North Texas' Jones Can Join School's Winning Team

[NT80]

North Texas' Jones can join school's winning team

08:14 PM CST on Tuesday, November 20, 2007

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

bvito@dentonrc.com

DENTON – There might not be a more exclusive fraternity when it comes to coaches at North Texas than those few who have winning records.

College Hall of Famer Hayden Fry is the only UNT football coach to reach the milestone since the mid-1960s, while Bill Blakeley is the lone UNT men's basketball coach since the 1930s to attain the mark.

Johnny Jones could join them tonight when UNT faces UT-Arlington at Texas Hall.

Jones stands at 89-89 with the Mean Green and is 104-105 overall, including a stint as the interim head coach at Memphis in 1999-2000.

"I don't really get into records and looking at those kinds of things," Jones said. "What I look at is our team, if we are getting better and our record at the end of the season. If it's good, more often than not those other things will take care of themselves and you eventually get there."

Jones has been on the fast track to the .500 mark ever since last season when UNT earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988 and set a school record for wins, finishing 23-11. The Mean Green enters today's game against the Mavericks with a 3-0 record and a win over Oklahoma State that ranks among UNT's biggest nonconference victories in years.

That surge has put Jones in position to surpass the .500 mark during the seventh year of his tenure at UNT, which has just one other current coach above the .500 mark, women's soccer coach John Hedlund.

Jones was briefly over .500 at 15-14 after his first season at UNT in 2001-02 but went through an injury-plagued 7-21 campaign in his second year. That slump left Jones looking for a breakout season through three straight years in which UNT never finished over .500.

UNT's players said it was easy to keep faith in Jones because of his background and character. Jones helped lead LSU to the Final Four both as a player and an assistant coach.

"I knew because of the type of players coach Jones was bringing in and the way he carried himself on and off the court, that it was just a matter of time before he would get the program going," said senior forward Quincy Williams, who committed to UNT after Jones finished 13-15 in 2003-04.

Williams was just one of the players who decided to play for UNT because of the bond they formed with Jones during the recruiting process that continued to grow once they arrived on campus.

"I love playing for him," senior guard Ben Bell said. "Everyone on the team has a close connection with him."

Bell is just one of the players who has helped UNT get on a roll the last two seasons and put Jones on the verge of joining Fry, Blakeley and a select few other Mean Green coaches in the .500 club.

"Those are some really good coaches," Jones said. "It's great company to be in. I attribute it to the kids and assistant coaches who have been here while I have been here and what they have put into it. I am just happy to be a part of it."

JONES MOVING UP

UNT's all-time leaders in winning percentage among its men's basketball coaches:

Coach Seasons W-L Pct.

J.W. St. Clair 1916-20, 1921-24 58-21 .734

John Reid 1924-29 79-31 .718

Theron Fouts 1920-21 5-3 .625

Bill Blakeley 1976-83 134-85 .612

Terrance Myracle 1929-33 38-36 .514

Johnny Jones 2001- 89-89 .500

North Texas (3-0) at UT-Arlington (3-0), 7 p.m. today (KWRD-FM 100.7)