Drc Full Article On Ryan Mccoy

OldTimer · April 6, 2007

Basketball: UNT basketball gets guard’s commitment

08:38 AM CDT on Friday, April 6, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Success seems to follow Ryan McCoy wherever he goes.

The former Houston Madi-son standout led his team to the playoffs as a senior and has been a part of a junior college national championship team in each of the last two seasons at different schools.

The 5-11, 162-pound point guard said on Thursday that he has committed to bring that history of success to North Texas. Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day recruits can sign national letters of intent is Wednesday.

“North Texas has been after me since I was in the ninth grade,” McCoy said. “I decided not to pass on them this time. My mom is moving close to Dallas and I am a mama’s boy. I didn’t want to be too far away.”

UNT recruited McCoy out of Madison, but lost out when he committed to Tulsa. McCoy did not meet entrance requirements at Tulsa and spent the last two years in junior college.

He helped lead Arkansas-Fort Smith to the JUCO national title as a freshman before his head coach Jeremy Cox left to join the staff at Texas A&M.

McCoy transferred from UAFS to Midland College before last season and helped lead the Chaps to their first NJCAA title since 1982.

Marist and Texas-San An-tonio also offered McCoy a scholarship after his sophomore season at Midland while Texas A&M showed some interest. McCoy averaged 5.1 points and 1.4 assists a game at Midland, despite struggling with health problems that limited him to playing in just 14 games.

McCoy, who averaged 6.8 points and 2.9 assists a game at UAFS, said he has since overcome those problems.

Texashoops.com, a Web site that covers college basketball recruiting in the state, ranked McCoy No. 40 in the Class of 2005 and a three-star recruit on a scale of five after his senior year at Madison.

McCoy is expected to play point guard for UNT and fill a void in the Mean Green’s lineup. UNT started junior Ben Bell at point guard, but had to move shooting guard Michael Sturns to point guard to back up Bell.

UNT should be able to move Sturns back to his natural position with the addition of McCoy.

“From talking to the coaches, they want me to play the point,” McCoy said. “I also like to play the off guard some and will be able to slide over every once in a while.”

McCoy has several ties to UNT. Alvin Brooks III, the son of former UNT assistant coach Alvin Brooks, was an assistant coach at both Midland and UAFS during McCoy’s time at each school.

McCoy also played with former UNT standout Calvin Watson at Madison and on the summer AAU circuit. Watson was UNT’s leading scorer last season.

“Ryan likes to pass the ball and will be a good fit at the point,” Watson said. “He’s a smart player.”

UNT’s coaches cannot talk about incoming recruits until they have signed their national letters of intent.

McCoy is the first recruit UNT has landed since its breakout season that ended with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last month. UNT won the Sun Belt Conference tournament and set the school record for wins while finishing 23-11.

“That was a huge step for them to make it to the tournament,” McCoy said. “Once you have made it, you are hungry to go again.”

McCoy is hoping to help fill the void left by senior guards Kendrick Davis, Rich Young and Watson, who steered his old teammate to UNT.

“I sort of grew up with Calvin,” McCoy said. “We don’t talk as much now, but he told me UNT is a good school. That affected me a little bit and I liked the coaching staff.”

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