Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

San Antonio Missions announce local ownership group

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Reid Ryan. The San Antonio Missions announced their new ownership group on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Reid Ryan, the son of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, will oversee San Antonio Missions baseball operations. Ryan addressed the media at a Wolff Stadium news conference on Thursday – Photo by Joe Alexander

The San Antonio Missions baseball team on Thursday morning unveiled its first local ownership group in almost 40 years, a transaction hailed as one that would secure the franchise’s future in the Alamo City.

The Missions of the Double-A Texas League will continue to play at Wolff Stadium, but it has also been widely speculated that a new downtown facility and the potential for a move back to Triple-A could be on the horizon.

Designated Bidders LLC, a group formed by local business executives, has agreed to acquire the Missions from long-time franchise owner Dave Elmore and the Elmore Sports Group, the ball club announced.

The price tag for the franchise was reported at $29 million by Baseball Digest.

For the first time since the late Tom Turner Sr. owned the franchise from 1979-86, the Missions will operate under local ownership. Elmore, a California-based travel industry executive, purchased the franchise in 1987 and ran it for 34 years starting in the summer of 1988.

Principals in Designated Bidders include attorney Bruce Hill; Randy Smith and Graham Weston of Weston Urban; local entrepreneur Bob Cohen of Bob Cohen Strategies and Peter J. Holt, the chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment. SS&E operates the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

Ryan Sanders Baseball, owned by the families of baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, CEO Reid Ryan, and Don Sanders, will join Designated Bidders as owners and operators of the Missions.

Reid Ryan, the son of the former major league pitching great, will oversee a Missions front-office that will include longtime team president Burl Yarbrough and his staff.

Local elected officials hailed the ownership transaction at a news conference near home plate at Wolff Stadium, the team’s home field since 1994.

“This is a long-time coming,” said outgoing Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the stadium’s namesake. “I’m glad to see it did get done before the year was over. It’s something a number of us have pushed for, for a long time. To get fan support, do the right thing for baseball, you need local ownership, people that have given back to the community.

“We’ve got a great ownership group, every one of them. Every one of them have made contributions to the community. I think they’re well respected. That’s what it takes to build a successful franchise.”

Ryan Sanders Baseball has long been recognized as a leader in minor league sports.

The group founded the Round Rock Express and built Dell Diamond in 2000. It also founded the Corpus Christi Hooks and developed Whataburger Field in 2005. Both Reid and Nolan Ryan have extensive experience with MLB. Nolan Ryan served as the Texas Rangers’ CEO from 2008-13 and Reid Ryan worked as the Houston Astros’ president of business operations from 2013-19.

The Missions first played in 1888. A franchise that has produced the likes of Brooks Robinson, Billy Williams, Joe Morgan, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez has been a Double-A team for most of that time.

In 2019, they played one season in Triple A in the Pacific Coast League, followed by the next season when they were forced to suspend operations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the pandemic subsided, the Missions returned to play in 2021 at the Double-A level, having to make a move down in the wake of a new agreement between minor and major league baseball. Concerns about an aging stadium that didn’t meet new specifications were cited as a factor.

The Missions are an affiliate of major league baseball’s San Diego Padres.

Smith talked to reporters after making opening remarks and fielded questions about the possibility of a new stadium.

In addressing reporters, Smith said stadium planning will be a focus of the new group in coming months. Asked how much land it would take, he cautioned that “there has been no site selected.”

“There is no plan,” he added. “The plan has strictly been, let’s have local ownership. That is the only way this will stay in San Antonio long term. So that was step one.

“A fully developed plan for a ballpark is definitely next on the agenda, and to answer your question around how many acres are required, is kind of like asking how long is a rope.”

In discussing site evaluation, Smith referenced Southwest University Park in El Paso.

“The smallest site for a new ballpark is actually kind of amazing,” he said. “It’s in El Paso, home of the Chihuahuas, and it sits on just over five acres. But that is five acres shaped by the hand of God himself.”

Southwest University Park opened in 2014. It cost a reported $72 million. Smith said El Paso’s tract of land was “the perfect shape for a ballpark.”

“Most new ballparks range between seven and eight acres,” he said. “But it’s far more about the dimension. There’s an optimal orientation for a ballpark. You can have a 10-acre site that doesn’t work and a five-acre site that’s perfect.”

Taiwo, TCU women turn back the UTSA Roadrunners, 74-67

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The TCU women’s basketball team knew it had been in a game Wednesday night after spending 40 minutes on the painted floor at Schollmaier Arena with the UTSA Roadrunners.

