Fennell Era Starts with First Team Practice of the Summer

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team started the Kahil Fennell era with their first practice of the summer on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Coach Fennell and his staff have made it clear to the squad what they expect each day on and off the court. The Vaqueros brought the energy on the first day and you could hear it outside the doors of the Fieldhouse as soon as they started warming up.

“I was really encouraged by the effort,” Fennell said. “The effort, the enthusiasm, the energy was fantastic. The physicality was on point. I thought the guys really competed, which is exactly what you want to see on the first day. You want guys that are excited to be out here. That are excited to step out on the floor as a group together. They are excited to be coached. I thought we saw that across the board. We checked a major box in that area.”

In the early goings, the Vaqueros have been learning Coach Fennell’s philosophy on offense, defense, rebounding, transition play, spacing, and communication. These are the foundations that will help the Vaqueros find success this coming season.

Coach Fennell and his staff expect to get better every time the Vaqueros step on that court.

“Our expectations are to just get better,” Fennell said. “We have to improve every single day. We are afforded a certain amount of hours over the course of the summer and we have to maximize every single one of them. We have to get better in every area of this game. We have to communicate better. We have to shoot the basketball better. We have to space the floor better. We have to compete a little bit harder. All of those things, everything pertaining to basketball and winning games and competing for championships that matters now.”

The squad went hard in different types of drills that help in learning Coach Fennell’s philosophies and they even had some fun competing in game-style sessions that made for some intense pressure moments.

The Vaqueros, who brought in seven new faces this summer, hit the ground running after opening the week with their first team meeting on Monday. Out of the seven, four have Division I experience in Cliff Davis (Northwestern State), Trey Miller (Southern Illinois), K.T. Raimey (DePaul), and DK Thorn (Alcorn State).

When added with the five returners of J.J. Howard, Howie Fleming Jr., Fadi Mougharbel, Hasan Abdul-Hakim, and Isaiah Barganier, the Vaqueros have a strong core in the leadership department.

“For the first day, I thought guys really tried,” Fennell said. “I thought they made an effort to have a voice. To be heard and to lead to get us organized. We really try to encourage guys to be a player led team and get each other organized. We want to empower our players to take that mantle on and lead our guys forward. I think they did a nice job of that today.”

There is a different feeling around the Fieldhouse this summer. New coach. New staff. New players. New conference.

The foundation for success starts now for the Vaqueros and after the first day, they are definitely putting their best foot forward.