Former Free State star Wooden helps North Texas to second tourney berth

By J-W Staff And Wire Reports     Mar 16, 2007

Former Free State high basketball standout Keith Wooden is expected to start for North Texas in the Mean Green’s first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with Memphis today.

No. 15 North Texas will play the second-seeded Tigers at 11:30 a.m. today in New Orleans.

Wooden, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, and the Mean Green earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament by defeating Arkansas State, 83-75, for the Sun Belt Conference championship game.

“It was a dream of mine when I came here. I wanted to get the players to a level where they have the opportunity to experience that,” UNT coach Johnny Jones said. “It’s a huge blessing for us.”

It’s the second tournament berth in UNT history. Its other bid came in 1988, when it lost to North Carolina as a No. 15 seed.

Wooden scored the first seven points for the Mean Green (23-10) in the Sun Belt title game and finished with 11. He is averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while starting 29 of the Eagles’ 33 games.

Wooden signed with Arizona State out of high school and played for the Sun Devils for two seasons. He was academically ineligible the second semester of his sophomore year. Wooden, who lived in Wichita until age 8, later announced he would transfer to Wichita State, but opted for North Texas instead. He sat out the 2005-2006 season under NCAA transfer rules.

Wooden is Free State High’s career leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots. As a senior in 2002-2003, he averaged 19 points and eight rebounds and was listed among the nation’s top 100 prospects by several media outlets.

Today’s winner will play the Nevada-Creighton winner in the South region’s second round Sunday.

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24018Former Free State star Wooden helps North Texas to second tourney berth