ESPN

North Texas will leave the Sun Belt to join Conference USA, a source close to the program said Thursday.

The source also said that Louisiana Tech and Florida International will be joining the Mean Green in Conference USA, along with UT-San Antonio, whose move was approved by the University of Texas System regents on Thursday morning.

The source said that Old Dominion and Charlotte also possibly could be added to the revamped Conference USA lineup.

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When I heard that Mike Petersen had left Wake Forest to return to the North Texas area and become head coach of the women's team at UNT, I was surprised.

He was coaching in the ACC and was doing a solid job at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons were 20-14 last season, only the second 20-win campaign in school history. And when Petersen got there, they weren't a winning program.

That's been Petersen's pattern. He goes to schools that he believes have the necessary ingredients for success, but just haven't gotten there in a while. When he came to TCU in 1996, the program was one of the worst in Division I. In four years, he got things going in the right direction and posted a winning record in his final season. The Lady Frogs hadn't done that in 17 years.

He replaces Karen Aston, who left after one season for Texas. She was 15-16 for the Mean Green.

"I just thought that it looked to me like all of the pieces are here to build something really good," Petersen said about UNT. "That’s what I do. Some people look at places where they haven't had winning seasons in a while and want to stay away. I look at it and think of the potential there. Some places have it and others don’t."

He believes UNT has it. The program does have a history of winning seasons, just not recently.

I was a student at TCU for Petersen's first two seasons and broadcasted the women's basketball games. I watched many blowouts in my first two seasons on the job, but Petersen immediately altered the attitude. It took some time, but the Lady Frogs learned how to win. He could crack jokes and clearly enjoyed his job, but he knew when it was time to get down to business. His practices were always lively and involved constant motion and plenty of film study and he considered a good shoot-around as critical to a successful game.

He turned 54 this week and returns to an area that he's recruited and where he and his wife have friends.

"I just think it’s a place with really good potential," Petersen said. "We like the area and we're excited. It's got great facilities, a really good unveristy, a place kids like to go to school and our department at UNT is growing."

If the pattern holds, they'll be winning more than they lose quickly.

Johnny Jones made 20-win seasons an expectation at North Texas, a program that had a grand total of 20 wins in four seasons before his arrival in Denton.

That’s how the former LSU point guard and assistant coach earned his dream job at his alma mater, which hired Jones to replace new TCU coach Trent Johnson.

That’s also why North Texas has never been a more attractive job for a head coach. Athletic director Rick Villarreal, who hired Jones about two weeks into his UNT tenure, should have a pretty impressive pool of candidates in his search to find an experienced head coach that can keep the Mean Green program’s momentum going.

“You probably need somebody that you’re not taking a chance he’s pulling the trigger for the first time,” Villarreal said. “That’s my preference. As a program, we’re at that point.”

The program, which qualified for the NCAA tourney twice in the last six years, is at a point where it could be poised to join the midmajor powers.

The Mean Green’s five-year streak of 20-win campaigns was snapped this season, when UNT finished 18-14 and lost a down-to-the-wire Sun Belt tournament final for the second straight year, but the entire rotation should return intact with an impact juco big man headlining the recruiting class. Potential first-round pick Tony Mitchell has decided to wait at least a year to declare for the NBA draft, opting to focus on improving his game and leading UNT back to March Madness, unless he reconsiders following Jones' departure.

This will always be known as a football state, but there aren’t many more fertile basketball recruiting bases than the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. UNT has a 10,000-seat arena and has positioned itself, with a facilities overhaul highlighted by its new $78 million football stadium, to benefit from future conference realignment dominoes falling.

This is no longer a job for a man desperate for a chance to become a head coach. It’s a job for a proven winner who can build on the foundation Jones leaves as he heads home to LSU.

Forward Tony Mitchell, a first-team All-Sun Belt selection, will be returning for his sophomore season at North Texas.

Mitchell, who had been projected as a fringe first-round NBA draft pick by ESPN.com's Chad Ford, averaged 14.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a freshman with the Mean Green.

The Pinkston product, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward with a 41-inch vertical leap and 7-foot-4 wingspan, originally signed with Missouri but enrolled at UNT after not qualifying academically. He become eligible to play at UNT after the first semester of the season.

"There's no limit to how good he can be," UNT coach Johnny Jones said in early March. "He has the potential to be a high lottery pick in the right time."

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Brandan Walton scored 16 points, including the tie-breaking 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds left, and North Texas beat Louisiana-Lafayette 65-62 in the Sun Belt tournament quarterfinals Sunday night.

Alzee Williams scored 14 and Roger Franklin and Jacob Holmen scored 10 points apiece for the Mean Green. Freshman Tony Mitchell had 11 rebounds and tied his season high with six blocks for North Texas (17-13) at Hot Springs' Convention Center Court.

