Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello and welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sutro of Wichita State University strategic Communications. Today we're gonna talk about North Texas Athletics with Brett Veto of the Denton Record Chronicle in Denton, Texas. You can read Brett's
[email protected]. You can follow him, him on Twitter at Brett veto, B R E T T V I T O. So North Texas, one of the six schools which will join the American Athletic Conference on July 1st. North Texas joins the American after spending the previous 10 years in conference. U s A. There are some shocker connections with North Texas. North Texas was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1957 to 1975. So they overlapped there all of those years. Uh, besides M V C membership, there might be two other things that people would be interested in. Harry Miller coached mean green basketball for one season before he came to Wichita State in 1971.
Speaker 1 00:01:07 And then another former mean green basketball coach, Tommy Newman, played on Wichita State's 1965 Final four team. He coached the mean Green from 1983 to 86. So Brett, uh, if you are making your way south and you drive by campus on I 35 near Dallas, uh, you would probably notice the new football stadium there at North Texas. We know football is important at North Texas. It's important to the aac. Uh, they've got a strategic plan called Take Flight as they are joining the new conference. Tell us a little bit about the atmosphere, the momentum, uh, that exists for athletics at North Texas.
Speaker 2 00:01:43 Well, I think it, it is just an interesting time for, for North Texas when you think about it. Uh, they're kind of going through a big transitional period just in general at North Texas because of a, a myriad of reasons, the biggest of all being. They've changed a lot of the, the key personnel in athletics over the last 18 ish months or so. Um, Ren Baker, their athletic director who came in and did a tremendous job over six years here, he was hired, he was gonna get hired away by somebody, and it turned out to be West Virginia. So when he left, um, they turned around and promoted Jared Mosley, the longtime number two guy who had been in that position for six years. They moved him up to athletic director. He was the previously the, uh, AD at Abilene Christian and also ran the Texas Sports Hall of Fame out here in Texas.
Speaker 2 00:02:33 So he was promoted. Um, they, uh, they have a new football coach. They hired an Eric Morris, the old, uh, Washington State offensive coordinator who had a long stint as the head coach. Well, not a long stint, but he had a stint as the head coach at an incarnate word. Uh, they also lost Grant McCastle and their basketball coach to Texas Tech and promoted Ross Hodge, who was the, his longtime right hand man to to be the head basketball coach there. They've got a new women's basketball coach in, and they've also got some, uh, you know, some Olympic sports coaches that are new. They're gonna, they're in the process of finding a new golf coach. The track coach is finishing up his first year. The volleyball coach just finished up her first year. So it's kind of a, it's uh, you know, it's kind of a different deal, you know, or it was going to be going forward just because of the amount of, uh, turnover there has been just over the last year or so.
Speaker 1 00:03:29 So, north Texas left the Missouri Valley, uh, was an independent for a while, wanted to join the s wc. I found out Hayden Fry, the football coach, uh, had, had big visions for, uh, for North Texas at that time. So independent time in the Big West and the Sunbelt Conference, u s a. So why is joining the American, why is that the move, the good move at this time for North Texas?
Speaker 2 00:03:52 Well, I think just because of the, the teams you're gonna be playing in there, if you look at North Texas's history, uh, you know, you, you mentioned Hayden Fry, uh, trying to bail for, uh, the Southwest Conference. That was, you know, a bold move back then. But, you know, in, in hindsight it probably didn't work. It, it definitely didn't work out the way they hoped it would. You know, uh, Hayden took him out of, out of the con out of their conference, um, the Missouri Valley. And at that, you know, then they landed being an independent and then they kind of went through this big long journey of going to the Big West and then going to the, the Sunbelt and then finally into CO and then they finally went to conference u s A and that was a big boost for North Texas because the, the long journey after they were an independent there, Texas is kind of a different, a different deal just because so much of, of everything down here is focused on just what happens in Texas and North Texas really fell off the map for, you know, decades on end because they weren't in a league with any other Texas schools, which was really detrimental.
