Drc Vitto Blog Valentine (tt) Not Coming To Nt

OldTimer · June 21, 2007

21, 2007

Jones: Valentine not coming to UNT

Benny Valentine, a guard who is at Texas Tech and appears as if he is about to transfer, is not headed to North Texas, UNT head coach Johnny Jones said Wednesday.

Speculation has run rampant in the last few days that Valentine could end up at UNT. A few Web sites even have Valentine listed as a UNT commitment, but there is no truth to the rumor.

Valentine coming to UNT never made much sense anyway. Jones likes big guards and Valentine is only 5-7, plus UNT is already set at the point guard spot. UNT has signed JUCO transfer Ryan McCoy, who would will still have a year left 2008-09 when Valentine would be eligible at another Division I school after leaving Tech. UNT also has Josh White coming in next year as a freshman. White is expected to be the Mean Green's point guard of the future. At 5-10, he is a smaller guard. UNT does not need a carbon copy of a high school recruit it is very excited about landing.

UNT will need a second point guard after McCoy graduates, but Valentine wouldn't be the best fit. The Mean Green would be much better off with another high school or junior college player.

Valentine has a well-chronicled history of personal problems. Jones has excelled in helping players take advantage of second chances and UNT had some involvement with Valentine several months ago. Those factors probably helped spur the rumor that he is headed to UNT.

UNT does have one scholarship left to give, but if Jones uses it, expect him to take on a post player who would sit out next season.

While we are on the topic of basketball, UNT received its championship rings today. There are photos of the rings in Thursday's edition of the Denton Record-Chronicle along with a story. The following is a link:

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...1.2315a528.html

Censored by Laurie · June 21, 2007

If you just felt a breeze...I believe that is the collective sigh of releif from the Mean Green Basketball nation. Best wishes to Benny Valentine...but using our last scholarship on a 4th point guard...and these would be 4 pure point guards, no combos...would've been poor management.