Drc Article On Nt Bb Notification

OldTimer · March 12, 2007

UNT match revealed

‘It feels unbelievable’

08:39 AM CDT on Monday, March 12, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

University of North Texas men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones and his players jumped to their feet, exchanged high-fives and celebrated in a room packed with fans on Sunday as the words North Texas flashed on a huge screen.

UNT will play in New Orleans on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

After waiting nearly the entire NCAA Selection Show as tension mounted, UNT finally found out it was headed to New Orleans for a first-round game against the University of Memphis.

UNT’s administrators, coaches and players who gathered to watch the show at the Mean Green Athletic Center couldn’t have been happier with the result.

“It feels good,” UNT senior guard Calvin Watson said. “I waited four years to see our name come up. It finally came up there. It feels unbelievable.”

UNT, a No. 15 seed in the South Region, will take on the second-seeded Tigers on Friday in an intriguing matchup for Jones.

Jones was the interim head coach at Memphis in the 1999-2000 season. Jones was the Tigers’ associate head coach from 1997 to 1999.

UNT NCAA Tournament selection watch party video

NCAA Men's Championship bracket (.pdf)

“There are some guys, if they get to the NCAA Tournament, they couldn’t miss playing a team they have worked for,” Jones said with a chuckle. “I have been fortunate to work at only three other places. It will be good for us to play an opponent that we are familiar with.”

Jones is a native of DeRidder, La., about 250 miles west of New Orleans.

“There will be a lot of fans down in New Orleans not only from the Denton area,” Jones said. “I think we will attract a lot of Louisiana fans as well.”

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal asked the approximately 350 fans in attendance to make the trip to see the Mean Green play at the end of what turned out to be a long wait to see where UNT would be placed.

UNT fans cheered each time a No. 16 seed was announced and were even more enthusiastic when Florida A&M University and Niagara University were revealed as the two teams picked to face off for the right to get into the round of 64. UNT was one of the last teams to have its pairing revealed.

Villarreal said Jones had some reservations about opening the watching party to fans because he wondered how many would attend.

Those worries proved unfounded when UNT fans poured into the athletic center by the dozens.

“This will be huge for the team,” said Adam Rosenfield, a member of the Pit Crew, a student spirit organization. “We won’t draw only 700 to 800 fans any more. People will start coming out, and it will be huge for recruiting.”

Just before the selection show began, UNT’s players paraded in to the cheers of fans, who gave the Mean Green a standing ovation. Watson carried in the Sun Belt Conference trophy with the net the Mean Green cut down after the game draped around it.

UNT’s players were impressed with the crowd.

“It was great that the team and the community celebrate this together,” UNT junior guard Michael Sturns said. “We have thrived off the energy from our fans all season. We look forward to taking that energy and enthusiasm into Friday’s game.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

NCAA TICKETS

The Mean Green will play in New Orleans Arena, and ticket price is $50 per session. Tickets can be purchased online at www.meangreensports.com or by calling the ticket office at 940-565-2527.