Speaker 2 00:04:59 You know, the Sunbelt, they were the only Texas team in the Sunbelt and they were the only Texas team in the Big West. And so they were kind of off the radar to a large extent. Uh, moving to conference U s A really helped cuz that put them in with um, utep, which is, you know, kind of an established a division one school, especially in basketball. And uh, and they were also in with U T S A, which has kind of made a quick rise in football, which is what matters down here. Um, you know, and they were also in with Rice, which is another longtime member. So, uh, longtime Texas school with a division one football program. So, you know, that really helped them. And then there was a big, you know, jumping to the American is gonna be a terrific deal for them cuz it gets them, you know, into more of a situation where not only are is Bryce gonna be there and, uh, U T S A is gonna be there, but you're gonna also be in with some other regional schools that are, you know, important down here like Tulsa and uh, schools like that, you know, so you have more of a, a regional feel there.
Speaker 2 00:05:56 And then you also have some schools that are spread out across the country that are pretty prominent that they'll be in the Legalists. So they're real excited about, you know, the possibilities of, of what the American brings to them.
Speaker 1 00:06:08 So the campus at North Texas in Denton is about 40 miles from SM U in Dallas. Dallas. How significant is it for North Texas to be in the same conference with smu?
Speaker 2 00:06:18 Oh geez, I'm remember that one totally flew my mind there. Yeah, that was probably the biggest benefit too, is because that's a, that's a long, long time rivalry between North Texas and smu and SMU fans would, uh, try to string me up for saying that their rivals, because, you know, SMU views North Texas as kind of a, a, you know, a fly on the wall, a step down or whatever. Uh, but that is one of the longest running series in North Texas history they played, the first time they played was in 1922 and they have played, uh, they've continued, they played off and on through the years, but it is one of the absolutely longest running series in North Texas history. And it's one that s n U is completely dominated and there would be nothing that would, would do more Texas more good and do more for their morale than to turn the thing around.
Speaker 2 00:07:06 Cause right now, s n u leads the series, uh, 35 6 and one and is won seven of the last eight since they started playing seven of the last eight. They started playing regularly again in 2014. Nort, Texas has won that first one in 14, but has only won one since. And that's, you know, that that game really dictates the kind of the fuel around the program early in the season. And last year was a rough, rough one cause they, they got blown out in that game. So being in the same league with s u is gonna be, is gonna help them tremendously. Just in terms of, you know, being visible in the Dallas area last year was 48 to 10. And so, you know, if Eric Morris can win one of those games or make it super competitive, I mean that would do him a whole heck of a lot of good.
Speaker 1 00:07:58 So we talked a little bit about Hayden Fry. We mentioned him, hit us with some other important names from, uh, the History of Mean Green Athletics. There's one that I think a lot of people will recognize. Who should we know? What's the short history lesson on Mean Green?
Speaker 2 00:08:12 Well, I think the, the one that every people, once people every always talk about are Hayden Fry and, and Joe Green. And uh, you know, that's, there's some other, uh, some other football guys that were really great. There was, uh, setter Cardman who played a long time in the N F L. And then you've got Abner Haynes who played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Famer here. Um, one of the big sources of pride for North Texas is they were one of the, they they were at the forefront of integration. So Abner Haynes was, uh, um, he was one of the first black players, um, in Texas College major in college football. Um, along with his friend Leon King. Uh, they just, oh, they just recently opened, I think it was what, in two, it was just in the last couple of years.
Speaker 2 00:09:05 I'm fishing for the day here. I don't have it in front of me, but they just opened a pavilion to honor them. Um, uh, it's right outside the athletic center and it has bus of both of 'em and, you know, it's just a really neat deal that's a big source of pride, uh, for North Texas. Cause they, those guys came in back in 1956, so long before a lot of these other places in Texas integrated, including SMU and other schools down here, Abner Haynes and Leon King joined the freshman team in North Texas. So that's a big pri source of pride for the school. And when you talk about history, one of the fun, one of the fun stories about North Texas is everybody assumes that mean Green came from Mean Joe Green. And that's not the case, which I don't think a lot of people, people know.