Playing at home in Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs held the Roadrunners to four of 15 shooting in the third quarter to take control of the proceedings, en route to a 74-67 victory.

Tomi Taiwo’s fourth 3-pointer of the game with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Frogs a 12-point lead. The Roadrunners never got closer than six the rest of the way.

Saddled with foul trouble early, Jordyn Jenkins led the Roadrunners with 16 points. Elyssa Coleman had 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Off the bench, freshman Siena Guttadauro scored 11 and Deb Nwakamma 10.

Kyra White, playing point guard most of the night for the Roadrunners, had a solid all-around game with eight points, five assists and four rebounds.

Taiwo had 18 points and three steals to lead the Horned Frogs.

All told, it was a solid effort for the Roadrunners, who are two games into their second season under Coach Karen Aston.

The Roadrunners, despite foul trouble, played the Frogs of the Big 12 Conference on even terms in the first half. Guttadauro and Nwakamma each had eight points and a couple of three-pointers off the bench before intermission.

TCU led 23-16 after the first period and, after a competitive second period, held a 37-36 edge on UTSA. Playing better defensively, the Frogs boosted the lead to 54-47 entering the final quarter.

Records

TCU 2-1
UTSA 0-2

Coming up

Abilene Christian at UTSA, Sunday, 2 p.m.

UTSA makes just enough plays to hold off the St. Mary’s Rattlers

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Coming off a 20-point loss to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, the UTSA Roadrunners entered their third game of the season Monday night needing a defensive spark, some solid execution on the offensive end and a quality shooting performance.

All of that, leading to a run-away victory, would have been nice. But in keeping with history in a rivalry that dates back nearly 40 years, the NCAA Division II-level St. Mary’s University Rattlers showed up at the Convocation Center with other ideas.

Division I UTSA survived a shaky start and a hand-wringing finish to polish off San Antonio-based St. Mary’s, 66-59.

John Buggs III. UTSA beat St. Mary's 66-59 on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Guard John Buggs III sparked UTSA’s 14-0 run to start the second half. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Fortunately for the Roadrunners, guard Japhet Medor, center Jacob Germany and freshman guard DJ Richards made a few plays at the end to salvage the victory. UTSA coach Steve Henson said in his postgame commentary that “there weren’t a ton of positives” to the performance.

“I can’t spin too positively,” the coach said. “St. Mary’s is good. I got a lot of respect for what they do and how tough they are. How well-coached they are. They did some things to keep it right there (within their reach).”

“The positive,” Henson added, “was that we found a way to get the win.”

St. Mary’s (0-2) played the game as an exhibition, so it didn’t count on the Rattlers’ record. But the game did count for UTSA (2-1) on a night when the Roadrunners were trying to bounce back from a poor performance in Corpus Christi.

Though the Roadrunners traveled to the Coastal Bend last Friday, it was hardly a day at the beach. UTSA held an eight-point lead in the second half on a 23-win, Division I NCAA tournament team from last year. After that, Corpus Christi romped 47-19 in the final 17 minutes to win 75-55.

As a result, Roadrunners guard John Buggs III fielded a few questions in the wake of the St. Mary’s game about the team’s inconsistency. His answer was the same. At times, he said, UTSA goes through “stretches” when things go wrong on both ends of the floor.

“We have to limit those windows,” Buggs said.

Added Henson, “We have a lot of work to do. A lot of work.”

Jacob Germany. UTSA beat St. Mary's 66-59 on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jacob Germany sank 6 of 11 from the field and scored 14 points for the Roadrunners. John Buggs III also scored 14. — Photo by Joe Alexander

The Roadrunners, who were shooting 37.8 percent from the field coming into the night, finished 25 of 55 for 45.5 percent. Hitting only 20.3 percent from three in their first two games combined, they were better in that department, as well, making 8 of 19 for 42.1 percent. Germany and Buggs led the team with 14 points apiece.

It’s a good thing that UTSA made some improvement, because its next opponent — the defending Sun Belt Conference champion Texas State Bobcats — will be dangerous. The Bobcats are set to pay a visit to the Convocation Center on Thursday night.

“Texas State is really good,” Henson said. “They got great identity-culture. You know they’re going to defend really aggressively. They’re super solid defensively. Offensively, they typically run great movement, great motion … They had a big win at Rhode Island a couple of nights ago.

“They’ve got a couple of really big challenges for us. The emphasis will be defending and rebounding. Offensively, we’re going to be a young work in progress. Still think we’ve got the potential to be a pretty good offensive team in time. Defensively, we’ve got to take some steps.”

