The UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team is ready to begin the season under the direction of Head Coach Lew Hill. This will be Hill’s third season with the program. His coaching staff includes Assistant Coaches Jai Steadman, Kenya Crandell and Luke Mackay.
Last season, Hill coached UTRGV to a 50 percent increase in victories, from 10 to 15, and a 200 percent increase in WAC victories, from two to six. His six WAC wins have been the most the program has ever had, and that includes legacy institution University of Texas Pan-American. The Vaqueros have the highest number of conference victories since 1995-96.
UTRGV finished fifth in WAC play in the 2017-18 season and went on to make its first postseason appearance since 1981.
Hill coached former Vaquero Nick Dixon to National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District Second Team and All-WAC First Team honors.
His goal for the upcoming season is to improve on last year’s performance.
“When I came in, I wanted a plus five every year and we’ve done that,” Hill said. “I mean, in the second year, we went to a postseason tournament, the first time in a long time, so we’re taking the right steps of moving forward.
“My first year, I think we finished seventh. Last year, we finished fourth, so we’re going in the right direction.”
With Dixon’s graduation last spring, Hill hopes the veterans and newcomers step up to the plate.
The veterans have a big responsibility, including redshirt seniors forward Terry Winn III and center Johnny Crnogorac.
Winn led the team in scoring twice, rebounds 12 times and assists once. He reached double figures in scoring nine times during his junior year.
Crnogorac had a career-high seven rebounds against Chicago State University.
Forward Solomon Hainna and guard Tyson Smith are both graduate students. They are new to the program, but come with experience.
Hainna comes from University of Evansville, where he played 42 minutes within three games and scored 12 points before missing the remainder of the season due to an injury.
Smith played at Loyola University in Chicago. He was part of the team that reached the Final Four, but redshirted due to an injury.
Juniors on the team include guards Nick Mora and redshirt Jordan Jackson; forwards Lesley Varner II, Isaiah Fontaine and redshirt Ndene Gueye.
Last season, Mora recorded one rebound and one assist in three minutes against Wayland Baptist University.
Jackson was able to play only five games last season because of an injury. During those games, he reached double figures in scoring three times.
Varner scored a season-high 14 points twice, against California State University, Bakersfield and Our Lady of the Lake University.
This will be Fontaine’s first season with the program. He previously played with Tyler Junior College.
Gueye joined the program during the spring semester, but had to sit out due to NCAA transfer regulations. He previously played for St. Bonaventure University.
The sophomores on the team are guards Greg Bowie, Javon Levi and Marlon Williams.
Bowie led the team in scoring twice, rebounds once and assists once. He reached double figures in scoring six times.
Leading the team three times in rebounding and 17 times in assists is Levi. He also reached double figures in scoring three times.
Williams made his first career basket with two rebounds and one steal in eight minutes against OLLU.
Joining the program are freshmen guards Quinton Johnson II and Uche Dibiamaka, along with forward Jamal Gaines.
Johnson is an Oklahoma City native. He was ranked 25th in Oklahoma and represented the state in the 2017 Faith 7 Bowl against Texas.
Dibiamaka is originally from Adelaide, Australia. He attended Second Baptist School in Houston and was ranked in the top 50 players list in Texas. He represented South Australia in the Australian National Tournament.
Before coming to UTRGV, Dallas native Gaines was ranked among the top 50 players in Texas.
The team will conduct open tryouts for current UTRGV students at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Those interested must submit a tryout form, completed physical, proof of insurance and verification of full-time enrollment at UTRGV by noon Oct. 24 to participate in the tryout. The form is available at goutrgv.com.
The Vaqueros will host their first game at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 against Texas A&M University-Commerce at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
