Thursday afternoon...BIG.......for UNT. Wish us luck ! Go Mean Green !

March 17, 2010
Some random media day notes
4:23 PM Wed, Mar 17, 2010
Brett Vito

The day before the NCAA Tournament is a pretty interesting affair featuring each team's press conference.

The beat guys show up to get the last bit of stuff they need, a few national guys work on a project or two and occasionally something interesting is said.

Calvin Watson and Kendrick Davis were a hit in New Orleans a couple of years ago. They were a riot and made just about every writer's notebook, even if the guy was from Waterloo, Iowa.

What struck me about this year's press conference is how calm and collected UNT's players appeared to be heading into their game against Kansas State tomorrow. Josh White and Eric Tramiel were on the podium for UNT. They are more of the serious types anyway, not that there is anything wrong with that.

Tramiel said UNT is aiming for the national title, just like everyone else still playing. White talked a little about Kansas State's guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, who will be maybe the best pair UNT has faced all season.

Pullen was very complimentary of White.

That will be the matchup to watch. Both are smaller guards who can score and pass.

I just get the feeling that UNT's guys are on a mission to have a good showing tomorrow.

I was also struck by how Kansas State coach Frank Martin talked about building his program. Martin had never been a head coach until he took over at Kansas State. He has since built the Wildcats into a top-10 team.

He was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year this season.

The guy is impressive. It should be interesting to see if he sticks around or is snapped up by one of those name programs.

UNT is in danger of having the same thing happen with Johnny Jones, by the way.

We will have a special section of sorts tomorrow with a couple of inside pages in addition to a story on the front page. UNT still sells when the Mean Green wins, and UNT has done a lot of winning this year.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the paper.