For St. Mary’s, the game could serve as a springboard into the rest of its pre-Lone Star Conference schedule. The Rattlers were beaten twice in Colorado last weekend. They lost 87-65 to Colorado School of Mines on Friday and then came up short, 60-56, falling to Regis College, Colo.

St. Mary's Emmanuel Ewuzie. UTSA beat St. Mary's 66-59 on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

St. Mary’s forward Emmanuel Ewuzie had a big game with 14 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Against the Roadrunners, the Rattlers seemed to hit their stride. Forward Emmanuel Ewuzie had a big night with 14 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Guard Ryan Leonard finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Off the bench, Diego Gonzalez scored seven and John Dawson six.

St. Mary’s came out strong, executing the offense and scoring the game’s first five points. The Rattlers kept it going for most of the first half, pushing the lead to as many as eight with 2:47 remaining.

At that point, UTSA started to creep back into the game. The Roadrunners scored seven in a row at the end of the half and then roared away on a 14-0 run to start the second.

Buggs ignited the second-half surge, hitting a couple of threes and a two. Forward Josh Farmer, who made his first start of the season, capped the streak with a wild play. After Farmer missed a dunk, Richards rebounded it. Farmer finally put it in the hoop for a 46-33 lead.

Down the stretch, the Rattlers wouldn’t fold.

They continued to scrap for rebounds and dive on the floor for loose balls. They hit some difficult shots in traffic. UTSA was also energized. They hit the boards with much more aggression. UTSA also got a big call when St. Mary’s foward Tyler Caron made a shot but had it waved off for charg

On the other end, Richards hit a three for a 10-point lead. Undaunted, St. Mary’s kept coming. The Rattlers chipped away and, with 1:01 remaining, Ewuzie hit a free that pulled the visitors to within two.

From there, Medor orchestrated the finish for the Roadrunners. He worked hard against the Rattlers’ trapping defense, and the Roadrunners survived, going on a 5-0 run to finish the game. Germany knocked down a shot and hit a free throw. On a free-throw miss, Richards snared a rebound and was fouled, sinking both with 30 seconds left to seal it.

Records

UTSA 2-1
St. Mary’s 0-2

Notable

With the victory, UTSA improved to 11-3 all-time in the series against St. Mary’s. The series between San Antonio-based universities started in 1984 as the “Mayor’s Challenge Cup.” Played initially in a downtown arena in the 1980s, the games have always been close. Only four of the 14 games have been decided by margins of more than 10 points.

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Huston-Tillotson at St. Mary’s, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

Hitting hyper-speed

Sabally to Aleu — for two

St. Mary’s and UTSA to play for San Antonio bragging rights

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The UTSA Roadrunners (1-1) are back home tonight to play the St. Mary’s Rattlers (0-2). The game is an exhibition for NCAA Division II St. Mary’s and won’t count on the Rattlers’ record. Here is a look at the series between the two programs, which dates back to the 1983-84 season.

Series at a glance

2/6/84 — UTSA, 69-61
1/21/85 — St. Mary’s, 88-81
1/13/86 — UTSA, 76-67
1/26/87 — St. Mary’s, 68-55
1/20/88 — UTSA, 84-74
1/24/89 — UTSA, 58-48
12/12/89 — UTSA, 79-52
1/18/90 — UTSA, 63-58
1/21/91 — St. Mary’s, 65-46
12/7/91 — UTSA, 62-52
11/25/00 — UTSA, 61-55
12/4/02 — UTSA, 81-67
11/29/21 — UTSA, 75-65

Notable

The early games in the series were played downtown at the HemisFair Arena, a building that has been demolished to make way for new construction. (The old arena sat on property that is now part of the Convention Center complex.) The game in December 2002 was played at the Alamodome. The games in November 2000 and November 2021 were played at the UTSA Convocation Center.

That’s a fact

The Roadrunners haven’t shot the ball well in their first two games, in a 74-47 victory over Division III Trinity last Monday or in a 75-55 loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Friday.

Three-point shooting has been a particular concern. UTSA hit only 5 of 30 from behind the arc in the opener and 7 of 29 last Friday at Corpus Christi. For the season, that makes them 12 of 59 for 20.3 percent. UTSA field goal shooting is a cool 37.8 percent — 48 of 127.

Defensively, it’s also a mixed bag. The Roadrunners had been playing good defense until the second half against the Islanders,who shot 56 percent and exploded for 50 points after intermission.

