, but our guys did a tremendous job of playing well over three days and put us in position to be at the greatest show on Earth, and that's March Madness." You can watch our full interviews with Jones and his assistant coach, Brandon Chambers, who spent three seasons at Nevada from 2016-19, below. read more: https://nevadasportsnet.com/sports/mens-basketball/ex-nevada-assistant-johnny-jones-aims-for-third-straight-season-with-ncaa-tournament-win

Know the foe: North Texas Mean Green What is now the University of North Texas began as Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute in 1890. The name changed to North Texas Normal College in 1894. From 1901 to 1923, the institution was known as North Texas State Normal College. The campus in Denton, TX, was called North Texas State Teachers College from 1923 to 1949. The name was shortened to North Texas State College in 1949. The transition to university status took place in 1961. The name was North Texas State University until 1988, when State was dropped. North Texas system The North Texas University system also has locations in Dallas, Fort Worth and Frisco. Frisco, coincidentally, is where James Madison won the Football Championship Subdivision title in 2017 with a 28-14 victory over Youngstown State when Pirates coach Mike Houston was directing the Dukes. There were 32,596 undergraduates in the fall of 2021 and 9,776 postgraduates. Location Denton is located about 40 miles northwest of Dallas. The driving distance from Greenville, NC, to Denton is 1,300 miles. Driving time is 18 hours, five minutes. Mascot, colors North Texas has had an eagle for a mascot since 1922. The mascot’s nickname is Scrappy. School colors are green and white. Nickname North Texas teams are nicknamed Mean Green. The nickname developed when the 1966 football team was second nationally in rush defense. Defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was a sophomore on the 1966 team. read more: https://bonesville.net/2023/02/03/the-new-american-part4-north-texas/

You’re going to hear me talk (or see me type I suppose) about North Texas when it comes to Coach Harrell. I know that was two stops ago, but I think it’s the best example of his offense. At USC, he coached under Clay Helton, a guy with a heavy background on the offensive side of the ball. The offense you saw from Graham with the Trojans was clearly a collaboration between Harrell and Helton. At West Virginia, Neal Brown was another head coach with a background in offensive play calling, and it’s rumored he would unplug Coach Harrell’s controller on occasion and call plays, or at the very least, give strong recommendations. It’s no coincidence Neal Brown is expected to call plays for the Mountaineers in 2023 in an effort to save his job (based on a limited sample size that has worked exactly 0 times). At North Texas, while Seth Littrell also had a back ground on offense, the precipitous decline of the Mean Green after Harrell dipped for SoCa, leads me to believe what happened at North Texas was the pure, unadulterated Harrell offense. I’m sure he’s picked things up since then, but I have a hunch that Purdue offense is going to look more like the Harrell’s North Texas offense, and less like “his” USC or West Virginia offenses. To give you a taste of what I expect, his 2017 North Texas offense averaged 37.1 passing attempts and 36.8 rushing attempts. His 2018 Mean Green offense averaged 38.8 passing attempts and 35.5 rushing attempts. To put that in perspective, Purdue’s offense averaged 41.6 passing attempts and 33.3 rushing attempts (that’s with 2 Austin Burton games skewing the numbers). Brohm’s 2021 offense averaged 44.3 passing attempts and 29.7 rushing attempts. Harrell throws the ball a little less and runs the ball a little more than Brohm, and I’m good with that. This is a unique opportunity for Coach Harrell. He’s the man in charge of the offense. I’m sure Coach Walter’s will have basic game plan input, but this is Harrell’s show. In his first 3 stops as a coordinator, he had a former play caller looking over his shoulder, now he’s on his own. Purdue’s offensive success (or failure) will be on him. I can 100% promise their won’t be rumors of Coach Walters taking over the play calling mid-game. I’m excited to see how things work out. read more: https://www.hammerandrails.com/2023/1/27/23571723/purdue-football-coaching-staff-graham-harrell

North Shore safety Jayven Anderson knows what a winning football culture looks like. He’s been an integral part of the Mustangs’ success during his time on Castlegory Drive. Now he’ll try to bring that experience to a North Texas program aiming for its first winning campaign since 2018. The senior ballhawk verbally committed to the Mean Green on Monday morning, choosing them over Houston, Colorado, Ole Miss and Texas, among others. Anderson is a three-star recruit and is listed as a linebacker on most of the primary football recruiting websites, even though he played safety at North Shore. He ranks as the No. 184 overall player in Texas for the 2023 class, according to 247Sports. Anderson was an All-Greater Houston selection as a junior and senior, helping North Shore reach two Class 6A Division I championship games and bring home the 2021 state title. He recorded 64 tackles, four interceptions, 16 pass breakups and four defensive touchdowns as a senior this past fall. Read more: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/hs-sports/football/article/jayven-anderson-north-shore-commits-north-texas-17751962.php

Don't get me wrong, I hope he does well but goodness, according to Bert the dude is making basically $500K! Almost double all the rest. That's a lot of scratch where I come from. Can't argue with what he accomplished at ISU.

