University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Hoops Hops To The Front
10/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, October 26, 2010, 10:02 a.m.
Preseason polls, you know my feelings on those by now. They are pretty much just a rehash of what happened last season. However it's also a chance to other coaches and media to put the bulls-eye on who they think will be the favorite.
Johnny Jones and company have it firmly placed on their back. And in pretty fine fashion. The Mean Green is a unanimous pick to win the West. It's the first unanimous pick for either division since 2007 and the first time that a team has been a unanimous pick to win the SBC West since the 2004-05 season.
Let me repeat that. North Texas basketball has been picked as the unanimous favorite to win the West.
Pretty high praise, except how did a guy who missed nearly half the season get Preseason Player of the Year? That's another story for another time.
Coach Jones is entering his 10th season and he's done the basketball equivalent of raising the Titanic. Those days are over forever thanks to Jones and his staff. The anticipation, excitement, talent, praise, accolades have all rolled over his 10 years, and now comes expectations.
But you know what, for the last three years since 2007, they have handled those to. Good programs are flashes in the pan and peter out after a few good years. Great programs handle expectations and thrive.
This program has done that under Jones. In 2001-02 the first step was getting back to mediocrity. Then respectability. After that it was prominence. Now it's sustainability.
Consider this preseason poll a true measure of that.
