Season Preview: Men’s Basketball

The 2024-25 season marks the beginning of the Kahil Fennell era for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men’s basketball team.

Since the beginning of June, the Vaqueros have been putting in work to get ready for the season opener on Nov. 4 at Nebraska.

The Vaqueros have had a tall task in front of them since all, but five members of the team are new, including the coaching staff. While they have made strides throughout the summer and now into the early part of the fall semester, the Vaqueros know there is still plenty of work to be done.

“There’s a long way to go,” UTRGV Head Coach Kahil Fennell said. “It’s a pretty big undertaking with everything we are trying to put in place with no continuity from last year. There is a long way to go. There are large swatches of progress yet to be made but our guys are working exceptionally hard. I am proud of the hard work they are putting in and I do feel that we are continuing to improve. I am excited about that.”

Right now, the focus has been about getting better each day. That’s a motto that the Vaqueros want to carry throughout the season.

They know the opening slate of road games will be a tough stretch but at the same time they don’t want to look too far down the road.

“I think you can get lost in the sauce a bit and lose focus on the day to day and the process of trying to get better,” Fennell said. “For us, with so many new faces and with a new feel all the way around with five new assistant coaches and 12 new players, it’s just important to get better and not worry too much about the big picture things that we can’t control.”

This season, the Vaqueros brought in 12 newcomers with the likes of transfers DK Thorn, K.T. Raimey, Cliff Davis, Kwo Agwa, Marshal Destremau, Trey Miller, Tommy Gankhuyag, and Mustafo Vanjov and freshmen RJ Nance, Jaylen Washington, Justin Mitchell, and EJ Avelar.

The biggest focus with the newcomers has been on shooting. Thorn shot 36% from three-point range last season at Alcorn State, Raimey shot 36.3% from three at DePaul, Davis shot 39.2% from three at Northwestern State, Agwa shot 40.7% from three at Texas A&M-Commerce, and Miller has shot 30.2% from three throughout his career at Incarnate Word and Southern Illinois.

“That has been a huge point of emphasis for us in every workout that we have,” Fennell said. “All of our individual development things revolve around shooting the basketball and making shots from the perimeter. It was a big part of our recruiting. We wanted to bring in guys that had a history and a precedent of shooting it at a high level. For us, shooting the basketball, spacing the floor, and spacing the defense is a big part of how we approach offense with pace and space. Making shots from three can go a long way in accomplishing those things. I am really encouraged by the things I have seen thus far.”

On the flip side, the Vaqueros bring back five from last season in Hasan Abdul Hakim, J.J. Howard, Howie Fleming Jr., Fadi Mougharbel, and Isaiah Barganier.

The group of returners have been key to a smooth integration this season. That group knows where this program was last season and know where they want to go this season. The returners have been an important part of the first few months of the Fennell era.

“I think that is important,” Fennell said. “I think having people that some sort of recognition of what this school and this community is about is helpful. I think having some guys that know what to expect at this level of Division I basketball is helpful. I think, more than anything, getting all these elements to mesh and ultimately understand what this place means is the most helpful. They add to the culture of our group, from a character standpoint. Those five guys that returned are good dudes. They like being here and they like a part of this thing. Ultimately, they want to win and turn this thing around. They want to be a part of a program that is hopefully competing for championships.”

With so many new faces, it helps to have the support staff to really make the machine run smooth. This will be Coach Fennell’s first season with his staff and he couldn’t have found a better group to kick off his tenure at UTRGV.

“It has been great so far,” Fennell said. “We have a fantastic staff. I couldn’t be more pleased or proud of our staff here. I think we have a really good balance. We have guys with experience. We have some guys that have won a lot of games and have gone on to NCAA Tournaments and have won championships. We also have guys that have developed NBA players, World Champions, and Olympians. I think when you take a look at that kind of track record at this level of Division I basketball, you would be hard pressed to find an assistant coaching staff more qualified than ours.”

Following the opener against Nebraska, the Vaqueros will also face Creighton before opening at home against Champion Christian College. They then head to the Greenbrier Tip-Off where they will face Charleston Southern and Virginia Military Institute or Tennessee Tech.

UTRGV will also face Wisconsin on the road before starting a seven-game homestand that will feature non-conference opponents Le Moyne, Northern New Mexico, Southern Utah, College of Biblical Studies, and Dallas Christian.

The non-conference slate will surely test the Vaqueros but no matter what happens, they will see the benefits of those types of opponents before the Southland Conference slate begins.

“I think it’s nothing but a positive,” Fennell said. “I think it’s a win-win. We are going there with the intent to win. Whatever the result is, we will know what good looks like from a basketball standpoint, so there will be no surprises no matter what comes down our schedule down the pike. We will also know what real road environments looks like. Our guys will know exactly what the highest levels require. We will be prepared moving forward, so I am very excited about it no matter what the results are.”

Even though it is a tough non-conference schedule with the likes of Nebraska, Creighton, and Wisconsin, the Vaqueros have every intent on going into each game being ready to compete.

The opponent doesn’t matter, it’s about doing what it takes to get that win.

“I like to think that we are going to step on the floor and be ready to compete,” Fennell said. “I don’t care if it’s Southern Utah or LeMoyne or Texas A&M-Commerce or at Creighton, we have the expectation of going there and competing to win. We are not there to collect a check. We are not there to check off two early games. We are going there to try and win. As good as those coaches are and as imposing as those environments can be, the goal is to absolutely step in there and be the best versions of ourselves and put our best foot forward and compete to win.”

Regardless of how it all turns out in 2024-25, the next chapter of UTRGV men’s basketball starts next week.