DENTON, Texas – First-year head coach Eric Morris announced the addition of 12 new student-athletes for the Mean Green on National Signing Day Wednesday. That total adds to an impressive group of eight that previously signed in December and January, including seven transfers that enrolled for the spring semester. Of the total group, 17 of the 20 newcomers hail from the state of Texas. Eleven join the Mean Green from the high school ranks, one comes from junior college and eight are four-year transfers. UNT could add more players through the transfer portal following the conclusion of the spring semester. February 2023 Signees (12) Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown / Previous Jayven Anderson DB 6-0 205 Fr. Houston, TX / North Shore HS Evan Jackson DB 6-0 170 Fr. Houston, TX / North Shore HS Kollin Lewis DB 6-0 180 Fr. Gladewater, TX / HS Desmond Magiya OL 6-4 270 Fr. McKinney, TX / HS Ethan Miner OL 6-2 287 Jr. West Hartford, CT / Arkansas St. Dietrich Moore LB 6-0 210 Fr. Broken Arrow, OK / HS Matthew Moore LB 6-2 210 Fr. Killeen, TX / Ellison HS Brian Nelson II DB 6-0 181 Fr. Pearland, TX / Shadow Creek HS Noah Rauschenberg K 6-1 204 Sr. Tulsa, OK / Baylor Isaac Sohn OL 6-4 290 Fr. Aledo, TX / HS Keith Smith DL 6-2 280 Fr. Dallas, TX / South Oak Cliff HS Taylor Starling DB 6-0 170 Fr. Dallas, TX / South Oak Cliff HS Early and Mid-Year Signees (8) Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown / Previous Trey Cleveland WR 6-4 195 Jr. Arlington, TX / Texas Tech Phillip Hill DB 6-0 190 Jr. Spring, TX / UNLV Larry Moore OL 6-6 275 Jr. Missouri City, TX / Texas Tech Marcus Moore DL 6-1 295 Jr. The Colony, TX / Coffeyville CC Chandler Rogers QB 6-0 194 Jr. Mansfield, TX / ULM Landon Sides WR 6-0 185 Fr. Denton, TX / Guyer HS Paula Vaipulu OL 6-3 300 Jr. Channelview, TX / Georgia Tech Damon Youngblood DB 5-10 185 R-Fr. McKinney, TX / Louisiana-Lafayette

There is a lot of mystery at this point on who will be the Saskatchewan Roughriders starting quarterback when they begin the season on June 11 in Edmonton. Entering his third year with the Roughriders, Mason Fine is looking forward to competing for the position when the team begins training camp this May. The Riders quarterback was a guest on Tuesday’s edition of the SportsCage with Michael Ball. Fine said his goal entering the 2022 season was to build off his rookie campaign as he continued to make the transition to the professional game. At the beginning of his sophomore year with the Riders entrenched as the backup, the North Texas product was hoping to provide Saskatchewan with a solid backup plan at quarterback. He felt that he got off on the right foot. “I think I had a great training camp to start off the season and I really think I took some strides there with all of the reps that I got. ” Last season, Fine saw the majority of his action in three games. He came in relief for Cody Fajardo against the BC Lions on August 19 and was the team’s starting quarterback for their final two games of the season against the Calgary Stampeders. The QB ended the season with 690 passing yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. The 25-year-old hopes to take his game to another new level in 2023. “I think I made great strides from 2021 to 2022, now I need to take a bigger step forward and get better overall as a quarterback.” read more: https://www.620ckrm.com/2023/01/25/308260/#.Y9Ge12lJczd.twitter

DALLAS (Jan. 30, 2023) – After leading UNT to back-to-back road wins last week, senior Quincy Noble has been named the Conference USA Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season. Noble filled up the stat sheet all week averaging 19.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks in two contests. Noble started the week with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win over UTSA. She then followed it up with 23 points, three blocks, three steals and two rebounds against UTEP. Noble scored 20 points in the first half in El Paso and became the first UNT player since Terriell Bradley in 2018 to have 20+ Points, 3+ 3-pointers, 3+ steals, and 3+ blocks in a single game. She is also the first player since Bradley in 2018 to earn C-USA Player of the Week honors multiple times in the same season. Noble and the Mean Green return to action Saturday afternoon when they welcome Rice to the Super Pit at 3:30 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at a special price for the matchup here.