Mushila, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi down UTSA, 75-55

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The UTSA Roadrunners knew coming into Friday night’s game in Corpus Christi that they would need to keep Isaac Mushila off the glass, and they still couldn’t do it.

Mushila, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, poured in 22 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders past the Roadrunners, 75-55, at the Dugan Wellness Center.

A relentless player, Mushila basically matched his effort from last season when he produced 21 points and 17 rebounds in a 77-58 victory over the Roadrunners in San Antonio.

This time, he exploded in the second half to spark a huge rally by the home team, lifting A&M-Corpus Christi (1-1) to its first victory of the season.

“Isaac played great considering they doubled the post a little bit,” Islanders coach Steve Lutz said on the ESPN Plus television broadcast. “I just thought he worked at a high level.”

At one point, UTSA (1-1) led by eight points early in the second half and appeared to be taking charge against a 23-win, NCAA tournament team from last year.

The Islanders, however, had other ideas. Mushila kept pounding the glass and scored 14 points in the second half to lead the comeback.

Behind Mushila, Trevian Tennyson and others, A&M-Corpus Christi outscored UTSA 47-19 in the final 17:30 to turn what had been a highly-competitive game into a run-away.

“Second half was pretty disappointing,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast. “Exact opposite of what we did the first half. Second half, they drove it over and over and over … just absolutely bullied us. It wasn’t even close.”

Freshman DJ Richards led UTSA with 14 points. Japhet Medor and Jacob Germany also had nine for the Roadrunners, who hit 33.3 percent from the field for the game. Leading by three at intermission, UTSA came out strong early in the second half.

The Roadrunners got a field goal and a three-pointer from Medor. John Buggs III followed with a three to make it 36-28. From there, it was all A&M-Corpus Christi the rest of the way, with the Islanders shooting 58.6 percent from the field in the second half.

Asked by radio voice Andy Everett what he would work on leading into a Monday night home game against the Division II St. Mary’s Rattlers, Henson said he might need to re-think his defensive approach.

“Getting tougher is a hard thing to work on, but we’ll try to figure out something in that regard,” the coach said. “We’ve got a lot to work on. We’ve got to make a decision. Defensively, we’ve been man to man since June. We’ve got to figure out if we’re good enough.

“We were good enough man to man in the first half, but we weren’t any good in the second half. So, we got to figure out a lot of things. It’s not time to panic. But this is a disappointing result. An extremely disappointing 20 minutes of basketball.”

Records

UTSA 1-1
A&M-Corpus Christi 1-1

Coming up

St. Mary’s University at UTSA, Monday, 7 p.m.
Trinity University at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, at American Bank Center, 7 p.m.

Notable

For the UTSA offense to work, the Roadrunners need to make threes, and they had a hard time doing that in a smaller venue, at A&M-Corpus Christi’s campus recreation center.

UTSA was 7 of 29 from three for the game, for 24.1 percent. DJ Richards emerged as the only reliable shooter from distance, hitting 4 of 7. Meanwhile, Isaiah Addo-Ankrah was 1 for 9 from behind the arc, and Buggs 1 for 8.

Normally, A&M-Corpus Christi plays its home games at the more spacious American Bank Center in the downtown area, but since the city’s minor league hockey team had the date booked in advance, officials elected to play the UTSA game on the floor of its campus facility.

First-half recap

UTSA’s defense held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi without a field goal for seven minutes late in the first half Friday night, allowing the Roadrunners to steady themselves, setting the stage for a late rally at the end of the half.

Finally, the Roadrunners, who were in a funk themselves for much of the opening period, snapped out of it with a few big plays at the end to take a 28-25 lead.

First, a dunk by John Buggs III had the Roadrunners cheering from the bench. Finally, Japhet Medor whipped a pass into the corner for freshman DJ Richards, who knocked down a three and gave UTSA a 28-25 lead at the break.

Initially, the Islanders seemed to have everything going their way. They scored nine points in a row for a 9-2 lead. Later, they made it 11-3. Then it was 20-15. Trevian Tennyson was leading the way with 12 early points. He finished the half with 5 of 8 shooting.

UTSA set to play on the road at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

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The UTSA Roadrunners will face their first NCAA Division I opponent of the season tonight. Also playing on the road for the first time, UTSA (1-0) will play the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (0-1).

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at the Dugan Wellness Center on the A&M-Corpus Christi campus.

The Roadrunners, coming off a 74-47 victory over Division III Trinity University on Monday, hope to make a statement against a team that beat them by 19 points in San Antonio last year.

