North Texas Basketball: Are the Mean Green a sleeper?

By Doug Winkey | Sep 23, 2016

Dec 21, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; North Texas Mean Green guard Ja'Michael Brown (3), forward Jeremy Combs (1), and guard J-Mychal Reese (52) look on from the court against the Creighton Bluejays at CenturyLink Center Omaha. The Bluejays won 105-82. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

The Conference USA has a few potential Cinderella’s this year. Is North Texas basketball a sleeper?

Much talk in the Conference USA will center around Middle Tennessee State repeating as champs and potentially earning another huge NCAA upset. The Blue Raiders did knock out NCAA favorite Michigan State in March, after all.

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Plenty of folks will seek to take down MTSU this season and I think North Texas is one of the more dangerous mid-majors around.

North Texas struggled last year to a 12-20 mark and a tie for 10th in the C-USA at 7-11. They weren’t particular good at either end, ranking just 234th in Adjusted Offense and an abysmal 313th in Adjusted Defense. The defense in particular has to improve by leaps and bounds if this team wants to move up the standings.

One thing that strongly favors an improved Mean Green squad is firepower. Six of the eight leading scorers off last year’s team are back.

Jeremy Combs (14.9 points), J-Mychal Reese (14.7 points) and Deckie Johnson (14.5 points) were the top scorers and they return for another run. Ja’Michael Brown (8.2 points) and Rickey Brice Jr. (5.1 points) are also solid players ready for their sophomore campaigns.

Overall, North Texas returns over 70 percent of its scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks. Consistency is now the next step.

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If those aren’t enough to entice fans into watching North Texas, than two exciting transfers might do the trick.

Keith Frazier played in just 10 games for SMU last year, but had a solid stat line of 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He also shot a respectable 37 percent from deep.

The 6’5″ senior could either start at small forward or challenge Johnson and reserve Allante Holston at the two spot when he gains eligibility in December.

Former Incarnate Word small forward Derail Green also comes aboard with his 11.0 point, 4.3 board and 2.0 assist stats. Additionally, Green adds a very good 40 percent from three. The 6’7″ swing man will factor into the perimeter game.

North Texas has a long way to go to catch UAB and Middle Tennessee State at the top of the Conference USA standings. Reese and Brown need to distribute better at the point and cut down on the turnovers. Frazier and Green have to score on the perimeter to let others focus on ball handling. They are also good defenders with size to help out the 6’7″ Combs and 7’0″ Brice down low.

UNT also has some very favorable non-conference match-ups with Drexel, Niagara, and Delaware State to get ready for conference play.

One early contest to watch could be at Texas Tech on November 15th. The Red Raiders are talented, but have a new coach. This game could be a early indicator of how much the Mean Green have improved and could be a huge momentum builder for their resume.

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So, yes North Texas is a sleeper within the Conference USA. They could indeed steal the spotlight from MTSU.