The UTRGV’s Men’s Basketball Team has returned from Costa Rica, where they defeated Coopenae ARBA San Ramón and the Costa Rica national team.
Every four years, the NCAA allows programs to play abroad to give them additional practice time and the opportunity to play against international teams. Competing with international programs allows teams, such as UTRGV, to gain experience that can contribute to their sucess.
Head Coach Lew Hill quickly took advantage of the opportunity that NCAA was offering. Hill said he took the idea and presented it to UTRGV Athletics Director Chris King.
“This is a team I think can really be good,” Hill said. “We lost a lot of players. We got a lot of new players, so I decided I wanted to go and, you know, the NCAA lets you go every four years and I don’t really know if they’ve ever been on one, so I brought the idea up to Chris … and he loved it, so you know, I told him it’d be a great year to do it.”
Without thinking about it twice, King accepted the offer, but the original plan was to go to the U.S. Virgin Islands and not Costa Rica.
Hill said, “We were gonna go to the Virgin Islands originally and the hurricane destroyed it, so then we had to find places where you can afford, first of all.”
Before the team knew it, the Vaqueros were packing their bags to head to Costa Rica.
The foreign tour experience began on Aug. 18 for the Vaqueros. The team played their first game against Coopenae ARBA San Ramón resulting in a victory for UTRGV 85-56.
The trip’s primary purpose was to gain experience, but the Vaqueros were also there to explore. For a lot of the players, including freshman guard Quinton Johnson II, being able to travel outside of the United States for the first time was different.
“It was a fun experience to go to Costa Rica,” Johnson said. “I’ve never been out the country before. I’ve never been to, like a beach or anything, so it was a fun experience.”
On Aug. 19, the team took the opportunity to explore the city of San José. The Vaqueros visited the market and landmarks such as the Metropolitan Cathedral.
After a morning of exploring, the team got back to business. UTRGV played its final game of the tour against the Costa Rica National Team and worked together to defeat their opponent 87-68.
Coach Hill said one thing which really stood out to him was the toughness the team demonstrated during the games.
He commented, “Toughness, you know, we hadn’t been as tough as I would like to be … but I think we’re getting there. That’s my personality, so I want the team to emulate. My personality is toughness, gritty, grindy and we showed a little bit of that.”
After both games, Coach Hill focused on the second reason for the trip, to instill community service among the team. The Vaqueros had the opportunity to host two community service events, one of which included hosting a basketball clinic for younger kids.
The trip to Costa Rica was nearing its end, so the Vaqueros took advantage of every second. The final days of the trip for the team included going zip lining, a tour of downtown San José, visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Theater and the Central Market.
After living the Costa Rica experience, the team hopes to put into action what they learned during the first game of the season on 7 p.m., Nov. 6, in Edinburg against Texas A&M Commerce.