On Nov. 21, 2021, Steve Lutz-coached A&M-Corpus Christi registered a 77-58 victory over UTSA at the Convocation Center en route to a magical season, in which it won the Southland Conference postseason title and played in the NCAA tournament.

UTSA, on the other hand, suffered a down season and finished 10-22.

Led by guards Japhet Medor and John Buggs, the Roadrunners will present the Islanders with a different look.

Medor is a pass-first point guard and Buggs is capable of scoring in bunches from the perimeter.

UTSA didn’t play well offensively against Trinity, shooting only 40 percent from the field. But the defense was good for the second-straight outing, including a home exhibition against the Schreiner University Mountaineers.

Against Shreiner and Trinity, the Roadrunners have yielded only 107 points.

The Islanders will test the Roadrunners with largely the same personnel that posted a 23-12 record last season.

Guards Jalen Jackson, Simeon Fryer and Terrion Murdix will lead the attack, with 6-foot-5 rebounding force Isaac Mushila at one forward and De’Lazarus Keys at the other.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi opened its season on the road Monday, at Starkveville, Miss., and lost 63-44 to Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference.

The Islanders led the game by 12 points in the first half and by five at intermission before the Cowboys rallied to put the game away.

Notable

A&M-Corpus Christi is a non-football playing program in the Southland Conference. The Islanders are coached by Lutz, who played at San Antonio’s East Central High School and at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin.

UTSA plays football and all other sports in Conference USA. It’s the last season for UTSA in the C-USA as it prepares to move next year into the American Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners are led by seventh-year head coach Steve Henson.

Coming up

Both teams play again on Monday night. A&M-Corpus Christi will host Trinity at the American Bank Center. UTSA will host the Division II St. Mary’s University Rattlers in a matchup of San Antonio-based schools at UTSA.

After a dominant win over Trinity, UTSA’s players start talking about Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

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The UTSA Roadrunners celebrated a 74-47 season-opening victory against the Trinity Tigers Monday night, in part, by initiating a conversation about their next opponent.

As players filed into the dressing room after the opener at the Convocation Center, the talk turned quickly to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders.

Japhet Medor. UTSA opened the men's basketball season with a 74-47 victory over Trinity on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Point guard Japhet Medor continued his strong play with five points, five rebounds, three steals and seven assists. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA will play Game Two on its schedule at A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night in a rematch of a contest played last year in San Antonio.

It’s a memory that isn’t a pleasant one for the Roadrunners’ veterans, because the Islanders dominated, 77-58.

UTSA players may also know that A&M-Corpus Christi went on to enjoy a storybook season, which ended in a Southland Conference title and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Roadrunners newcomer Japhet Medor said some of his teammates have already told him about the Islanders’ style and personnel.

“They deny a lot of stuff,” Medor said. “They’re pretty aggressive, but we play aggressive, too. We like it.”

Medor said he thinks some of his teammates may take a scheduled off day and come in to work on their game.

“Tomorrow is an off day, and we got to treat it like it’s not an off day, to get our bodies right and get ready for Corpus Christi,” he said.

Lachlan Bofinger. UTSA opened the men's basketball season with a 74-47 victory over Trinity on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Junior forward Lachlan Bofinger came off the bench for four points and seven rebounds in a little more than 10 minutes. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Medor said he knows how teammates who played in the game last year are feeling.

“Yeah, they want some get back,” he said. “Everybody’s motivated. We’re trying to change everything. We’re trying to win. So, of course we’re ready for Friday.”

Entering the regular season, UTSA had played only one exhibition. It was a game played last Wednesday against the Schreiner University Mountaineers. In doing so, the Roadrunners revved the offense and roared to a 93-60 victory.

Like Schreiner, Trinity is also an NCAA Division III program. But against the Tigers, the Division I Roadrunners had a tougher time putting points on the scoreboard. Much tougher.

UTSA shot 51.5 percent last week against the Mountaineers, including 42.9 percent from behind the three-point arc. Against the Tigers, the Roadrunners’ percentages didn’t look nearly as pretty on field goals (40.8) or on threes (16.7).

In fact, UTSA sank only 5 of 30 from long distance against Trinity’s zone defense.

Fortunately for the Roadrunners, big men Josh Farmer (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Jacob Germany (15 points, six boards) played with poise and aggression and got the job done against the much smaller visitors.

For Farmer, it was a breakout game, his first double-double. The former Houston schoolboy averaged only 1.2 points per game last season.

Against Trinity, he scored a season high on 8 of 13 shooting from the field. In addition, he also saved several possessions with his hustle, including six offensive rebounds.

