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(Information in this team report is as of October 1.)
COACH AND PROGRAM
North Texas came up with an instant impact player on the perimeter last season in Arkansas transfer Kendrick Davis. If Arizona State transfer Keith Wooden adds even remotely similar significance in the post this season, the Mean Green could fare well in a Sun Belt West Division that figures to be characterized by parity.
Davis, a 6-4 senior, averaged 16.8 points during his debut in Denton last season. He shot 35 percent from three-point range (60-of-172) and 78.4 percent at the free-throw line (91-of-116), and was chosen Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year. He also averaged 2.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals for the Mean Green, which went 14-14 and was unceremoniously bounced from the Sun Belt Tournament via a 17-point loss in its opener to Arkansas-Little Rock.
"Usually when guys have redshirted, they're a little rusty early, but Kendrick was ready right out of the gate," sixth-year North Texas coach Johnny Jones said. "We'd recruited Kendrick hard out of high school. Arkansas came in and got on him really late when [Stan] Heath took the job."
The former Southeastern Conference player was at his best against the best last season. Davis, a Houston native, scored 20 points against NIT-bound Houston, 21 and 18, respectively, against NCAA Tournament qualifiers Texas A&M and UNC Wilmington, and he averaged 17 points in two games against the Sun Belt's NCAA representative, South Alabama.
Wooden, a 6-9, 245-pound junior was perhaps more coveted than Davis out of high school in Lawrence, Kansas. He was considered a Top 100 find for Arizona State by the likes of Basketball Times, CBS Sportsline and HoopScoop, and he started his first game for the Sun Devils as well as eight others as a rookie.
Wooden averaged 3.4 points as a freshman, and averaged 9.5 points while getting around 20 minutes per game during a four-game stretch that season. But his playing time dwindled as a sophomore.
"He's good with his back to the basket," Jones said. "He's probably the best offensive center we've had here in five or six years. Shawnson Johnson was a force from the block to the basket and he was a great athlete who would run the floor, but he couldn't do a lot of the things that Keith can at the offensive end."