Speaker 2 00:09:53 Uh, Joe was part of the, uh, part of a great defense back in the day. And the old s i d uh, his wife came to him and said, we need to come up with a nickname for this defense because it was a terrific, it was a terrific batch of guys that just dominated. And uh, they came up with the, the idea to call them the mean Green. And of course, Joe's playing on the team at the time. So they ended up being known as the Mean Green Defense. He gets drafted by Pittsburgh, goes to Pittsburgh. And everybody just assumed at that point that he was the, that he was the basis for that nickname. And they started calling them mean Joe Green. Well, Joe corrected people the first few times that that happened, but eventually he got tired of explaining himself and eventually relented and he became mean Joe Green.
Speaker 2 00:10:42 And now everybody thinks that the, the, the mean Green came from Mean Joe Green when it actually came from the, the greater defense that was, uh, there at the time. And there are a bunch of really good players on that, on that team that, uh, went on to play in the N F L. But that's where the, the nickname mean Green came from, was from the defense back, back in the day that Joe was a part of. And then, and it eventually morphed into kind of labeling him as a player in the nfl, which not a lot of people know. And I think it's kind of a fun story that way.
Speaker 1 00:11:11 So Joe Green defensive lineman for the Steelers as you, as you said, which is where a lot of people would know him from, played at North Texas from 1966 to 1968. So he would've played against the, the shockers in Missouri Valley Conference football at that time cuz North Texas is also known as the Eagles. That would be the other nickname. Official nickname. Am I understanding that right?
Speaker 2 00:11:31 Yeah, that's another interesting tid tidbit. There's kind of, I guess the example or the, the parallels maybe Alabama a little bit with the, with the Elephant. Um, when I came here forever ago there, they still use Eagles for like the Lady Eagles for their women's basketball team. And there was a big movement in there to eventually to do away with Eagles is like an official designation for their team. So they go by Mean Green across the board, but you know, your, your, uh, mascot is scrappy the Eagle. So it's kind of a, it's it's a little unique in that way. So they're known as the mean green, but I mean, you're not, I mean you're not, there's nothing that really equates in terms of like the mascots, but they do have, uh, scrappy the Eagle is, is kind of their mascot, but they go by mean green across across the board now, which makes them a little unique. You know, there's all these kind of, there's um, all different kinds of, you know, you think of Boston College and various other schools like that that have eagles or, you know, there's a number of other examples. Uh, but you know, bean Green is kind of, is kind of really unique and that's one thing that they've kind of stuck by. And I think it was probably a pretty smart decision cuz it kind of stands out and gives 'em a unique, unique, uh, deal that they have that's all un unto their own.
Speaker 1 00:12:50 Definitely. So like, Alabama's the Crimson Tide, but you see the elephant on the, on the sidelines. Same, same thing.
Speaker 2 00:12:56 Yeah. Same kind of deal. I guess that's one example. There's, there's a few others. I can't, I'm spacing mine off the top of my head, but I think Alabama's probably a good example of, uh, kind of a similar parallel there,
Speaker 1 00:13:07 Right? I guess Iowa State and the Cyclone would be, would be very similar. Yeah, that's
Speaker 2 00:13:11 Another good one.
Speaker 1 00:13:12 Yeah. Okay. Uh, shocker, fans, they travel, especially for basketball. Uh, if somebody's coming down to the, uh, super pit to watch the chakras play North Texas, where should they go? What's the restaurants around campus that uh, would be good for somebody to, to eat at?
Speaker 2 00:13:29 You know, the thing that I always suggest to people is it's not so much around, there's a, there's places around campus, but the best place to go if you're coming to town is go downtown. There's a, north Texas is one of, um, Denton is one of those towns that has been around forever. So there's kind of an old timey square downtown. And a number of years ago it was kind of dead, you know, there wasn't really much down there except for a couple of mini malls in the newspaper office, you know, so some antique stores and stuff like that. And then, uh, lo and behold the, they put a light rail station in in Denton and that just really revived everything. Cuz you know, people would take the light rail down to Dallas for work or what, whatever. And when that came in, a whole bunch of restaurants and, uh, bars and different places like that went in around the, the big courthouse, the big, you know, stone Courthouse downtown.