The Tigers, a 23-win team last year, were held to 30.5 percent shooting. Enzo Sechi, Trinity’s leading returning scorer, was on the roster but did not play. Ben Hanley, A.J. Clark and Grayson Herr scored six points apiece.

Records

UTSA 1-0
Trinity 0-0
x-Game played as an exhibition for Trinity. It does not count on the Tigers’ record.

Coming up

UTSA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Friday, 7 p.m.

Jacob Germany. UTSA opened the men's basketball season with a 74-47 victory over Trinity on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Senior Jacob Germany notched 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He also pulled down 6 rebounds.. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Long arms of the law? Coaches encourage UTSA forwards to bring intensity, defense

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Aleu Aleu. The UTSA men's basketball team lost to Louisiana Tech 79-63 on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Forward Aleu Aleu says UTSA is ready “to surprise the outside world” as the new season opens Monday night with a home game against Trinity. — File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The video did not lie. About five minutes into an exhibition game at the Convocation Center last Wednesday night, the UTSA Roadrunners imposed their will to create a highlight-reel moment. The play was significant for a few reasons.

First, it started with a drive to the bucket by Japhet Medor, a 6-foot newcomer who has shown on numerous occasions a knack for bringing out the best in his teammates. As Medor drove to the bucket on the right side, he threw up a floater that caromed off glass and rim. From there, 6-9 Josh Farmer made a play on it, tapping it out.

Josh Farmer, a 6-foot-9 freshman forward from Houston Sharpstown, at the first day of UTSA men's basketball practice. - photo by Joe Alexander

Josh Farmer, a 6-9 sophomore from Houston, is regarded as one of the team’s most improved players. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Lamin Sabally, at 6-8, grabbed the ball and promptly dished under the basket to Aleu Aleu. In the chaotic aftermath, a few Schreiner bodies went down like bowling pins, and the 6-8 Aleu powered up and threw down an emphatic, two-handed dunk. It was an energy play that reverberated for, basically, the rest of the half.

For the next 15 minutes or so, the Roadrunners outscored the outmanned Division III Mountaineers by 28 points. Schreiner was lacking athletically in many ways against UTSA, as expected, but it still was a good sign for the home team to see a play unfold with such dramatic effect.

“You seen the game,” Aleu said. “It was back and forth for a little bit. Then you (saw) me, Josh and Lamin come in, and coach told us to pick it up. So we got a lot of stops and converted on the offensive end. Really glad we could bring the energy. That’s what we’re here for, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

After downing Schreiner 93-60 in the exhibition, UTSA hopes to continue pressing the action, and Monday night, the regular season starts for real. Once again, the opponent is a Division III foe. It’s the cross-town Trinity Tigers, in the house for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Convo.

Most of the attention in UTSA camp since the players reported for fall semester duties has centered around Medor and John Buggs III, two transfer guards who seem to have solidified the entire program after a 10-22 season a year ago. But in the wake of the Schreiner exhibition, the potential for the long-armed trio of Aleu, Sabally and Farmer has sparked some discussion, as well.

Lamin Sabally. UTSA beat Dallas Christian 101-48 on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, in the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Lamin Sabally, a 6-8 sophomore, is bidding to play a bigger role after averaging 12.3 minutes last year. – Photo by Joe Alexander

While the three of them had a limited impact last season, the potential now seems pretty clear. If they can learn to play under control and play without fouling, they could give Henson all sorts of options on personnel groupings moving forward.

Henson and staffers talked to each player individually and to some in groups recently. The discussion centered on roles. With the three fowards, Henson said, “We kind of challenged ‘em collectively. (We asked) what would happen if you three went to the scorer’s table together and walked in, arm and arm, and said, ‘We’re going to make a big impact on this game with our defense and our length.’ ”

Aleu said the players got the message. They’ve been having good practices in that vein for several weeks now, anyway. “We kind of processed it, like, ‘OK, these are three long guys,” he said. “All quick. All can jump. All athletic. Can move. Can play defense. And we just … we get in the game and it’s hard for people to score.

“At practice, looking back on it, every time we’re on the court together, it’s hard for the blue team to get in their offense,’ Aleu added. “We’re blowing everything up. Josh is protecting around the rim. It’s a pretty good lineup, pretty big. With Japhet and Buggs and the three of us, we just shut everything down. We definitely take pride in that.”

For Aleu personally, this is a season in which he’d like to make up for lost time. Last season, he played in only 10 of 32 games, limited by right knee and left quadriceps injuries in the fall and then later, another right knee injury in January that knocked him out for the season.

