(13) NORTH TEXAS VS. (4) PURDUE
6:25 p.m. today; TV: TNT
Javion Hamlet stood in a pile of confetti on the floor at the Ford Center last week when Conference USA officials confirmed the obvious.
North Texas’ point guard had just hit one of the biggest shots of his career, a floater in the lane that lifted UNT to a win over Western Kentucky in the conference tournament title game.
Hamlet stepped forward to accept the tournament MVP award after guiding the Mean Green to a win that gave them just the fourth NCAA Tournament bid in program history.
“It’s a blessing,” Hamlet said as the hundreds of fans who made the short trip from Denton cheered. “I want to thank God, my coaches and my teammates.”
The journey to get to that moment was anything but conventional for Hamlet, who will lead the Mean Green (17-9) when they take on Purdue in an opening round NCAA game at 6:25 p.m. Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Memphis, Tenn., native didn’t receive a scholarship offer from a Division I program out of Whitehaven High School, played for two junior colleges and made a stop at Buffalo before landing at UNT, the school that showed the most faith in him throughout his journey.
UNT recruited Hamlet twice and ended up signing him after his second stint in junior college.
“It has been worth it,” Hamlet said. “I have enjoyed the journey to get to this point. I ended up where I wanted to be for sure. I came here from day one and won championships. That speaks for itself.”
Hamlet averaged 18.5 points and 7.0 assists per game in the C-USA tournament while playing all but five minutes in UNT’s four games.
When UNT needed a spark, it was almost always Hamlet who came through with the key play.
That was no surprise to Hamlet’s coaches and teammates, who have seen him elevate the program the last two seasons.
“He believes in himself,” UNT coach Grant McCasland said. “He is the toughest dude on the floor. The guys believe in him.”
That toughness was a big reason McCasland and his staff believed so strongly in Hamlet, who improved dramatically once he reached the junior college level.
“I didn’t have any offers coming out of high school. I got an offer from Motlow two weeks before school started,” Hamlet said of the junior college in Tennessee.
“People didn’t want to take a chance on me.”
That opportunity was all Hamlet needed. He went on to become one of the top junior college players in the country.
Hamlet averaged 15.6 points per game and led the country in assists with an average of 8.5 in the 2016-17 season.
UNT assistant coach Jareem Dowling recruited Hamlet out of Motlow. Hamlet strongly considered playing for the Mean Green but signed with Buffalo instead.
He was set to redshirt at Buffalo because of a knee injury but stayed just a few months before transferring to Northwest Florida for a second stint in junior college.
“Buffalo was too far from home,” Hamlet said. “I wanted to be closer to my family so they could come and see me.”
Dowling began recruiting Hamlet again once he landed at Northwest Florida, where he again showed that he was one of the top junior college players in the country.
Hamlet led Northwest Florida to the No. 1 overall seed in the 2019 NJCAA national tournament and was named the Panhandle Conference Newcomer of the Year.
UNT landed Hamlet the second time around, adding another key player to a program that was coming off a second straight 20-win season under McCasland.
“Coach Dowling kept recruiting me, even after I went to Buffalo,” Hamlet said. “That meant a lot to me. That was the only reason I came to North Texas. He told the truth during the process. He told me I had to come in and work.”
That work has paid off during UNT’s rise under McCasland. The Mean Green won the C-USA regular-season title last year before the conference tournament was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I feel good about our chances going against anyone,” Hamlet said. “I’d feel confident going against LeBron. We are confident no matter who we play.”