Jason Burton gathered his players for a chat on a weekday morning this spring as practice ended at the Super Pit.
The topic was far from standard, at least if one judges by the history of the North Texas women’s basketball program.
Burton, UNT’s second-year coach, wanted to talk about the challenges of handling success and the keys to sustaining it. The Mean Green’s players stood in a circle and listened intently as Burton expounded on the values of getting enough sleep and eating right as they closed in on winning 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
A few hours later, the UNT men knocked off Rice in Houston, giving coach Ross Hodge 19 conference wins in his first two seasons combined, the top total ever at the school.
Hodge’s conference win total has since jumped to 23.
The milestone moments in basketball have come at a dizzying rate lately for UNT, which raises the question: Has the school entered a golden era in basketball?
It certainly looks that way to those close to the program, including Jared Mosley. UNT’s athletic director has played a key role in a series of moves that have made the Mean Green’s rise a reality.
UNT has hired three coaches in a row who have thrived, garnered increasing financial support from donors that has bolstered name, image and likeness opportunities for players. That additional support has helped UNT land a series of elite recruits who have elevated both teams.
Lately, it’s looked like a perpetuating cycle of success.
“I’m super proud of both coach Hodge and coach Burton,” Mosley said. “They have a clear vision for the way they want to build their programs.
“I hope all of our Mean Green alumni and fans appreciate this run and get out to enjoy it. It’s special right now.”
The numbers back up Mosley.
UNT’s teams have combined for 45 wins, far and away the top total in the AAC heading into the final few days of the season. UTSA ranks second with 37.
The Mean Green women beat Rice on Tuesday to improve to 23-7 and finished second in the conference standings at 15-3 in league play.
UNT’s men’s team is sitting at 22-6, is in second place in the AAC at 13-3 heading into its game against Charlotte at the Super Pit on Thursday and is on course to build on a run that has lasted for years.
UNT won the first NCAA Tournament game in program history in spring 2021 under former coach Grant McCasland, who spent six seasons at UNT beginning in 2017.
The Mean Green also won the National Invitation Tournament in 2023, the College Basketball Invitational in 2018 and made two other NIT appearances, one in 2022 and another last season, its first under Hodge.
The progress UNT has made in women’s basketball, including an appearance in last season’s Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, has ushered in an unprecedented era of across-the-board success.
The only other time UNT sent both of its teams to the postseason in the same year before last season was in 2022. The Mean Green men played in the NIT that year, and the women’s team played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
It’s a foregone conclusion now that the Mean Green will send both their teams to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in program history. Both have already reached the 20-win mark in the same season for the first time ever.
“It’s pretty cool to be a part of,” Burton said. “Having success on both sides makes it a special time for the university. It’s a lot of fun right now.”
More to work with than ever
The story of how UNT arrived at that point is a winding tale of key hires and transformative donations.
To Mosley, it all goes back to the bottom line. The school has invested in basketball and is seeing the payoff.
“You look at what we had when coach McCasland was here to where we are today, there’s a difference,” Mosley said. “There’s a correlation, whether people like it or not, to funding and success.”
UNT’s focus over the last few months has been improving name, image and likeness opportunities for its players.
Longtime booster Ernie Kuehne and a host of other supporters formed the Mean Green Collective shortly after UNT won the NIT in 2023 specifically to support UNT’s basketball programs. Kuehne anticipates the group will cross the $500,000 mark in funds distributed to players the last two years by the end of this season.
The Light the Tower Collective and a third group of donors who asked to remain anonymous have also contributed to NIL resources in basketball.
“The support we get here from the fans and the university helps,” said Rondel Walker, a guard on UNT’s men’s team. “It takes the stress away off the court and lets us just be hoopers.”
The university has also pumped money into the program. UNT signed Burton to a two-year contract extension shortly after his debut season that boosted his base compensation past $360,000 annually, an increase of $85,000.
Hodge could be next.
“I would love to do everything in my power to make sure they’re both here long term,” Mosley said. “They’re unbelievable to work with. They’re great human beings and amazing leaders.”
The investment UNT has made in retaining Burton could be just the tip of the iceberg. If the House vs. NCAA settlement is approved in April as expected, schools will be able to begin sharing revenue with athletes on July 1.
UNT has already added athletic department employees who will help it navigate revenue sharing, which will allow the school to provide its athletes more financially after opting into the settlement.
“We’ve got a number of contingencies that we’re working on,” Mosley said. “Everything we’re doing is around a plan so that we’re ready to deliver come July 1.”
Journey to the top
The first moves in UNT’s journey to the top came years ago, just before the program hit rock bottom.
Kuehne headed a committee that raised $3 million in 30 days to bolster the school’s basketball programs in 2012. The funds helped UNT build the Ernie Kuehne Basketball Practice Facility and add a jumbotron in the Super Pit.
“North Texas’ ability to be a basketball power is something I believed in when there wasn’t much conversation about it,” Kuehne said. “I had the privilege of being at UNT during an incredible era back when we were in the Missouri Valley, which was the best basketball conference in the country at the time.