It was an ordeal that tried his resolve. Aleu acknowledged that it was tough to make it through the days following the injury, which happened in UTSA’s Jan. 15 road game at Charlotte.

“My knee was stuck,” he said. “It was stuck for about three or four days. I couldn’t unlock it because the meniscus had flipped over. They couldn’t unlock it until I got into the surgery. Yeah, that was a lot. A lot.”

In explaining his situation, Aleu said it was a “bucket handle” meniscus injury to his right knee. He said it was his understanding that if the meniscus had been removed, he might have faced a knee replacement in two or three years.

“So the best thing to do is repair it, and just stitch it back together,” he said. “That’s what kept me out for so long. You got to let it heal. It took me about seven months to rehab. We went into the summer and Ji (trainer Jiana Hook) told me we’d just take our time with it.”

Aleu acknowledged that it was difficult to make it through the days following the injury, which happened in UTSA’s Jan. 15 road game at Charlotte. It was also painful to sit and watch the team implode at the end of the season.

“It felt bad just to sit there and watch my teammates go through what we went through,” he said. “So, I’m just happy to be back and (I hope) to do whatever I can to help the team, and not repeat what happened last year.”

Aleu’s return to full speed progressed gradually. He was limmited in late August and September. By the start of official preseason drills, the native of Kenya, who played in high school in Austin and in junior college at Temple, had ramped up to full-speed work.

A few weeks ago, Aleu raised eyebrows when he caught a pass on the fast break and tried to tomahawk dunk over freshman Massal Diouf. The ball didn’t go down, as Diouf hustled back to get a piece of it. But UTSA teammates took notice.

“Aleu, he just got to stay healthy,” guard Isaiah Addo-Ankrah said. “Aleu always could hoop. I call him my African Splash Brother. He just got to stay healthy and keep getting confident. Today, he went up and tried to dunk on somebody. I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s the Louie I know.’ ”

Henson said he was impressed with how hard Aleu practiced last month after being out for so long in rehabilitation.

“Then he had a stretch where he was shooting the ball so well,” the coach said. “(If) he mixes those two things and carries the shooting over to the games, he could have a huge impact for us. Because, he can play a couple of positions. He can guard multiple positions. Can pass it. Attack. Block a few shots. Rebound it. Defend.

“So, transitioning it from practice to the games, is kind of the key there.”

Aleu said he’s encouraged by the team’s play in general.

“Our confidence is pretty high,” he said. “I think that goes back to the guys around you. Everybody’s pretty supportive of each other. We encourage everybody to play their game and be themselves. That makes everyone feel confident. We’re past last year. But it’s, like, in the rear-view mirror. We also still think about it sometimes. It fuels us to keep getting better.”

If the Roadrunners win this year, it won’t be a surprise to them.

“For sure,” Aleu said. “We know what we can do. We’re ready to surprise the outside world, for sure. I think it’ll be a good season, and we won’t be surprised at all. We all know the work that we put in. We all know the sacrifices we’ve made.”

SFA Ladyjacks to test Aston’s Roadrunners at ‘The Sawmill’

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Coach Karen Aston at UTSA women's basketball practice at the Convocation Center on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. - photo by Joe Alexander

Karen Aston has added some talented new players to the roster for her second season at UTSA . – Photo by Joe Alexander

The second season in Karen Aston’s tenure at UTSA opens in one of the most iconic locales in the state for women’s basketball.

Aston’s Roadrunners are set to play today in East Texas at Nacogdoches. They’ll tip off at 5:30 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum, affectionately known as “The Sawmill,” the home of Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks.

Leading a team with a revamped roster, including eight newcomers and five freshmen, Aston will face a daunting challenge. The Ladyjacks have won 100 games over the past four seasons. They’ve won back-to-back regular-season championships.

The first of the two titles came in the program’s last year in the Southland Conference, in 2020-21, followed by another championship last season in the Western Athletic Conference. After both seasons, the Ladyjacks reached the NCAA tournament.

Last year, SFA finished 28-5. In an interview last week, Aston suggested that it wasn’t ideal for her team, with so many freshman, to play against such an established program in the opener.

“I mean, for this particular team, would it have been better to have a home opener and settle in a little bit, since we didn’t have an exhibition game,” she said. “Yeah, I definitely think that. We had an exhibition scheduled and then it got canceled.

“I think it would have been good for this team to play under the lights (at home). But, you know, it didn’t work like that, and we’ll do our best to be as competitive as we can be.”

