Previously at the Super Pit …
For five straight years UNT men’s basketball finished in Kenpom’s top-751. Then in Daniyal Robinon’s first year with the whistle, North Texas finished 136th. Robinson’s arrival coincided with the rush of modern basketball economics. The last half-decade has seen a tremendous change across college sports but especially football and basketball. Name, Image, Likeness payments being legal, and the transfer portal being unrestricted have allowed teams to bid and build rosters anew each season.
North Texas has never been flushed with cash and the basketball program is the poorer of the two revenue sports. The most successful period in NT hoops history was led by guys who liked to find and develop underrated players who were selfless, devoted to defense, and hungry.
Grant McCasland and Ross Hodge are playing their trade in the Big12 now, and Daniyal Robinson’s brand of basketball is similarly defensive-focused, but the results were different. Will McClendon was injured only three games into his NT career, and the offense which had little shooting to begin with, was aching for some effectiveness from range. The result was a team with an effective field goal percentage of 46% good for 349th in the nation.
Robinson’s teams are never very good shooting squads to begin with, but the ‘25-’26 squad was the worst of his head coaching career2. The portal hasn’t seen North Texas rake in the talent (ranked 120th in the nation for incoming transfer class, according to Evan Miya — good for third from last in the league).
The portal exits were David Terrell (SMU), Curtis Stinson, Jr (Cleveland State!), Cahmai Crosby (Omaha) , Will McClendon (Pepperdine) , and Buddy Hammer, Jr (Akron)
The portal arrivals are Amar Amkou (FAU), Mitchell Holmes (SMU), Cash Chavis (UT-Arlington).
Last year North Texas primarily had David Terrell be the ball handler, with Stevenson at the two. Cole Franklin was the three-man, but various wings (Crosby, HOrton, Watson) all played here. Reece Robinson split time with Buddy Hammer at the 4, and Dylan Arnett, Josiah Shakleford, Hammer, and Robinson all played the 5 — depending on circumstance.
Projected Starters:
Primary Ball Handler: Cash Chavis — 10.5 ppg, 3.5 apg — 6'2" 180 lbs 96.1 ORtg 20.2 TORate | He has a cornerback build (played WR in HS). He looks slight, but he’s tough, can get into the lane and finish at the rim. Prefers a floater, but can finish with both hands. His three point shot is something of a set-shot, but he can hit it. Looks good in the open floor. Started at Arkansas before going to UTA.
Primary Scorer: Je'Shawn Stevenson — 17.3 ppg, 2.0 apg - 6'2" 200 lb 107 ORtg 11.2 TORate | You remember him. Sometimes it seems NT was just waiting around for Je’Shawn time, when he would save them and just get buckets.
Big Wing: Cole Franklin — 6.2 ppg 6'4" 195 lbs Ortg 2.2 Defensive Box Plus/Minus | He does the dirty work on this team, and will occasionally get some buckets. The goal is to have him get transition buckets, put-backs, and wide open looks.
Small Big: Reese Robinson — 7.5 ppg 4.5 rpg 6'8" 227 lbs 115 Ortg | Energy, rebounding, put-backs.
Big Big: One of Mitchell Holmes (6'10") or Ousmane Ndour (6'10") — both have experience. Probably split time. | Holmes is a mobile big with under-the-rim type of game. He has some nice lefty and righty finishes but won’t finish with authority. Ndour looked good vs Segunda competition, but I wonder how he does against guys that can run and jump even better than he can.
The Bench:
EJ Horton will return — 6'3" 195 sophomore.
Amar Amkou — FAU transfer — 6'7" 215 lbs — played sparingly but had a good game in the American tournament against NT.
TJ Crumble — might get Stinson-type minutes. He’s a big wing.
Aeneas Alexander — 6'7" DFW area kid. Doubt he plays unless he just explodes on the scene.
There are some rosters spots open and there is so much uncertainty in college basketball that there is almost no telling who will be on anyone’s roster. Even Grant McCasland was telling the Lubbock press that he is changing the way he is doing things a bit and was waiting until late August to finalize the roster. North Texas doesn’t have the oil money to pump into the program so we have to wait even longer it seems.
Whereas in previous years NT fans could reasonably feel competing for a league championship was realistic, now a middle-of-the-pack kind of result looks about right.
The League
South Florida won the league tournament over Wichita State with a record of 25-9. Former coach Bryan Hodgson left (after a year) to go to Providence. In is Chris Mack, former College of Charleston coach (20+ win team last year) and former Xavier, Louisville head coach.
The Shockers of Wichita State should be good again, and Tulsa — won 30 games and went to the NIT final — still have a good coach but last year was something of an anomaly. Meanwhile UAB is always UAB. The rest? Well it is hard to say. Like, what is Memphis doing besides ruining Penny Hardaway’s legacy?
Quick run down:
Best Teams
USF - New coach, new guys in from the MAC, Sun Belt, and some high majors.
Wichita State - If Kenyon Giles is truly back (5 in 5 rule) then they should be very good.
Good Teams With Flaws or Questions
Charlotte - Hired Wes Miller, formerly of Cincinnati and UNC-Creensboro. Defensive coach, adding some guys from Cincinnati and Rutgers. Lost some guys to graduation and transfer portal.
Tulsa - Eric Konkol is a good coach, and had a tremendous 25-26 season with Tulsa. He relied on some guys from his Tech days (David Green, now graduated) and lost some guys to the portal (Riley). He is bringing a couple of dudes who can do similar things, though.
Memphis - They stack talent every year but cannot get it to gel. They added three guys who scored above 10 ppg at their old programs.
UAB - Here at MGN, we respect Andy Kennedy, even if it looks like hate. He is a good coach and always manages to produce tough teams that are difficult to beat. Huge roster turnover this year though.
Flawed Teams Who Are Hoping For Some Luck
ECU / FAU / Tulane / (UNT is in this tier) / Temple - Just some squads with glaring holes. Maybe you have an identity (NT’s is defense) but just don’t have the complementary talent or scheme to make it dangerous. On the right night you can beat anyone but aren’t expected to make much noise. Temple is a brand name in college hoops but is playing awfully. Adam Fisher is in his fourth season and has a good pedigree (Jim Larrañaga, Micah Shrewsberry) and is known as a good recruiter. It hasn’t translated to much at Temple.
What Are We Even Doing Here
UTSA / Rice / - UTSA has always been garbage at hoops in this league and in CUSA, but had some fun when they could shoot threes. Austin Claunch is just struggling at an underfunded program. Meanwhile Rice hired Rob Lanier and is … still Rice.
It is still early and we still don’t know a lot of things. The season begins next month and so much can change. Consider this an early draft. The fun is in playing the games, folks.
‘21: 72, ‘22: 57, ‘23: 31 (NIT CHAMPS), ‘24: 74, ‘25: 71
23 Cleveland State: eFG 49.4 (234) 3P% 30.6 (341)
24 Cleveland State: eFG 49.4 (239) 3P% 33.1 (217)
25 Cleveland State: eFG 49.5 (250) 3P% 32.6 (239)
26 North Texas: eFG 46.0 (349) 3P% 28.7 (358)