Vaqueros enter the Kahil Fennell era
Following a less-than-stellar 2023-24 season and an offseason marked by changes, the UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team seeks to improve and play better in the 2024-25 season.
Last season, the Vaqueros finished 6-25 overall, coming in last in its final WAC season (2-18) before joining the Southland Conference.
UTRGV hired Brigham Young University assistant coach Kahil Fennell as the new head coach after parting ways with Matt Figger.
Fennell said he looks forward to winning in the 2024-25 season and “competing is the name of the game.”
He acknowledged this year will carry a lot of unknowns, as the Vaqueros will enter the season in a new conference with a new coaching staff.
“I’ve never coached with our staff and never coached these players individually [before],” Fennell said. “But that’s what’s exciting. It’s such a cool opportunity for me [and the staff] to step into this environment.”
He said the team has “a long way to go” ahead of tipoff in November.
“We have to improve defensively, we gotta get a lot tougher, we gotta get more physical,” Fennell said. “I think, as we continue to really put our best foot forward as far as energy and effort and toughness and physicality, then a lot of those other things will kind of fall into place.”
Although the team’s efforts on offense have stood out to the head coach, he would still like to see improvements.
“I think we’re starting to execute offensively at a higher level, but even those things still need to improve and we’re not where we need to be,” Fennell said.
He said his approach this season “will be hugely shaped” by his experience at other programs.
Fennell previously worked under former BYU head coach Mark Pope, who was recently hired by the University of Kentucky to head up the eight-time NCAA champion Wildcats.
“I’ve been really, really fortunate to work for some fantastic head coaches and they’re all very, very different,” he said. “… Hopefully, I can glean from all of them and help shape my own way and my own philosophy of teaching.”
Players have also expressed their hopes of turning the program around and succeeding at a competitive level.
Senior guard Hasan Abdul Hakim, who averaged 12.9 points, 3.4 assists and five rebounds last year in 20 games, said the main focus was to end his final season in college basketball “on a good note” with a conference championship and an NCAA tournament berth.
“The main focus is competing for a championship,” Hakim said. “That would be a collective goal that we’re working for with our habits and our practices and the way we work every day.”
Graduate guard DK Thorn transferred from Alcorn State University, where he averaged 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 29 games last season.
He said the culture is what prompted him to come to UTRGV.
“I like the way that the community is for the school and wants to see the school succeed,” Thorn said. “[I look forward to] playing in front of the home crowd here and turning the basketball culture around into a winning program.”
The Kahil Fennell era will begin on the road Nov. 4 against the University of Nebraska Huskers (23-11, 12-8, third BIG 10).
As of press time, the network carrying the game and the time of tipoff were unavailable.