Speaker 2 00:14:19 And there's just a, a bunch of terrific places around there to go hang out and eat and things like that. One place that I always really like is l s a burger. Um, it's kind of your kind of, if you're coming to town for a game or whatever, that's a great place to go, especially depending on the time of year, especially for wi hot state. People wear your basketball, people you're coming down in the fall when weather might be, might be pretty good. And it's, uh, it's in an old brick building downtown that they converted and it's like three stories and it's real, really kind of cool on the inside. And then they've got a rooftop patio up there. So if you go on a day when it's nice, you can go up to the rooftop patio, you can kind of see the, the skyline and everything out, everything around town and it's real, you know, it can be, if the weather's good, it's really nice just to sit up there and just, you know, have, have dinner. And then if you wanna go a little upscale, there's a, uh, a longtime re local restaurant called Hannah's Off the Square down there, which is a little bit off the square, but it's one of those places you can go, uh, for a really nice dinner, you know, glass of wine or whatever if you want to do those kinds of things. But downtown I is the place I always suggest to people
Speaker 1 00:15:26 Downtown Denton. Okay, well it was a great basketball season for conference. U s a, uh, north Texas won the n i t where it defeated, uh, conference member U A b, Florida Atlantic went to the Final four, just a great season. And all three of those schools are coming to the American, uh, on July 1st. Uh, why did conference u s a hit it so big in basketball last season?
Speaker 2 00:15:49 You know, I just think the, the stars is kind of aligned, you know, and some years teams just have the right mix of guys, the right batch of guys and that was, that was really the case with, uh, the schools in conference U s A this year. Um, if you think about it, uh, north Texas had, you know, since we're talking North Texas here, they, a couple of years ago they signed, um, the junior college, the, the guy was the MVP of the junior college national term, a guy named Tyler Perry. Um, and this will be of interest cuz you know, with Kansas and stuff like that in Kansas State. So he was, um, arguably one of the greatest play, uh, junior college players in the country. And the thing with North Texas's staff was, Graham Castle was a long, long time junior college coach and his entire staff, Ross Hodge, Reem Dwin, you know, all those guys spent the formative parts of their career in junior college.
Speaker 2 00:16:40 They had just a, a myriad of junior college connections. They just kind of seemed to get all the tips and every good junior college player that was on the market seemed to end up in north Texas. And they rolled the dice on Tyler because Tyler was originally committed to another school. And then that fell through. But they, everybody was real afraid of him cuz he is, he's literally like 5 9, 5 10, but he can just shoot the heck out of the ball. And so they got him, he ended up being a terrific player. They surrounded him with some really good talent. Um, a Boo Usman, you know, some other guys like Aaron Scott, uh, and they just put, and it just all kind of came together where they had a real terrific team and they ended up, uh, losing to UAB in the conference tournament, but they kind of regrouped in the N I T and made that big run.
Speaker 2 00:17:28 So they had that really special team, right? Cause you're thinking Tyler Perry, he ends up on the transfer market, he ends up at Kansas State. Uh, boo Usman ends up, uh, on the transfer market and he ends up at Xavier. They just had a lot of talent and that was kind of true across the league. Uh, Florida Atlantic just had a bunch of really, really, really good players that played well together. And they were the classic example. And since you guys are a basketball school, you kind of know what I'm talking about. Sometimes the best teams in college basketball have a bunch of guys that are older and have been around, and maybe they weren't the highest rated guys, but they were, they continue to improve once they got into a college and they play really, really well together. Florida Atlantic was that kind of team.
