Busting Brackets
Fansided

Conference USA Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2019-20 season

By Andrew Dieckhoff

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 27: Head coach Rick Stansbury of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers reacts in the fourth quarter against the Utah Utes during their 2018 National Invitation Tournament Championship semifinals game at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 27: Head coach Rick Stansbury of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers reacts in the fourth quarter against the Utah Utes during their 2018 National Invitation Tournament Championship semifinals game at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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OKLAHOMA CITY – MARCH 18: Cheerleaders for the North Texas Mean Green performs against the Kansas State Wildcats during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Ford Center on March 18, 2010 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – MARCH 18: Cheerleaders for the North Texas Mean Green performs against the Kansas State Wildcats during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Ford Center on March 18, 2010 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

#9 — NORTH TEXAS

2018-19 IN REVIEW

  • Record: 21-12 (8-10, T-9th in C-USA)
  • Rankings: #147 in NET, #158 in KenPom
  • Postseason: none

2019-20 AT A GLANCE

HEAD COACH

  • Grant McCasland (3rd year)
  • School W-L: 41-30 (.577)
  • Career W-L: 61-42 (.592)

PROJECTED STARTERS

  • Javion Hamlet, G, Jr. — 17.8 PPG, 6.6 APG in ’18-19 at NW Florida St. (JUCO)
  • Umoja Gibson, G, So. — 29.0 MPG (23 starts), 12.6 PPG, 1.4 SPG
  • Roosevelt Smart, G, Sr. — 29.7 MPG (23 starts), 10.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG
  • Zachary Simmons, F, Jr. — 27.1 MPG (33 starts), 10.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG
  • Deng Geu, F/C, Gr. — 9.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG in ’18-19 at North Dakota St.

NON-CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

  • 11/08 @ VCU
  • 11/12 @ Arkansas
  • 11/22 vs Rhode Island (Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic — Montego Bay, Jamaica)
  • 11/24 vs Utah State (Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic — Montego Bay, Jamaica)
  • 12/05 vs Oklahoma
  • 12/17 @ Dayton
  • Full schedule at official team website

2019-20 SEASON OUTLOOK

The Mean Green logged 21 wins last year, but seven of those victories either came against sub-300 teams in the KenPom rankings or were over non-Division I teams. Propped up by a gaudy 16-1 start, North Texas climbing as high as #36 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. But the other foot eventually dropped.

After a 4-0 start in Conference USA play, a mid-January loss at UTSA sparked a 4-10 finish for the Mean Green, dropping them into a tie for ninth place in the league. They beat FIU in the C-USA Tournament before falling to Western Kentucky, ending their once-promising season with a whimper. Now, All C-USA guard Ryan Woolridge is gone on a grad transfer to Gonzaga, and North Texas must figure out where to go next. The team lost all three games that Woolridge missed last season, so returning guys like Gibson, Simmons, and Smart need to learn to without him.

Helping them in that endeavor are NDSU grad transfer Deng Geu, whose post-play helped the Bison to the NCAA Tournament last season, as well as JUCO product Javion Hamlet. The latter will try to fill in for Woolridge — and his success in doing so could be the lynchpin for this North Texas team.

Head coach Grant McCasland lost his floor general, but he may have found a new one in Hamlet. If so, this team may be able to regain the form that had them garnering some national praise last year. If not, the Mean Green’s 2019-20 season could turn sour quickly.