University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Not Backing Away From A Challenge
9/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, September 16, 2009, 11:04 a.m.
Challenging might be putting it mildly. That's what Shanice Stephens said about her newly released schedule and that's an understatement if you ask me. The newly minted 2009-10 schedule that the women's basketball team will play features name teams and name opponents, but one thing you probably don't know is the names of the players for this year's team.
You better because they are going to be the foundation that brings this program back.
Stephens has totally revamped the 2009-10 roster and I'm recommending name tags for a first few games. 10 new players will take the floor this season for North Texas and honestly this is year one of the rebuilding of the program.
Last season was quite a ride for Stephens and her coaching staff as there was more drama off the floor than a Days of Our Lives episode. That's done, the page has been turned and the schedule this new team faces is exactly what Stephens wants.
I've always been a guy who likes a nice mix of tough road games (i.e. Big 12), regional rivals (old SWC), and lesser teams that you should beat but can sneak up on you if you're not careful. This schedule has that and a little more.
The schedule isn't going to make you harken back to the Vic Trilli days of 10 road games in the non-conference against the Top 25, but it will get you excited about the possibilities.
SMU at home, love it and that rivalry should be played every year in every sport if you ask me. GW, name team with tradition and they come to the Super Pit. At Houston. Good regional matchup. Home games with UMKC and UTPA, winnable games unless you're caught napping.
At A&M, Texas, and Mizzou is asking a lot but have you been to a Stephens practice before? She demands a lot and expects a lot from her team. Stephens isn't playing games like these for a paycheck. She expects to win.
In that regard a telling moment for me last season came in the game at New Mexico. The Lobos were 7-1 and nearly in the Top 25. North Texas beat them for 38 minutes of that game but lost because of a few silly mistakes in the last two minutes.
Afterwards Stephens came out for her post-game interview and was devastated. I'm mean in tears, flat out demoralized and took all of the blame for the team's meltdown in the last two minutes. I've seen coaches and teams heartbreaking games before, but nothing like this.
Some coaches after losing a tight game on the road to a national powerhouse would come out and trumpet that very fact. Not Stephens. She believed her team was going to win from the opening tip and when they didn't.... well she doesn't believe in morale victories. It was at that moment I realized she was different from other coaches and I started believing what she was saying.
Stephens is piecing together a team that she believes will roll through a non-conference schedule like this at 9-3 or 10-2. Will it happen this year? Probably not, but over time with the right pieces in place it can. Take Middle Tennessee or right down the road at TCU. A decade ago both of those schools were laughingstocks when it came to women's basketball. Now they are premier programs.
Stephens is building her program in the image of those. It will take time, but the challenge isn't in the schedule, it's in the mindset of believing you can win.