Speaker 2 00:18:08 And then UAB had, uh, jelly Walker who was arguably one of the best scores in college basketball. And you know, middle Tennessee had a really good team. Uh, there was just a lot of really good teams that just, you know, were, were all kind of in one of those special years where everybody, you know, they had the right mix of people. And so it was just one of those years the conference u s a was really good. And you know, north Texas was one of those teams for sure. And so that's kind of how it ended up working out and you know, and then Grant kind of parlayed that into getting a Texas Tech job,
Speaker 1 00:18:40 Right? So Grant McCaslin, former Baylor assistant, so there's a, a link there with, uh, with Paul Mills, the new Wichita State coach. So he left north Texas, went to Texas Tech, uh, hired Ross Hodge or elevated him. He had been assistant coach there for six seasons. And Ross, uh, coached two former shockers that people will remember. Ramon Clemente and Clement Hannah at Paris Junior College in Texas. Ross Hodge. Was he the obvious choice to replace McCasslin?
Speaker 2 00:19:10 I think so. I mean, I think it was kind of a foregone conclusion and it was a weird, the way it played out was really, was really, really weird. You know, the, the thing was, I think Grant was kind of, as soon as they moved, Texas Tech moved on from their last coach. I think he was kind of the guy they were targeting anyway, but then they ended up landing in the N I T and then they had that forever long run in the N I T. And of course we asked about, everybody asked about it and I think it was kind of a, everybody kind of knew, it was like a, it was a secret that wasn't really a secret that he was gonna go. Um, you know, everybody had their story written. So as soon, because everybody was threatened with death and pestilence, if they le if they, you know, violated, you know, the, the people in Lubbock, you know, they're, were threatened to.
Speaker 2 00:19:52 Don't violate the embargo. We know that this is the guy, but don't do it. And then of course, one of the TV stations out there did it, but everybody had their story ready. So as soon as North Texas won the n I t it was like 10, 15 minutes afterwards, everybody just went ahead and somebody, you know, went ahead and spilled the beans and then everybody posted their story that they had written two weeks ago kind of thing. So, um, at that point, you know, they're kind of late in the process. It, it, you know, you're talking, it's already almost April and I think everybody kind of figured it was gonna be Ross anyway, cuz you know, grant always kind of described them as co-coach cuz Ross completely coached the defensive end of the floor. Like they came to get. The, the backstory is when, when North Texas was looking for, for a coach and they, they decided to, to take McCaslin, the first thing he did was call Ross, who was one of his old buddies from the junior college ranks and say, Hey, let's, or or they were at, uh, well let me back up a little bit.
Speaker 2 00:20:51 So McCastle was at Baylor. He takes the, the Arkansas State job. The first thing he does is he calls Ross and says, Hey, why don't you come with Arkansas State to me, with me, you know, we've been junior college coaches, we've been friends for a long time. Let's go build Arkansas State. Well, they went there for one year and then North Texas hired them as a package to get away from Arkansas State. And so then for the last six years they were together at North Texas, and I think it was the second year they were there, grant just completely turned over the defensive side of the Florida Ross. And he always kind of described them as co-head coaches. So Ross had a ton of ton to do with their success. So once he was, once, uh, McCaskill was on the way out the door to go to Texas Tech, I mean, you know, it made a heck of a lot of sense.
Speaker 2 00:21:36 And then in the press conference, you know, Jared said this wasn't really a hard decision for me, you know, this was the obvious thing to do. And they didn't waste any time. They just turned around and gave it to, to Ross. So the, the question with him, I think, and I don't, I think it's one that'll work out well, is he hasn't really been a head coach since, at least not officially, you know, filled the big chair since he was in in junior college. So he's getting his first shot to, you know, be a head coach at the division one level. And, you know, I think it'll work out really well for him. But that's kind of the, the question heading into this next year, you know, it was the obvious thing to do, but, you know, how does it work out?
Speaker 1 00:22:13 Sure. So North Texas came to Coka Arena in 2021 and Chara fans got an up close look at that, at that defensive effort you're talking about North Texas defeated the shockers. 62, 52 really had a great defensive stand in the second half. What does, uh, mean green basketball look like under Ross Hodge?
Speaker 2 00:22:33 I don't think it changes a lot. Cause I think Ross had a ton of, you know, a ton of influence and a ton of, you know, he, he went the head coach, but he was, you know, he was really instrumental in what they did. So I don't think that what they do is gonna change at all. I think it's gonna be a matter of whether or not they can put together the roster to, um, you know, have the success continue the success that they did. I think they got a really chance to do that. Uh, you know, he hired in Jace Hurl and uh, you know, uh, who was at Missouri State who was a, an up and coming assistant coach. And then he, he brought in the former coach at Texas, Zane in Kingsville, known talk. And uh, you know, so he got some some good in there to help him.