James Franklin McIngvale was born in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1951. Sports was in his blood from the start, as his dad, George, was a star football player at Mississippi State University. McIngvale's family moved to Dallas when he was a boy and he eventually went on to the University of Texas and then the University of North Texas, where he played football for both universities in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After dropping out before finishing his degree, McIngvale claims to have gotten his big break when he was fired from a job at a convenience store. While this would be discouraging to most, that termination allowed McIngvale to take work at a Dallas furniture store, where he learned the ins and outs of the industry. Inspired to open his own shop, he moved to Houston with his wife, Linda, and opened the first Gallery Furniture in 1981. After appearing in several Gallery Furniture TV commercials while dressed in a flimsy-looking mattress costume, McIngvale earned the nickname "Mattress Mack." Today, McIngvale's empire includes three Gallery Furniture locations in the Houston area, including a massive 165,000-square-foot store in Fort Bend County that houses a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, tropical birds, exotic animals and a giant jumping mattress. read more: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/mattress-mack-17740613.php

This is a little bit of a rant so bear with me on my soapbox if you will. Not sure what he is up to or if he would be interested, but I think we should create a full time positon for Mean Joe similar to what UT does with Vince Young in Austin. Mean Joe should have a restaurant names after him in Denton and he should be at all or most of the games with his NFL Hall of Fame jacket on and his superbowl rings shining brightly. This guy is such a jewel for North Texas and we owe it to him to provide him this opportunity and it would be stupid for us not to utilize his fame and recognition in his twilight years. Boxer Jake LaMotta and singer Frank Sinatra had similar roles for entertainment establishments.

Steve Austin’s estimated net worth, according to sources including Wealthy Gorilla, is around $30 million. That is completely understandable, as the Texas Rattlesnake was a marketing bullseye. His merchandise, inspired by catchphrases such as Austin 3:16 and What?, can still be seen both at shows and live events of the WWE, but also generally. Additionally, Austin’s ventures into popular culture, most notably his movies and also products he endorses and even makes, added a lot of value to his brand and brought him tons of money over time. He has really built himself a career and Stone Cold used his 15 minutes of fame to the maximum. However, to really understand Steve Austin’s net worth and how he got there, we need to start with his early life. While he is known as Steve Austin, he was actually born Steven Anderson, but he changed the name to the more recognizable one in 2007. He was born in Austin, Texas, on December 18th, 1964. Austin was raised in fairly tough circumstances, as his biological dad left his mother, him, and his older brother when Austin was just one year old. Still, his mother was able to find a new husband and Austin joined an extended family with one younger sister and two more older brothers. Austin played football and earned a scholarship to the University of North Texas, after attending Wharton County Junior College. However, it was not the education he was after, but rather a career in pro wrestling. read more: https://clutchpoints.com/steve-austin-net-worth

A partnership between the University of North Texas at Dallas and Sunset High School will award the entire senior class with automatic admission into the university. Sunset High School Principal Jesus Martinez was joined by UNT Dallas Administrators during a senior class meeting Thursday night to announce the new program, “Trailblazer Express,” to parents. Prior to March 1, all seniors will receive an email and physical letter announcing their acceptance into the University, said Jose da Silva, Interim Vice President of UNT Dallas. “I’m a first generation college student and I still remember way back when my friends were going to college and I didn’t know where to start. Just the fear of being rejected was enough to keep me from applying,” da Silva said. “I know my story is not unique… we want to eliminate that fear as a barrier.” Martinez said the automatic admission will remove other barriers for students and parents too, including those involving the application process. read more: https://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2023/01/unt-dallas-sunset-partnership/