Last year, as the former coach of the Texas Longhorns laid the groundwork for her program in San Antonio, it was a struggle for much of the season. Aston’s Roadrunners lost by 27 points at home to SFA in the opener. They went on to finish 7-23.

This season, the Roadrunners have upgraded the talent level, adding transfers Jordyn Jenkins and Kyra White from Southern Cal. Freshman Sidney Love, the player of the year in San Antonio at Steele last season, is also expected to play a significant role.

Elyssa Coleman and Queen Ulabo lead the returning players.

“Well I think the players are ready to play, regardless of what goes good or bad,” Aston said. “Really, at this point, you just need to play. The monotony of practice and what you’re doing every day in practice is sort of at an all-time high until you play a game and get in front of a crowd and see if the things you’ve been working on are, you know, (whether) you can be successful with those things.

“Do you need to make changes? I mean, none of those assessments can be made until you get in there and play a real game.”

Kevin McCullar Jr. set to play for the defending NCAA champion Kansas Jayhawks

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A summer of transition has long since passed for Kevin McCullar, Jr.

After testing his value in the NBA market, he elected to return to college basketball. In making that move, he transferred from one Big 12 power program to another. McCullar decided to move on from the Texas Tech Red Raiders to join the Kansas Jayhawks.

McCullar, a former San Antonio-area standout from Wagner High School, played three seasons in Lubbock for the Red Raiders. The 6-foot-6 guard is now ready to suit up for the defending national champions, with Kansas scheduled to open the season at home on Monday night against Omaha (Neb.)

Editor’s note

On the eve of Monday night’s season openers around the nation, here is a list of athletes from the San Antonio area on Division I men’s rosters. I’ve done my best to make this as comprehensive as possible, but, it’s likley that I’ve missed a few names. I’ll update accordingly when new information comes to light. Thanks, Jerry.

OK, here’s the list:

Adam Benhayoune, LSU, a 6-5 sophomore guard from O’Connor HS

Trey Blackmore, Cal State-Fullerton, a 6-2 freshman guard from Cole HS

Marques Gates, Houston Christian, a 6-0 redshirt freshman guard from Clemens HS

x-Vincent Iwuchukwu, Southern Cal, a 7-foot freshman center, formerly of Cole HS, La Lumiere, Ind., Montverde Academy, Fla.

Jalen Jackson, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a 5-11 senior guard from Wagner HS

Ja’Sean Jackson, Abilene Christian, a 6-0 sophomore guard from Wagner HS

Ellis Jefferson, Lamar, a 6-0 senior guard from Brandeis HS

Gerald Liddell, Alabama State, a 6-8 senior forward from Steele HS; transfer from Texas

Carlton Linguard Jr., UTSA, a 7-foot junior center from Stevens HS, transfer from Temple JC and Kansas State

Silas Livingston, University of the Incarnate Word, a 5-9 freshman guard from Cole

Langston Love, Baylor, a 6-5 redshirt freshman guard, formerly of Steele HS, Montverde Academy, Fla.

Jayden Martinez, North Texas, a 6-7 senior forward from Steele; transfer from New Hampshire

Jordan Mason, Texas State, a 6-2 freshman guard from Clark

Kevin McCullar, Jr., Kansas, a 6-6 senior guard, formerly of Wagner High School, a transfer from Texas Tech.

Austin Nunez, Arizona State, a 6-2 freshman guard from Wagner HS

Ze’Rik Onyema, UTEP, a 6-8 sophomore forward from Jay HS

Dre Ray, Incarnate Word, a 5-9 freshman guard from Cole HS

Brendan Wenzel, Wyoming, a 6-7 guard from O’Connor HS; a transfer from Utah

Dalen Whitlock, Texas State, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Clark HS

Players with San Antonio roots who attended high school out of the area

Zach Clemence, Kansas, a 6-10 forward from Findlay Prep (Nev.) and Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.)

Micah Peavy, TCU, a 6-7 junior forward from Duncanville, transfer from Texas Tech

Notable

x-Seven-foot center Vincent Iwuchukwu isn’t practicing and hasn’t been medically cleared to play at Southern Cal following a reported cardiac arrest during a workout in July.

“This past summer I had a sudden cardiac arrest during a workout,” Iwuchukwu told Matt Norlander of CBS sports in a story published on Sept. 29. “Since the event, I have received optimal care from the university, and my personal expert medical team. Currently, I am adhering to the standard protocol designed to ensure my health and safety. I’m feeling great and my recovery and rehabilitation remain positive.”

In both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Iwuchukwu led the Noe Cantu-coached Cole Cougars to consecutive UIL state tournament appearances.