Speaker 2 00:23:18 And they'll still be the same thing. They have always been a real defensive oriented team. They run that same system that Texas Tech did, uh, before Grant got there. Um, you know, they run that no, that the no, uh, paint touches no middle, uh, defense, that kind of thing that is kind of familiar if you've ever, if you've watched Texas Tech play back in the day. So they're real tough to score on and they'll be that same type of type of team. The question will be, okay, do you, can you get the same level of players that's in there to have success in the American that you had success with last year? Cause they had, Tyler Perry was the MVP of the N I t, uh, boo was a really good player. You know, they had some other guys in there that were, uh, pretty instrumental that, uh, some of them would come back. Some of 'em we come back, some of them won't. And you just wonder if they'll be able to, you know, replicate having that same chemistry and mix and talent level to compete in the American. I think it's the question.
Speaker 1 00:24:15 So as a Valley member, north Texas basketball was, was not much of a factor at all. But it's, it's had a good run here. The last 15 years or so, Johnny Jones had some success and then Grant McCaslin, uh, was a regular 20 game winner. Anything in particular behind the, the success of these last 15, 16 years for that school?
Speaker 2 00:24:34 I think a lot of it just has to do with the fact that they, they've had some really good coaches and then they've really, you know, they've made some pretty significant investments in there. Um, you know, the, the thing that I always point to is if you, if you count back, I mean Grant had six great years, right? So he was there six years and they were, um, really good all six of those years and they averaged more than 20 wins. And they went to a couple, uh, you know, they went to the N C A tournament, they won the N I T and then they had that interim period for the, for five years they had Tony Benford, who's now an assistant coach at TCU U and they were absolutely horrendous. You know, they made, you know, so for that five years really bad.
Speaker 2 00:25:18 But if you go back the six years before that, you know, coach Jones would averaged more than 20 wins a year and took him to two n c a tournaments and was like a buzzer beater and a, and a real close call away from going to two more. You know, and that guy's a really good coach now he's taking Texas Southern to three straight n c tournaments. So if you think about it, if you look back at the six, five and six, so you look at the last 17 years, I mean, every year that they weren't coached by Tony Benford, they were really good. Um, so, and over that, over that course of that time, they put in, they put in a small basketball practice facility that's, that's really nice. Over there, they converted a, an old high school gym that they, uh, they bought a campus of a, of a private high school at one point several years ago that was across the street cuz that private school went to a new, uh, campus on another part of town, but it was right across the street from the university. So they bought, the university bought that, and it turned it into an athletic campus. Well, they turned it, the old gym there into a basketball practice. So that was a big investment. And then they renovated the super pit and then they renovated the locker room. So they, they, so they made some significant investments and they made two really good coaching hires in there. And those two, two coaching hires and Coach Jones and Coach McCastle and really helped them elevate the program to where they, they're a pretty consistent, you know, winner.
Speaker 1 00:26:37 So one program that is not going through a coaching change is a softball program. Uh, Rodney DeLonge has built that into a consistent winner NCAA regional a couple years ago. Uh, tell us about softball and how it might fit in the American.
Speaker 2 00:26:52 Yeah, that's another good one. Um, you know, they, they had some, uh, you some success back in the day, uh, under, under a coach that's, that's at UTEP now. And then they, they had a real, you know, a really bad go of it for about five, six years under a coach they brought in from East Carolina. Tracy Key, who turned out that turned out to be just a disastrous hire. And then she was here for a few years and then ended up getting fired. And the interesting thing that they did at that point was, um, a lot of these coaches that they brought in, it's kind of been a strategy to them. They've been looking for people that have connections in Texas, which are important here and have had some success at lower levels and things like that. So after they fired Tracy Key, or she resigned, I think it was officially, uh, they, there was a, a guy who had been a baseball coach in Oklahoma and then went to softball in Oklahoma, you know, and then had some success on the high school level, then jumped to college, and then he was at Austin P for one year and they're really good.