In Monday's semifinals, the fifth-seeded Mean Green will face No. 9 seed Arkansas State, upset winners over regular-season Sun Belt champion Middle Tennessee State on Sunday.

Josh Brown led the fourth-seeded Ragin' Cajuns (16-15) with 14 points. Elfrid Payton had 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Bryant Mbamalu scored 11 and Darshawn McClellan had 10 points for Louisiana-Lafayette.

Neither team led by more than five points and there were 20 lead changes, 12 in the second half.

DENVER -- Brian Stafford and Chris Udofia scored 15 points apiece Sunday to lead Denver to a 64-52 victory over North Texas.

Royce O'Neale had 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Brett Olson scored 10 points for the Pioneers (21-8, 11-5 Sun Belt), who set a school record with their 21st victory and fourth in a row.

Brandan Walton led the Mean Green (16-13, 9-7) with 13 points. Alzee Williams scored 10 points, and Tony Mitchell grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Pioneers nailed down the third seed and a bye in the conference tournament. They will play Sunday in Hot Springs, Ark.

The Mean Green, whose 52 points represented a season low, took fifth and will face No. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette in Sunday's quarterfinals.

The teams split the season series, with North Texas having won 75-74 in overtime Jan. 21.

DENTON, Texas -- Darshawn McClellan scored 13 points and Kadeem Coleby had eight blocks as Louisiana-Lafayette clinched a winning record for the first time in seven years with a 57-53 victory over North Texas on Saturday.

Coleby also had 10 points for the Ragin Cajuns (16-13, 10-5 Sun Belt), who close out the regular season at home next Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe before the conference tournament begins.

Alzee Williams led North Texas (15-12, 8-6) with 12 points, and Tyler Hall had 10. The Mean Green shot 29 percent from the floor, made 4 of 13 3-pointers and were just 11 for 24 at the free-throw line.

Louisiana-Lafayette was only slightly better, shooting 33 percent overall while going 2 for 18 on 3-pointers and 21 for 34 at the line.
The game was tied at 44 with 8 minutes remaining when Elfrid Payton hit a jumper to start a 6-0 run that put the Cajuns ahead for good.

Lance Dunbar's 279 yards helped North Texas get past Indiana.

DENTON, Texas -- Hours before the inaugural game at Apogee Stadium on Saturday, North Texas fans lined up at the locked front gate and waited.

"Let us in!" Let us in!" they chanted.

Mean Green fans had waited long enough, and they didn't want to wait anymore.

Since 1952, they've cheered for North Texas in a stadium that was deficient in just about every way -- Fouts Field. For years the athletics department lobbied for a new home.

Saturday was the culmination of all that time and effort. The school finally played its first game in Apogee Stadium -- a 48-23 loss to Houston in front of 28,075 fans, just shy of capacity.

"This is terrific," said Scott Flynn, a Southlake resident and 1980 alumnus of North Texas. "We've always had a track around our field but now we're right on top of the action. I hope we can perform up to our facilities."

When the gates opened, fans walked in and marveled at the size, beauty, and cleanliness of the stadium.

They perused the numerous concession stand options in the corridor that weren't available at Fouts, including ice cream vender Beth Marie's, a local staple from the square in downtown Denton.

"It's unbelievable," said Tom Klammer, a retired North Texas accounting professor. "Fouts was a dump in the 1970s. It's [Apogee] just going to do wonders for the program."

And they came from near and far to christen the building. North Texas alumnus Robert Middaugh flew in from his residence in Washington D.C. to attend the game.

"I don't know that I've felt this excitement in the eight years I've been involved with North Texas," Middaugh said. "I flew all the way across the country for this. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There's no way I wouldn't be here for this."

Middaugh joined the tailgate at noon Saturday. Many of his fellow fans had already been there for almost 24 hours as the first tailgaters began trickling in around 4 p.m. Friday.

Most tailgates set up on the east side of the stadium around a pathway the school dubbed "The Hill" where fraternities, sororities, venders and cover bands set up to entertain the crowd.

The team made its entrance into the stadium along The Hill at 4 p.m. with the band, cheerleaders and dance team leading it in while fans gathered around and cheered them on. Head coach Dan McCarney gave high fives to onlookers all the way into Apogee.

"We came in on the Mean Green Walk and it was electric," quarterback Derek Thompson said of entering the stadium. "The atmosphere was great. We had a lot of fan support. We wanted to take that electricity to the field tonight."

North Texas officials believe it was by far the largest tailgate the school has ever had. It included more venders and entertainment than ever before, so fans also camped out on the west side of the stadium. Some even staked out in the parking lot at Fouts Field across I-35E.

