North Texas Daily

After taking home the Conference USA regular-season title in the shortened 2019-20 season, North Texas men’s basketball continues to build its program by adding the No. 1 recruiting class in the conference, along with the No. 4 class in Texas. Five players have signed with the Mean Green, three from high school and two junior college transfers.
Terence Lewis | 6-7 | 210 | F | Upper Marlboro, Maryland | New Mexico JC
New Mexico Junior College transfer Terrence Lewis finalized the North Texas men’s basketball signing class after filling out his letter of intent Monday afternoon. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 18.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game for the Thunderbirds in the 2019-2020 season. Lewis also earned NJCAA All-American honorable mention, including Western Junior College Athletic Conference All-Region and All-Conference.
He joins a Mean Green roster with former NJCAA All-Americans in Javion Hamlet, James Reese and JJ Murray.
Mardrez McBride | 6-3 | 185 | G | Augusta, Georgia | USC Salkehatchie
Mardrez McBride is a 6-foot-3-point guard who averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 assists per game for Salkehatchie College in South Carolina. He was selected first-team All-Region 10, leading his team to a 27-4 record, including a conference title at an 11-1 record.
McBride is listed as a 3-star recruit by Rivals.com where he also had offers from Coastal Carolina, Illinois State, James Madison, Morehead State and New Mexico State.
“[Head coach Grant McCasland] told me that they like to play two-point guards at the same time,” McBride told the Denton Record-Chronicle. “They like how I play. I’m an attack-first guard and can also defend. They want to be a good defensive team. I will help them reach that goal.”
McBride announced his commitment to North Texas on Twitter April 8.
“First off I want to thank God for blessing me with the ability to play this game. I want to thank my family, for their constant support and love they showed me throughout the whole journey. Also I would like to thank my coaches and teammates, without them none of this would be possible. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the coaches who have recruited me and got to know me as a person. This was one of the hardest decisions of my life. Finally with that being said I will be attending University of North Texas! #MeanGreen”
Rubin Jones | 6-4 | 180 | G | Houston, Texas | Jack Yates High School
Jones was the first to commit and sign with North Texas, with his commitment dating back to August and later signed in November.
The Houston based 6-foot-4 guard is a 3-star recruit by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports.com. Jones comes to Denton being a top 30 recruit in Texas, a top 5 Houston recruit and a top 100 guard in the nation.
Jones led Yates to the Texas state semifinals in his junior season with a 12-0 district record and 23-5 overall. For his senior season, Yates had a dynamic offense where the Lions scored 100 points or more in 25 of their 29 games. Yates had reached the Texas 4A State Championship in San Antonio before the COVID-19 outbreak. The team ended the year with a 26-3 record and 14-0 record in district play.
Abou Ousmane | 6-9 | 225 | F | Brooklyn, New York | Scotland Campus (PA.)
Abou Ousmane is a 6-foot-9 forward with a 7-foot-3 wingspan who attended Scotland Campus in Pennsylvania, leading his school to a Great Atlantic Conference east coast prep school title.
Ousmane is a 3-star recruit by Rivals, playing with NE6 on the Under Armour circuit and the New York-based Riverside Hawks.
In his high school tenure at Scotland, he led the team to a 40-4 record. Ousmane averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. One standout game for Ousmane in the 2019-20 season included a double-double with 32 points and 22 rebounds.
Mykell Robinson | 6-6 | 190 | Wing | Houston, Texas | Sunrise Christian Academy
Robinson looks to join the Mean Green after leading Sunrise Christian Academy to a respective top 5 ranking in the nation by ESPN and MaxPreps, including No. 1 in Kansas. The 6-foot-6 wing finished the year at 22-3 taking the team to the Geico High School Nationals.
He was graded a 3-star recruit by Rivals and had six other offers including Austin Peay, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi Valley State, San Diego and Tulsa.
Robinson transferred to Sunrise Christian Academy after winning a Texas Christian Athletic League state title in 2019 state championship with Pro-Vision Academy.
Robinson and Rubin Jones both grew up in the Houston area playing together in AAU.
His announcement to commit to North Texas came on April 7 via Twitter.
“First off I’d like to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play basketball at the collegiate level. Also, I would like to thank my parents for raising me to become the young man I am today. Lastly, I’d like to thank my coaches, trainers, teammates and everyone else who stood by me throughout my journey. With that being said, I would like to announce that I will be committing to the University of North Texas.”

Featured Image: Mean Green bench celebrates after junior forward Thomas Bell scores fastbreak layup against UTSA on Jan. 23, 2020. Image by Zachary Thomas