Speaker 2 00:27:56 His name's Rodney DeLong. And so he'd just been at Austin P for a year, but he had some success there and took him to like the softball, n I t. Um, and they decided to hire him and he's been, he's been another really good hire, you know, he came in here and immediately turned the program around. They've been consistently winning and they went to the first N C A tournament that they'd ever been to, not this last year, but the year before. And, you know, they made it, made it all the way to the final up in Stillwater before losing to Oklahoma State, you know, one, one game short of the super regional. And then this year they were really good again, uh, and ended up losing, falling into short of getting back to the N C A tournament. But, but they were in the mix for the regular season conference title and the, uh, and the conference tournament title. So, you know, he's been really successful and they've made some investments in terms of upgrading their facilities and things like that. And they were, they're bringing back a lot of their really good players. So they should be, they should be pretty solid going forward as long as Rodney, you know, continues to stick around, which, you know, he, he has so far.
Speaker 1 00:28:59 Yeah, I think that has the potential to be a, a thing in the American. I know Wichita State and North Texas have, they've played several times recently in tournaments and I'm sure they recruit, uh, some of the same people overlapping there in, in Texas and Oklahoma. Uh, north Texas has a great men's golf history, which I wasn't aware of until a few days ago. Won four NCAA titles runner up three times. Uh, so that'd be something interesting for Chara fans to keep tabs on. What else should Chara fans know about the, uh, the other sports at North Texas?
Speaker 2 00:29:31 Well, you bring up the big one. Um, men's golf was like a, was a really, really good program back in the day and, you know, and had that run where they ran, where they won all those, uh, won all those tournament titles in a row.
Speaker 1 00:29:47 That was in the fifties I
Speaker 2 00:29:49 Believe. Yeah, it was in the fifties. Uh, yeah, cuz the, I'm looking back here. So, um, and actually bring it up in an, bring it up an interesting point because Don January just passed away this spring in 93. Don January was a longtime p g a tour player that, uh, played in north Texas, but he was on those three straight, uh, national ch on their four straight national championship teams. So they won four straight championships in the late forties and early fifties. And, uh, you know, Billy Maxwell was on those teams, Joe Conrad, but uh, Don January was another one of those guys and he just recently passed away. Um, actually North Texas has an annual fundraiser golf tournament named after, uh, Don January. And they're in the market for a new coach. The, uh, their current coach or the coach last season, and Bradey just recently left the, the program, but they, uh, recently invested in a, there's a golf kind of, there's a booster that's super interested in golf, gave 'em a bunch of money.
Speaker 2 00:30:48 They just opened an on-campus practice facility and then they've got some partnerships with, uh, they've got a, a home course in the, in the, um, area that they play on. So down the road a little bit, and then their women's golf team's really good. They, they've gone to the regionals, I think it's been, I think, I think they, they just won their third straight conference championship. So, um, they've, they've been remarkably consistent. That's one of those things that North Texas is, you know, really, really good in as, as women's golf and, you know, so the idea here is hopefully they'll find somebody that can, um, that can, you know, help them get to the same level. Yeah, it was the third straight, they want three in a row and conference usa. So they're looking for somebody that, that can help them, you know, have the success on the, uh, men's side that they've have, have had on the women's here in recent years.
Speaker 1 00:31:43 North Texas, one of the six schools joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1st. Brett Veto of the Denton Rickard Chronicle is, has given us some background, some history, the update on North Texas. Brett, we appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 00:31:56 Oh yeah, man. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3 00:32:11 Hi, this is Rick Mema, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chara Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 00:32:39 Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast. Courtesy of Wichita State University strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 5 00:32:54 Bradshaw into Windgate. Wingate's Gonna dribble it a couple of times and throws it in the hands of snar, threw it away. Kuznar to Ryan Martin for the dog. The shockers are gonna the Sweet 16. It's all over the shockers Up seven three seconds. Two chapter by Smith is no good. Wichita State to the Sweet 16.
