McCoy

Ryan McCoy, one of North Texas’ incoming men’s basketball recruits, will not play for the Mean Green this season, head coach Johnny Jones confirmed on Friday.

The Midland College point guard signed with UNT in April and was the Mean Green’s first recruit in its 2007 class, but did not meet requirements to play for UNT.

McCoy was expected to back up starting point guard Ben Bell this season.

“We thought that we would have more depth at the point guard spot this season, but we are still in a better position than we were last year at this time,” Jones said. “Last year, Ben was our only true point guard.”

UNT signed Baton Rouge (La.) Christian Life Academy point guard Josh White in May. The three-time all-state selection will now enter the season as the Mean Green’s backup point guard.

Michael Sturns served as UNT’s backup point guard last season, but transferred during the offseason.

Jones said White is more a pure point guard than Sturns, who could play both the shooting guard and point guard spots.

UNT could also use South Florida transfer Collin Dennis at point guard to spell Bell next season. Dennis is expected to be the Mean Green’s starting shooting guard following the departure of Kendrick Davis and Calvin Watson.

While McCoy will not play for the Mean Green this season, Jones said there is a possibility he could rejoin the team at a later date.

UNT signed McCoy shortly after one of the best seasons in school history. The Mean Green won the Sun Belt Confe-rence tournament to earn its first berth to the NCAA Tourna-ment since 1988 and set a school record for wins while finishing 23-11.

UNT followed up its breakout season by signing one of its best recruiting classes in recent years. Brewster (N.H.) Academy shooting guard Tristan Thompson and Arizona State transfer George Odufuwa highlighted a highly regarded class of five players.

Jones said UNT wouldn’t look for another player from the class of 2007 to replace McCoy with school starting in a matter of weeks and would continue to focus on players in the class of 2008.