"I was real emotional and I don't get that way at the start of any football game," McCarney said. "When I walked out there and saw that crowd and saw those students and saw the green after seeing an empty stadium for nine months, I was overcome with emotion."

Most importantly for the opener at Apogee, the team gave fans a reason to stay even after they got a look inside.

Backup quarterback Andrew McNulty became the answer to a future trivia question by scoring the first touchdown at Apogee Stadium on an 11-yard run to give North Texas (0-2) a 7-0 lead.

Houston (2-0) took a 17-7 lead thanks to three early North Texas turnovers, but Thompson helped North Texas erase the deficit in the second quarter when he hit Andrew Power in the end zone from 5 yards away.

Houston took a 20-17 lead into halftime, but the crowd gave the Mean Green a rousing ovation as it headed to the locker room after a strong effort that saw the heavy underdogs hanging in the game.

"We came out on fire," Thompson said. "The fans were in it. That was more than what I expected. They did a great job of keeping us in the game. They caused a lot of problems for Houston's offense. I couldn't stand next to a teammate and hear what he was saying."

But the Cougar offense was too much for North Texas in the second half. Houston quarterback Case Keenum threw touchdown passes on Houston's first four drives of the half and the Mean Green never recovered.

"They executed and we didn't," McCarney said of the second half.

North Texas coach Dan McCarney's debut didn't exactly go according to plan as Florida International routed the Mean Green, 41-16, in the season opener for both teams.

The University of North Texas announced a 20-year naming-rights sponsorship agreement with Apogee for the new football stadium.

The $20 million deal for Apogee Stadium is the second-largest naming-rights agreement for college football stadiums to date.

The new stadium has a capacity of 31,000 and features 21 luxury suites, 750 club suites, banquet space and a team spirit apparel store.

Apogee is the nation’s largest provider of oncampus residential networks for higher education.

"UNT found an ideal teammate in Apogee, a Texasbased company that shares our commitment to higher education and to having positive economic and social impacts," UNT president V. Lane Rawlins said in a statement. "We know firsthand Apogee’s stellar quality and commitment to students and through this new partnership we are able to improve the environment for our students and our communities."

Former L.G. Pinkston star Tony Mitchell has been selected to the USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team.

It’s Mitchell’s second selection to a USA squad. Mitchell was a member of the 2010 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team that went 5-0 and won gold at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Mitchell averaged 8.2 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

Mitchell led Pinkston to the regional finals his senior year and was named 2010 all-region selection, 2010 Texas Class 4A All-State, 2010 Texas 12-4A Player of the Year and 2010 Slam Magazine All-American. He averaged 20.5 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in 36 games.

The 24^th ranked recruit in ESPNU’s class of 2010 signed a letter of intent with Missouri but was ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA on Jan. 5, 2011. Mitchell has since transferred to North Texas but is not eligible to play until at least the second semester of the 2011-12 school year.

Mitchell is one of 12 players selected on the roster that will leave for Europe on Friday and compete at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia from June 30-July 10.

North Texas’ Tristan Thompson became just the ninth D-I player to hit 20 or more free throws without a miss in a game. Thompson went 20-for-20 from the line on his way to a career-high 36 points, as the Mean Green pulled off a 78-64 win in the Sun Belt quarters over regular-season champs Florida Atlantic. The last player to hit more free throws without a miss was Steve Nash in 1995. Thompson is the first player to go 20-for-20 or better in March since 1959, when Oklahoma State’s Arlen Clark set the record by shooting 24-for-24 against Colorado.

Most Free Throws in a Game Without a Miss, Last 20 Seasons
21-21: Steve Nash, Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary’s (1995)
20-20: Tristan Thompson, North Texas vs Florida Atlantic (2011)
20-20: Stefon Jackson, UTEP vs Marshall (2009)
20-20: Jeron Roberts, Wyoming vs UTEP (1998)
20-20: Donyell Marshall, Connecticut vs St. John’s (1994)

Tony Mitchell, a prized recruit for Missouri out of Pinkston High School, has been ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA and the school plans no further appeals.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward was considered one of the top high school prospects in the nation after averaging 20.5 points and 13.2 rebounds last season.

A source confirmed to ESPNDallas.com that Mitchell is in the process of enrolling at North Texas as an academic non-qualifier and would not be eligible to play until at least the second semester of the 2011-12 school year.

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New North Texas football coach Dan McCarney made his first official hires to his staff Tuesday: Clint Bowen (defensive coordinator and safeties coach), Nick Quartaro (assistant head coach, wide receivers coach) and Mike Canales (associate head coach, offensive coordinator).