Football

Mark Your Calendar: Football, Don January Golf Classic And Tristan Thompson

Posted January 6, 2012

Notes from the upcoming spring schedule of events and from this week's Athletic Department staff meeting, as well as an update on a former Mean Green basketball star:

For those shivering through the winter in the grips of Mean Green football withdrawal, take heart: the 2012 Green-White football game will take place April 21 at 2 p.m. at Apogee Stadium. Admission is free. The Mean Green football team will begin spring practice the week of March 26, the week after Spring Break.

____

For you golfers, the 22nd Annual Don January Golf Classic is scheduled for Monday, April 2, 2012, with registration beginning at 10 a.m. at Trophy Club Country Club. This year's roster of celebrities is still being developed, but participants will have the chance to play with the likes of legendary golfer Don January, The Ticket and Mean Green radio broadcaster George Dunham, Mean Green coaches and the members of the North Texas men's and women's golf teams. Which means a few lucky players will get the chance to have their golf egos crushed by 19- and 20-year-old girls.

The event is open to men and women, the price to play is $325 for individuals or $1300 for a foursome and all registrants get lunch at the golf course and dinner provided by Outback Steakhouse. All funds raised go to the North Texas Athletic General Scholarship Fund.

UPDATE: The time of the shotgun start of this year's event has been moved back one hour. The shotgun start will take place at 1 p.m. Registration will still commence at 10 a.m.

To register, call Matt Phillips at 940-369-8409 or Jon Burkett at 940-369-8916. Online registration will also be available soon through Ticketmaster. Those who register in January will have their business advertised on the Mean Green marquee on I-35.

Trophy Club Country Club is located just south of Denton off 114.

Here's a little footage from the 2011 event:

____

The North Texas basketball coaches will resume their radio shows on January 9 at The Pourhouse in Denton. The Karen Aston Show is at 6 p.m., followed by The Johnny Jones Show at 6:30. The shows can be heard live on KNTU 88.1 FM.

____

The Mean Green's 2012 football schedule is starting to come together and will include a game against South Alabama at Apogee Stadium. The Jaguars, who have been a member of the Sun Belt Conference in basketball, are entering their first full season as a Football Bowl Subdivision school and a member of the Sun Belt.

Because of the addition of South Alabama and the Sun Belt schools desire to play four non-conference games, schools will not play all nine of the other teams in the conference. Missing from the North Texas schedule next year will be Florida International.

The Mean Green will host Louisiana Lafayette, South Alabama, Troy, and Arkansas State, and will play Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Monroe, Western Kentucky, and Florida Atlantic on the road. Dates have not been set, and the North Texas non-conference schedule has not been finalized.

____

North Texas is working on upgrading the scoreboards in the Super Pit to something similar to the video boards at Apogee Stadium.

____

And finally, former North Texas basketball standout Tristan Thompson is 12 games into his first season in the NBA's Developmental League, and the 6-4 guard is adjusting well to the next level. He has started seven games with the Austin Toros, the San Antonio Spurs' minor-league team, and is averaging 9.2 points per game.

The Toros will be on Fox Sports Southwest four times in the next three months: January 6 and February 22 at 7:30 p.m., March 1 at 7 p.m., and March 11 at 3 p.m. All Toros games can be seen live via the Toros' website.

Previous Editions of Green Land