# 2016–17 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team

The 2016–17 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team represented the University of North Texas during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mean Green, led by fifth-year head coach Tony Benford, played their home games at UNT Coliseum, nicknamed The Super Pit, in Denton, Texas, as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 8–22, 2–16 in C-USA play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.
On March 5, 2017, the school fired head coach Tony Benford after five years without a winning season. On March 13, the school hired Arkansas State head coach Grant McCasland to the same role.

## Previous season

The Mean Green finished the 2015–16 season 12–20, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. They lost in the second round of the C-USA tournament to WKU.

## Preseason

The Mean Grean was picked to finish in 10th place in the preseason Conference USA poll. Jeremy Combs was selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Carrington Ward | 0 | G | 6'2" | 180 | RS Junior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduate transferred to Norfolk State |
| Chris Campbell | 12 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Senior | Houston, TX | Graduated |
| Mike Thomas | 14 | C | 6'11" | 225 | Junior | Ville Platte, IN | Ineligible for the 2016–17 season |
| DeAndre Harris | 15 | G | 6'3" | 191 | RS Junior | Milwaukee, WI | Graduate transferred to Nicholls State |
| Eric Katenda | 20 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Senior | Paris, France | Graduated |
| Todd Eaglin | 30 | G | 5'11" | 180 | Senior | The Woodlands, TX | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Ryan Woolridge | 0 | G | 6'3" | 170 | Sophomore | Mansfield, TX | Transferred from San Diego. Under NCAA transfer rules, Woolridge will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Kevin Frazier | 4 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Senior | Dallas, TX | Transferred from SMU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Frazier will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility. |
| Derail Green | 11 | F | 6'7" | 215 | RS Senior | Houston, TX | Transferred from Incarnate Word. Will eligible to play since Green graduated from Incarnate Word. |
| Shane Temara | 50 | F | 6'9" | 235 | Junior | Syracuse, NY | Junior college transferred from Angelina College. |

## Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| A.J. Lawson SF | Bryan, TX | Bryan High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 191 lb (87 kg) | Oct 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 7, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 11, 2016* 7:00 pm, AFN | Sul Ross State | W 85–77 | 1–0 | The Super Pit (1,226) Denton, TX |
| November 15, 2016* 6:30 pm, FSSW+ | at Texas Tech | L 43–70 | 1–1 | United Supermarkets Arena (9,534) Luboock, TX |
| November 20, 2016* 1:00 pm, AFN | Drexel Scarlet Knight Showcase | L 62–83 | 1–2 | The Super Pit (1,457) Denton, TX |
| November 23, 2016* 6:30 pm, BTN+ | at Rutgers Scarlet Knight Showcase | L 53–66 | 1–3 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,351) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 25, 2016* 7:00 pm | Niagara Scarlet Knight Showcase | W 80–71 | 2–3 | The Super Pit (1,411) Denton, TX |
| November 27, 2016* 1:00 pm | Hartford Scarlet Knight Showcase | W 81–78 | 3–3 | The Super Pit (1,566) Denton, TX |
| November 30, 2016* 11:30 am | Texas College | W 73–45 | 4–3 | The Super Pit (2,006) Denton, TX |
| December 3, 2016* 2:00 pm | Texas–Arlington | L 61–77 | 4–4 | The Super Pit (2,386) Denton, TX |
| December 8, 2016* 7:00 pm | Delaware State | W 73–40 | 5–4 | The Super Pit (1,707) Denton, TX |
| December 17, 2016* 6:30 pm | at Sam Houston State | W 71–65 | 5–5 | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (763) Huntsville, TX |
| December 20, 2016* 7:00 pm | Southeastern Louisiana | W 71–65 | 6–5 | The Super Pit (1,707) Denton, TX |
| December 22, 2016* 7:00 pm | San Diego | L 68–69 | 6–6 | The Super Pit (2,717) Denton, TX |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| December 31, 2016 11:00 am | at Charlotte | L 76–101 | 6–7 (0–1) | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,792) Charlotte, NC |
| January 2, 2017 4:00 pm | at Old Dominion | L 48–55 | 6–8 (0–2) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (5,123) Norfolk, VA |
| January 5, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UAB | L 52–54 | 6–9 (0–3) | The Super Pit (1,603) Denton, TX |
| January 7, 2017 2:00 pm | Middle Tennessee | L 68–79 | 6–10 (0–4) | The Super Pit (2,263) Denton, TX |
| January 14, 2017 2:00 pm | at Rice | L 79–101 | 6–11 (0–5) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,749) Houston, TX |
| January 19, 2017 7:00 pm | at Southern Miss | L 65–75 | 6–12 (0–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,285) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 21, 2017 6:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | L 57–81 | 6–13 (0–7) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,066) Ruston, LA |
| January 26, 2017 7:00 pm | Charlotte | L 81–82 | 6–14 (0–8) | The Super Pit (2,006) Denton, TX |
| January 28, 2017 2:00 pm | Old Dominion | L 67–73 | 6–15 (0–9) | The Super Pit (1,647) Denton, TX |
| February 4, 2017 2:00 pm | Rice | L 80–95 | 6–16 (0–10) | The Super Pit (2,154) Denton, TX |
| February 9, 2017 6:00 pm | at Florida Atlantic | W 70–64 | 7–16 (1–10) | FAU Arena (1,330) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 11, 2017 6:00 pm | at FIU | L 71–90 | 7–17 (1–11) | FIU Arena (877) Miami, FL |
| February 16, 2017 7:00 pm, beIN | UTEP | L 71–77 $^{OT}$ | 7–18 (1–12) | The Super Pit (2,672) Denton, TX |
| February 18, 2017 2:00 pm | UTSA | W 83–73 | 8–18 (2–12) | The Super Pit (3,384) Denton, TX |
| February 23, 2017 7:00 pm | Louisiana Tech | L 67–85 | 8–19 (2–13) | The Super Pit (2,217) Denton, TX |
| February 25, 2017 2:00 pm | Southern Miss | L 53–76 | 8–20 (2–14) | The Super Pit (3,360) Denton, TX |
| March 2, 2017 6:00 pm | at WKU | L 63–74 | 8–21 (2–15) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,676) Bowling Green, KY |
| March 4, 2017 6:00 pm | at Marshall | L 104–106 | 8–22 (2–16) | Cam Henderson Center (6,017) Huntington, WV |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source