North Texas Head Basketball Coach Johnny Jones recently got a commitment from Ronald McGhee, 6-5, 180, G, Istrouma High School, Baton Rouge, LA., after he switched his verbal commitment from the University of New Orleans (UNO) to North Texas. He made a new decision based on new information after UNO announced they were dropping from Division I to Division III.

His high school Head Basketball Coach Marvin Dotson said North Texas has got themselves a player and a shooter. The coach said McGhee had several offers including North Texas, UNO, Tulane but was not sure if he had offers from several other teams that looked hard at him including Baylor, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Southern (Baton Rouge), UNLV, Texas Southern, Georgia State and Western Carolina. A lot of teams shied away from him because of concerns about grade issues in his junior year and McGhee got the message loud and clear

This is a big find for Jones as McGhee was ranked by ESPN.com as the #73 shooting guard in the 2010 class. He was the Most Valuable Player in Louisiana District 7-4A and voted first team All-State by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

He originally chose UNO because “they had a lot of players graduating and he felt he could play as a freshman.” The main player at his position was going to leave next year so McGhee thought he would get a lot of playing time this year and earn the starting spot next year. In addition, the coach said he “would be able to play closer to home.”

North Texas coach Jones talked to Istrouma Assistant High School Coach Marcus Mitchell about McGhee’s talents and North Texas was on his bandwagon. Once McGhee got to the campus on his visit, he immediately fell in love with campus because it was totally different then what he expected. After the visit he was hooked.     

Jones team gets a player that averaged 22.4 points, five assists and four rebounds a game in his senior season. In several games McGhee scored 32 points which would lead to the impression he was a ball hog. Dotson quickly dispelled that thought and said “he is not a ball hog,” rather “he is a great passer and shooter” that happens to be able to score from the outside and fast enough to score from the inside.  

“If the defense comes out he can penetrate and score if they stay inside he can score from the perimeter” Dotson said. The great thing about McGhee is “he has great vision of the floor” allowing him to pass or make the decision to score. “He’s a team player that understands the concept of the game.”

Dotson said he used McGhee as the point guard and because of his unselfishness, at times they used him at the #2 guard position. McGhee being a team player did not complain about the switch and when it happened the coach said “the team did not miss a beat.”

McGhee is an athlete that knows his limitations. He did try out and was a player on the football team as a wide receiver. With his height and speed he looked like a sure fire hit for the football coach. However, after about five games, McGhee decided he was best suited for basketball and left the team.

McGhee has stated he had been talking to North Texas since last fall. In talking about his visits he stated “I liked the visit. The guys on the team were great. I liked the team and school.”  Dotson said McGhee was impressed with the “camaraderie of the team” and the campus really impressed him, it “was not what he expected.”

One of the things he like was another local player from Baton Rouge was already on the team and that had an influence on his decision. Former Christian Life High School Star Josh White was that pivotal decision. “White made him feel like [North Texas] was home.” About his commitment McGhee said “it’s something I’d been wanting to do for while. I was just waiting for the right time.

It has not been easy for McGhee in the academic arena. However, during his junior year he started to understand to value of getting a high school diploma and what it meant to a college basketball career. So for the last two years he has worked with tutors and “sometimes, I’ve had to do extra work at night, but as I worked my grades got better.”

Dotson stated when McGhee got the message he decided to buckle down and get things done.  McGhee did score a 22 on his ACT and with a 2.5 GPA or better will be qualified. “He is well on his way to being qualified” Dotson stated “This has been a long road for him and he’s worked very hard, and I’m glad things are falling into place.”

While he worked on his education at night he also worked on his game. He was a great shooting guard but one area that he was weak in was the passing game. So he worked on it and feels “I had to become a better passer and doing that has made me a better all-around player.”

He helped the Indians advance to the Class 4A quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Peabody.

He has played for 2 AAU Basketball teams, the Louisiana Select and the local Nike team. While Dotson was not sure who he will be playing for this summer he was sure he would because “he’s a gym rat.” If you want to find McGhee he is in the gym practicing or somewhere studying.

When asked why he did not consider that other schools which recruited him earlier Dotson did not know why for sure but said the visit to North Texas campus was all McGhee needed.