Roderick Flemings is staying at North Texas for the upcoming year after all.

Roderick Flemings

The former DeSoto standout and Oklahoma State forward transferred to UNT earlier this year and was expected to sit out the upcoming season to fulfill NCAA rules requirements. Flemings briefly considered transferring to a junior college so that he could play immediately, but has backed off that plan and will now stay at UNT.

The decision will leave Flemings three years of eligibility when he begins playing for the Mean Green in the 2007-08 season.

“We feel good about Roderick staying here so that he can work on his academics and be around the team,” UNT coach Johnny Jones said. “It will also be good to have him for three years instead of just two.”

If Flemings had played at a junior college, he would have had two years of eligibility remaining after the upcoming season and would have been free to transfer to any Division I school after leaving junior college.

“Roderick decided that his best option was to stay at North Texas,” Jones said. “He was at our meetings [Sunday]. This is what he wants to do.”

Flemings is among the top-rated recruits UNT has signed in Jones’ tenure at with the Mean Green. Most scouting services had him ranked among the top 50 players nationally in his senior class.

Flemings is one of the key players in an influx of transfers Jones has brought in the last three seasons, a group that also includes Kendrick Davis of Arkansas and Keith Wooden of Arizona State.

Davis was named the Newcomer of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference last season and was also a second-team all-league selection.

Flemings will be one of two players who will sit out at UNT this season.

Former South Florida guard Collin Dennis has also transferred to UNT and will spend the season practicing and waiting for a chance to play in a year.

Briefly …

Jones said UNT is in the final stages of completing an agreement with the Dallas Mavericks to host the first three days of their training camp next season. The Mavericks will use the Super Pit and also train at the student recreation center.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.