DENTON, Texas – KeAyla Dove broke her own school record to win the women’s shot put title and highlight the day for North Texas Track & Field Friday at the Red Raider Open in Lubbock, Texas. Dove launched a career and school record shot put on her second throw, recording a mark of 56-1.25 (17.10m) that earned her a spot in the finals and eventually stood to win the event title. The sophomore from Houston, Texas, now stands in the top-7 nationally based on marks heading into this weekend. She was ranked No. 11 heading into the meet. In her collegiate debut in the 400 meters, freshman Kendahl Tucker took third in the "B" section with a time of 56.07. Jake Parchman cruised past his personal best in the men’s weight throw, earning a spot in the final and placing fifth with a mark of 60-10 (18.54m). Tyrell Johnson advanced to the finals in both the men's long jump and triple jump, placing seventh (22-11.75, 7.00m) and sixth (46-4.75, 14.14m), respectively. In the men's 200m "B" section, freshman Zavion Langrin placed fifth with a time of 21.79. Jaleisa Shaffer earned a spot in the women's weight throw final and finished ninth with a mark of 53-2.25 (16.21m), and Mason Garner finished fifth in the men's 3,000m with a time of 8:41.27. The initial USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Regional TFRI rankings will be unveiled on Jan. 23, and the USTFCCCA national rankings will come out on Jan. 24. The Mean Green will be right back in Lubbock next weekend (Jan. 27-28) for the Texas Tech Open at the Sports Performance Center. Be sure to keep an eye on MeanGreenSports.com, follow Mean Green Sports on social media @MeanGreenSports and Mean Green track & field/cross country at @MeanGreenTFXC for all of the latest information.

DALLAS – The three-time Conference USA champion UNT softball team was voted first in the league’s preseason poll, garnering nine of 10 first place votes and 99 points overall, the league announced on Thursday. The first-place preseason selection marks the third occasion in program history to enter the season as favorites and third in the past four seasons. North Texas senior Ashley Peters was named the C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year after a 20-win season last year. Peters becomes the second pitcher in program history to be awarded the superlative recognition after Hope Trautwein captured the honor in 2020 and 2021. The Mean Green also placed five players on the C-USA preseason team, the most in program history passing marks of three selections in 2019 and 2020. Peters joins catcher Kalei Christensen, infielder Kailey Gamble, outfielder Lexi Cobb and pitcher Skylar Savage as members of the all-conference squad. UNT had the most selections in the league with no other team having more than two honorees, which are selected by the conference’s head coaches. “It’s good to see some of our players get recognized because they work hard and are very deserving,” head coach Rodney DeLong said. “We have a tough schedule and a competitive league to compete against so preseason polls don’t mean a lot to us. We have to work hard and stay tough through the course of the season to be successful. We are excited about this team and the opportunities that are in front of us.” UNT will begin its season at the Buzz Classic in Atlanta with a doubleheader on Feb. 10 against UIC and Saint Francis before meeting UConn and hosts Georgia Tech to wrap up the weekend. 2023 C-USA Softball Preseason Poll 1. North Texas (9) 99 2. WKU 82 3. Charlotte (1) 78 4. LA Tech 74 T5. Florida Atlantic 56 T5. UAB 56 7. UTSA 39 T8. FIU 25 T8. Middle Tennessee 25 10. UTEP 16 (first place votes) C-USA Softball Preseason All-Conference Team C – Kalei Christensen, North Texas Jr. C – Sierra Frazier, UAB* Sr. IF – Ella Chancey, Charlotte* So. IF – Kailey Gamble, North Texas* Jr. IF – Amanda Gonzalez, LA Tech* Sr. IF – Kat Ibarra, UTSA* Jr. IF – Lindsey Smith, UAB So. OF – Sara Berthiaume, Florida Atlantic* Sr. OF – Lexi Cobb, North Texas* Jr. OF – Taylor Davis, WKU* Sr. OF – Sierra Sacco, LA Tech* So. OF – Bailey Vannoy, Charlotte* Gr. DP/UT – Marena Estell, UTSA Gr. P – Lynn Gardner, Florida Atlantic* Gr. P – Ashley Peters, North Texas* Sr. P – Skylar Savage, North Texas* So. * - 2022 all-conference selection

