Experts like North Texas' Tony Mitchell with the 24th overall pick

[Harry]

Unfortunately for Mitchell, his stats weren't overwhelming at North Texas. After averaging 14.7 points on 56.7 percent shooting as a freshman, Mitchell's numbers fell to 13.0 and 44 percent respectively in his sophomore season. And, even though he played three more minutes per game, Mitchell's rebounding fell from 10.3 boards per game to just 8.5. (He still blocked 2.7 shots per game as a sophomore, which is a lot for an undersized power forward)

It certainly sounds like something was going on in his second season, but Mitchell may have calmed some fears at the draft combine in Chicago.

Ford:

... [H]e had candid interviews with teams that suddenly made GMs much more comfortable in taking him. Was he just in the wrong situation at North Texas? If teams believe that, he's going to go a lot higher based on his talent.

Givony agreed:

It's pretty clear that North Texas' coaching change (Johnny Jones went to LSU, and was replaced by former Marquette assistant coach Tony Benford) affected the squad very negatively, as after losing in the Sun Belt conference Tournament finals last season, the team went 7-13 in-conference and bowed out in the first round of the tournament after being blown out by 8-12 Louisiana Lafayette.

And if that was the case at North Texas, and it really was just a poisonous situation affecting an otherwise talented player, the Knicks might not even get a chance to take Mitchell with the 24^th overall pick.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/knicks/index.ssf/2013/06/knicks_draft_watch_experts_lik.html

[emmitt01]

Gee, how is it that everybody outside of North Texas doesn't understand that it's the fault of 18-20 year olds? Don't they know our stellar record in coaching hires recently?

[Rudy]

I keep remembering the old Sesame Street sketch, which of these things doesn't belong.

[UNTexas]

One of these kids is not like other...

[UNT90]

Gee, how is it that everybody outside of North Texas doesn't understand that it's the fault of 18-20 year olds? Don't they know our stellar record in coaching hires recently?

Come on, man! Everyone knows that 18-21 year old kids are responsible for offensive and defensive game planning, team personnel, and re-adjusting strategy after key injuries!!

Besides, he may or may not have been having pre-marital sex, and we all know how detrimental that is to any college athlete's performance!

You know, I bet the whole team was having sex with women. I bet THAT is what caused the miserable defense we saw last year from the same group of players as the year before. I mean,. that makes much more sense than a poor head coaching choice.