Men's Basketball Signs Elite Shooting Transfer Guard
5/3/2023 11:56:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON — The reigning NIT champion UNT men's basketball team signed elite shooting transfer guard John Buggs III on Wednesday.
Buggs III joins the Mean Green after playing last season at Conference USA rival UTSA where he made 80 3-pointers at a 40 percent clip. The 6-foot-2 Louisiana native had the league's second-best 3-point field goal percentage while making the fourth-most total 3-pointers in C-USA.
He started 30 of the 32 games he played in last season for the Roadrunners, including twice against North Texas. Buggs III averaged nearly 11 points per contests and scored in double figures 20 times. He made a season-high six 3-pointers on just eight attempts at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 29. He scored a season-high 23 points on Feb. 6 at Rice. He had an offensive rating of 106.7 in conference games, which was one of the best in the league.
Buggs III graduated from Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut in 2019. Before landing at UTSA he first spent his freshman season at UMass but played in just four games before sustaining an injury. He transferred to Hill College in 2021, where he averaged 15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 30 outings. He was 89 of 188 from 3-point range, good for 47.3 percent to rank 11th in the National Junior College Athletic Association and earned NJCAA DI honorable mention All-America accolades. He scored in double figures in 27 of 30 games in his one season at Hill, including five games with 20+ points scored.
Buggs III is not shy to big shots. On Jan. 5, he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift UTSA over Middle Tennessee, 75-72.
Buggs III joins a UNT men's basketball program coming off its most successful season in its history. The Mean Green won a program-record 31 games last season to go along with tying the program-record for conference wins (16). UNT earned a bid into the 2023 National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Alcorn State, Sam Houston, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and UAB in route to its first NIT championship in program history.
North Texas, which has now won a championship trophy in each of the last four seasons, elevated associated head coach Ross Hodge to head coach on April 2 and will make the move to the American Athletic Conference next season.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 Mean Green men and women's basketball teams are available now at www.meangreentickets.com. Tickets start as low as $99 for men's and $75 for women's basketball. For more information on tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of Apogee Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Buggs III joins the Mean Green after playing last season at Conference USA rival UTSA where he made 80 3-pointers at a 40 percent clip. The 6-foot-2 Louisiana native had the league's second-best 3-point field goal percentage while making the fourth-most total 3-pointers in C-USA.
He started 30 of the 32 games he played in last season for the Roadrunners, including twice against North Texas. Buggs III averaged nearly 11 points per contests and scored in double figures 20 times. He made a season-high six 3-pointers on just eight attempts at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 29. He scored a season-high 23 points on Feb. 6 at Rice. He had an offensive rating of 106.7 in conference games, which was one of the best in the league.
Buggs III graduated from Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut in 2019. Before landing at UTSA he first spent his freshman season at UMass but played in just four games before sustaining an injury. He transferred to Hill College in 2021, where he averaged 15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 30 outings. He was 89 of 188 from 3-point range, good for 47.3 percent to rank 11th in the National Junior College Athletic Association and earned NJCAA DI honorable mention All-America accolades. He scored in double figures in 27 of 30 games in his one season at Hill, including five games with 20+ points scored.
Buggs III is not shy to big shots. On Jan. 5, he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift UTSA over Middle Tennessee, 75-72.
JOHN BUGGS III WITH THE GAME WINNER FOR UTSA‼️ pic.twitter.com/EG16mGnKAY
— ESPN+ (@ESPNPlus) January 6, 2023
Buggs III joins a UNT men's basketball program coming off its most successful season in its history. The Mean Green won a program-record 31 games last season to go along with tying the program-record for conference wins (16). UNT earned a bid into the 2023 National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Alcorn State, Sam Houston, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and UAB in route to its first NIT championship in program history.
North Texas, which has now won a championship trophy in each of the last four seasons, elevated associated head coach Ross Hodge to head coach on April 2 and will make the move to the American Athletic Conference next season.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 Mean Green men and women's basketball teams are available now at www.meangreentickets.com. Tickets start as low as $99 for men's and $75 for women's basketball. For more information on tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of Apogee Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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