DENTON, Texas – Accomplished athletics administrator Dr. Connor Smith has been named UNT Athletics’ new Associate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Vice President and Director of Athletics Jared Mosley announced Tuesday. “I’m excited to welcome Connor, his wife Cami and their daughters Coraleigh and Copelynn to the Mean Green family!” Mosley said. “Connor brings a wealth of leadership experience that will serve our student-athletes, coaches and staff well as we transition into the American Athletic Conference and continue to build on the momentum we have within our programs. He is highly respected across the industry and will be a great resource for us here at UNT.” Smith, who joins the Mean Green following a stellar eight-plus years as Director of Athletics at Dallas Baptist University, fills the position vacated by Mosley when he was promoted into his new role by UNT president Neal Smatresk on December 10. “I am thrilled and honored to join Jared Mosley, UNT Athletics, and the entire Mean Green family,” Smith said. “I look forward to serving and working alongside the incredible student-athletes, coaches, staff, and community as we strive to Build Champions and Prepare Leaders. The future is incredibly bright for the Mean Green, and I can't wait to get to work in Denton, Texas.” A native of Cedar Park, Texas, Smith was named Director of Athletics at DBU in June 2014. He was promoted to Vice President and Director of Athletics in November 2022. During Smith's tenure as the program's Director of Athletics, DBU won its first NCAA Division II National Championship when the women's golf team captured a national title in 2021. The Patriots also won 47 conference championships, advanced to seven NCAA Division I Regional appearances in baseball, including one Super Regional appearance in 2021, 21 NCAA Division II National Championship appearances, one NCAA DII Final Four appearance in women's soccer, and became one of just seven men’s basketball programs in the country to reach five consecutive NCAA DII tournaments. Additionally, the DBU Cheer and Dance programs both captured back-to-back National Championships (NCA and NDA) during the 2022 competitive season. At the conclusion of the spring 2022 semester, DBU Athletics earned a 3.4 cumulative grade point average across each of the NCAA varsity athletics programs, which marked the second highest average GPA in department history. A few of the additional academic honors for DBU Athletics during Smith's tenure as Director of Athletics included a baseball program record for NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR), Women's Academic Award of Excellence, NCAA President's Award of Excellence for an Academic Success Rate of 90% (earned in back-to-back years) and the Heartland Academic Award of Excellence. Additionally, Smith and the Patriots launched Patriots Prepared during the 2019-2020 academic year with leadership programming that prepares and equips student-athletes for life and their professional careers after graduation. Furthermore, Patriots Prepared helped provide networking opportunities for internships, employment, and aids with NIL education for DBU student-athletes. Under Smith's leadership, Patriot Athletics experienced unprecedented growth in revenue generation, corporate sponsorships, and fundraising. In March of 2019, Smith and DBU Athletics launched the Patriot Athletic Fund, the departments first-ever annual fund and department-wide booster program to support and advance all 25 intercollegiate athletics programs. During Smith's first year as athletic director, Patriot Baseball introduced a new booster fund program called the Dugout Club with the goal to advance the University's sole NCAA Division I program. Since its inception, the Dugout Club has experienced consistent growth and membership for the university's Division I baseball program. Growth was a constant theme under Smith's leadership as DBU Athletics continued to provide new opportunities for student-athletes through new sport additions. From 2014-22, the Patriots added six new sport programs and increased the total number of student-athletes from 301 student-athletes to 449. He also played an integral role in the development and completion of more than 15 capital campaign projects and facility renovations during his time with Patriot Athletics in addition to guiding the department through a pair of conference transitions joining the Lone Star Conference in 2019 and baseball competing in Conference USA in 2023. Smith was also instrumental in the launch of the Patriot Broadcasting Network, the department’s sports broadcast and streaming platform. He oversaw the negotiation of DBU’s first-ever television agreement with Bally Sports Southwest to televise multiple baseball games and a full DBU Athletics rebranding project which produced three new athletics marks along with a multi-year agreement with brand management and licensing partner IMG College Licensing (IMGCL); the first-ever athletics ticketing platform and website, DBUTickets.com. Smith has previously served on the Division II Athletics Directors Association (D2ADA) Board of Directors, the NCAA DII Regulatory Affairs Committee, was a mentor in the D2ADA Mentoring Program, and on the NCAA DII Volleyball and Women's Golf Regional Advisory Committees. Smith is also a past Chair for the Lone Star Conference Council of Athletics Administrators as well as an advisory board member for the sport of STUNT, the YMCA Grand Prairie, and AD's for Christ. Smith is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as well as the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD). He was a four-year letterman for the DBU Golf team from 2005-09 and served as the team captain in his junior and senior seasons. Following his playing career, Smith served as the team's Graduate Assistant Golf Coach in 2009. He got his start in collegiate athletics as Assistant AD for Internal Operations at DBU from 2011-13. Smith earned a pair of degrees from Dallas Baptist with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management from in December 2009 and a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Project Management in December 2011. He completed his Doctor of Education in Higher Educational Leadership from TCU in November 2022. Smith and his wife, Cami, have two daughters, Coraleigh and Copelynn. https://dbupatriots.com/staff-directory/connor-smith/47