Men’s Basketball Revs Up For 2024-25 Season with First Team Practice on Monday

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team held their first official team practice of the fall on Monday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

The first practice of the fall marks a ramp up to their season opener on Nov. 4 at Nebraska. The focus all summer long and heading into the fall has been about getting better each day.

With the ramp up starting again, that will allow the Vaqueros more time to learn the necessities before that first game at Nebraska.

“That first game is still feels so far off,” UTRGV Head Coach Kahil Fennell said. “Right now, it’s just about getting better. I mean we are still talking underneath out of bounds defense so as far as how we are going to beat Nebraska is 100 miles away. We have to first prepare for our intrasquad scrimmage and be sharp on how we are going to run our offense and defensive rotations. There are a lot of basics and fundamentals that we are still developing, and all those things will hopefully put us in a position to be successful when the first game rolls around.”

The Vaqueros will be going through two-a-days for the next few weeks as they get rolling this fall. On Monday, the competitive vibes were flowing with some 5-on-5 drills in the morning session before the afternoon allowed the Vaqueros time to learn with some walk-throughs while maintaining that competitiveness with some shooting drills.

UTRGV has a whole new staff and a whole bunch of new faces this season, so the Vaqueros have had to start from the ground up. The preparation for the 2024-25 season and the preparation for it all started back in June.

Coach Fennell has seen some good stuff throughout the summer and on the first official day of team practice. The Vaqueros are certainly heading in the right direction.

“It has been a big undertaking, but it has been a lot of fun,” Fennell said. “I feel really positive about this group. I love our staff. I love our players. I think we are absolutely heading in the right direction, so it was a good first day.”

The Vaqueros are coming off a team outing to South Padre Island as they work to build strong team chemistry, which will be key in a long season.

Another key will be bringing that same effort and enthusiasm that was out on the court on the first day of practice throughout the season.

“The effort and enthusiasm was really good,” Coach Fennell said. “You expect nothing less for the first practice and we expect guys to be fire up for it and put their best foot forward. I think we did that. There will be some loose ends that we have to tie up as far as execution and being in the right places and those types of things. Thankfully there is a little bit of time to get things right. I think overall, it was a good first day.”

There are 42 days and counting for that season opener at Nebraska. There was positive vibes and good energy flowing through the fieldhouse.

If that is a sign of what is to come, then the 2024-25 season could be a special one for UTRGV.