“It’s very rewarding for me to see something I believed in and put my money into it garner support from others.”
Kuehne, who gave $1 million to kick off the campaign he guided, viewed UNT’s opportunity to become a basketball power as a numbers game. The school would need far fewer top players to thrive in basketball when compared to football.
He’s quick to credit a host of others who shared his vision and contributed to UNT’s growth in basketball, including Brint Ryan. The former chair of UNT’s Board of Regents gave $1 million to Kuehne’s original campaign.
Kuehne and several of those donors remembered UNT’s history of basketball success from its days in the Missouri Valley.
The Mean Green beat Arizona, Louisville, Memphis and Drake in the 1969-70 season on their way to finishing third in the MVC, one of several milestones during UNT’s tenure in the conference from 1957-75. The Mean Green also enjoyed a run of success under Johnny Jones, who led UNT to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and 2010.
The investments UNT has made in an effort to return to that level have paid off after some tough years. The Mean Green women’s team finished 5-24 and its men’s team 14-17 in the 2014-15 season.
The facilities that Kuehne, who has donated in excess of $2.5 million to UNT’s basketball programs, helped put in place were just the first step out of that hole. The school and its donors have continued to invest in the Super Pit in recent years by renovating its basketball coaches’ offices as well as the concourse, locker rooms and training room.
A series of deft coaching hires helped UNT capitalize.
Home run coaching hires
There might not have been a bigger sign that UNT was serious about basketball than the school hiring McCasland in spring 2017.
Wren Baker, who cut his teeth in college athletics as a basketball coach, took over as the school’s athletic director in 2016.
Baker’s reputation as a college basketball guru grew when his decision to spend $500,000 to buy McCasland out of his contract at Arkansas State paid off in a big way.
The move was seen as a bold one for UNT, which hung on to Tony Benford for the full five years of his contract despite the fact he never posted a winning season, a move that helped the school avoid a contract buyout.
UNT made just its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament ever in its fourth season under McCasland, a clear sign the investment was worth it.
Mosley had a key decision to make after taking over for Baker when McCasland left for Texas Tech in spring 2023. He made a much less risky — not to mention less expensive — call when he promoted Hodge, McCasland’s right-hand man for six seasons.
Hodge, Burton and McCasland all rose though the small-school ranks. Hodge played and coached at Texas A&M-Commerce (now East Texas A&M), where Burton served as an assistant coach with the men’s team before taking over the women’s program. Burton was introduced as UNT’s new women’s coach at the same press conference that the school celebrated Hodge’s promotion as well as UNT’s NIT title.
Those ties have helped UNT form a culture that permeates the entire basketball program. Desiree Wooten, a guard with the UNT women’s team, called the school’s basketball programs a family off the court.
Burton played a role in helping build that environment, not to mention an approach with UNT’s women’s team that has led to its success.
“Our culture has brought us really far with our toughness and energy,” forward Jaelyn Talley said. “We preach that, and it’s helped us. You can see that with the way we have succeeded.”
Finding the right players
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the way UNT’s men’s team has maintained its success in recent years is the way it has continued to reload, despite losing a host of top players to the transfer market.
Tylor Perry left for Kansas State after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the NIT in 2023.
The Mean Green helped fill that void by signing Jason Edwards, who was a first-team NJCAA All-American. When Edwards left for Vanderbilt, UNT added Drake transfer guard Atin Wright.
Wright leads the Mean Green with an average of 13.9 points per game and has a chance to follow in the footsteps of Perry and Edwards, who were both first-team all-conference selections.
“You have to give a lot of credit to our staff,” Hodge said. “They did a great job of identifying guys who fit our culture and what we’re looking for. The players also deserve a ton of credit for buying into what we want them to do and making personal sacrifices for the good of the team.”
UNT has found a host of players who fit its culture and defense-first philosophy. The Mean Green ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring defense with an average of 59.1 points allowed per game and are on course to finish in the top 15 for the fifth straight year.
“The culture is what got everyone here,” said Brenen Lorient, a forward who transferred from Florida Atlantic after playing off the bench during the Owls’ run to the Final Four in 2023. “We saw that there are a bunch of hardworking guys who want to win.”
The UNT women also have a stacked roster. Senior forward Tommisha Lampkin was the Co-Preseason Player of the Year in the AAC. She would have been in high demand on the transfer market after four years with the Mean Green but elected to return for a fifth season, a move that has allowed her to continue climbing UNT’s leaders lists. She ranks third in UNT history with 1,512 points and is first in rebounds with 905.
“That’s me trying to leave my legacy, which is why I came back,” Lampkin said. “I’m excited, but there’s still work to do.”
There’s been a lot of work that has been done already to help UNT get to where it is as a basketball program. The school made a series of home run coaching hires, recruited the right players and funded the program at a higher level.
The results have UNT in the midst of an unprecedented run of success with no sign of it slowing down anytime soon.
“There’s a lot of support for basketball here,” said Johnathan Massie, a guard with UNT’s men’s team. “People have poured into the program and tried to support it. And we keep winning.”