While the Auburn basketball head coaching position was filled with UTEP’s  Tony Barbee and not North Texas Head Coach Johnny Jones, there was a sigh of relief by the Mean Green Nation. It maybe too early for UNT Basketball fans to be excited about Jones staying at the helm.  UTEP is now looking for a new head coach and one logical choice would be Jones.

Why UTEP would consider Jones is clear and make more sense than Auburn getting him. He knows basketball recruits in Texas, knows the high school coaches, has contacts in place with national coaches, has a proven track record and the step up from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference-USA would not be a great jump as opposed to stepping up from the Sun Belt to the SEC. While this last comment may not sit well with some Sun Belt fans, the fact remains CUSA has more teams going to the NCAA and they are trying to build a powerful basketball conference to take advantage of the NCAA Tournament money.

No matter what sport, the main difference between the winners and losers is the ability to evaluate talent and then be able to recruit that talent against name schools.  Jones has proved he can do it all at UNT.

The Miners would also have to look at the SEC coaching experience Jones has on his resume. When you put it altogether Jones really is a great candidate not only for UTEP but for several schools. 

UTEP is making its list of coaches and it would not be a surprise to see if they can talk to Jones about moving to El Paso.