Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

Texas State’s Tristan Stivors reflects on a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience

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Texas State closer Tristan Stivors has struck out 23 while walking only one in 13 innings this season. He fanned three and earned the save in the Bobcats’ 6-4 victory Wednesday over the top-ranked Texas Longhorns. — Photo by Jill Slaughter, courtesy of Texas State athletics

SAN MARCOS — Fourteen games into his senior season with the Texas State Bobcats, 6-foot-4 righthander Tristan Stivors has developed into one of the unquestioned leaders on the team’s pitching staff.

If a game is on the line late, everyone knows who is getting the ball.

It’s Stivors, who throws breaking pitches so nasty that hitters’ knees sometimes buckle as the ball darts into the strike zone. For some, swinging at shadows might produce more success.

In eight appearances with the Bobcats this spring, Stivors has struck out 23 and walked only one in 13 innings.

The former multi-sport standout at Medina Valley High School also has fashioned 1-0 record, an 0.69 earned run average and four saves.

One of the saves came in the biggest of moments Wednesday night when the 17th-ranked Bobcats upset the top-ranked Texas Longhorns, 6-4, in Austin.

With runners at first and second base, Stivors pitched out of trouble in the ninth inning when he struck out UT star Ivan Melendez to end the game. Melendez was frozen on a breaking pitch that bit hard and caught the inside corner.

When the home plate umpire called strike three, a packed house of nearly 7,500 fell mostly silent except for a vocal group of Bobcats fans who cheered wildly.

“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Stivors said Thursday afternoon before practice. “It’s something that I will never forget.”

With the win, the Bobcats improved to 11-3 on the season, including a 6-2 record against power conference programs and 1-1 against the Longhorns.

This weekend, Texas State hosts three games with the Southern University Jaguars, starting with the series opener at 3 p.m. Friday. Single games are also set for Saturday and Sunday.

Next week, the Bobcats will host the Prairie View A&M Panthers on Tuesday night, and next weekend, the team’s Sun Belt Conference schedule commences in a three-game road series at Arkansas State.

The conference season looks promising for the Bobcats right now, given that they have won three games at home against the Ohio State Buckeyes, two of three on the road at Arizona and now have split two against UT.

Texas won in San Marcos, 9-8, on Tuesday night to spoil a night in which a Texas State-record crowd of 3,283 attended. The Bobcats returned the favor 24 hours later in Austin at UFCU Disch-Falk Field even after falling behind by three runs early.

Trailing 3-0, Texas State found a spark when John Wuthrich hit a three-run home run in the third inning to tie the score. The Bobcats scored two more before the inning was over on miscues between the UT pitcher and catcher.

In the fourth, Isaiah Ortega-Jones belted a solo home run, lifting Texas State into a 6-3 lead. Texas, in response, added one run in the fifth to make it 6-4. But, remarkably, a Texas State team that lost 36 games last year held the lead to the end.

Crazier still, Bobcats’ pitching notched strikeouts for the last six outs, including three by Levi Wells in the eighth and three more by Stivors in the ninth.

Stivors, who was warming in the bullpen in the eighth, heard all the groans from Longhorns’ fans as Wells fanned three in a row.

Moments later, he heard a thunderous roar of disapproval when the home plate umpire ejected UT coach David Pierce, apparently for arguing balls and strikes.

“Another time I noticed it was really loud was when I was stepping on that mound,” Stivors said. “I actually looked around and I saw how many people were (in the ball park), and I just took it all in. I made sure just to stay in the present moment.”

On Tuesday, Stivors had pitched the top of the ninth inning in the UT series opener. That night, his mission was to keep the game close. He succeeded, blanking the Longhorns while striking out two.

But the Bobcats, trailing by one, eventually lost in agonizing fashion. In their last at bat, they left the potential tying run at third. On Wednesday, it was the Longhorns who came up empty in the ninth, courtesy of Stivors and his newfound swagger after a so-so 2021 season.

“He’s been really good and really lights out for us,” Texas State coach Steve Trout said. “And, I think more importantly, he’s just rolling right now with some confidence. He knows he’s got the stuff to get anybody out, and he wants the ball in that moment.”

Last year, Stivors was 2-3 with a 5.34 earned run average. He struck out 39 in 28 and 2/3 innings. But he was prone to streaks when he couldn’t command his pitches, and he walked 13 on the season.

This year, by contrast, his command is much better. Particularly, his command on his fastball. Stivors throws it with “tilt” and keeps it low and away to righthanders. By doing so, he sets up his breaking pitches, including both a slider and a curve.

Trout said the curve is definitely the “dirtiest” pitch in Stivors’ arsenal.

“That’s his most confident pitch,” the coach said. “He threw a really good one (on a 3-2 count against Melendez) and won the game for us. What a clutch pitch, and, you know, he was battling with everything. The fans. The energy (in the stadium). Everything. Everything that was going on.

“That just shows you his mental toughness, to be able to execute that pitch in that moment.”

It also shows you why Stivors has earned the dual roles of both closer and leader for a team on the rise.

Ferguson-led Colgate Raiders advance to the NCAA tournament

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Jack Ferguson and the Colgate Raiders are once again the toast of Hamilton, New York.

The Raiders qualified for their second straight NCAA tournament Wednesday night with a 74-58 victory over Navy in the Patriot League championship game.

A little more than two months ago, the Raiders were slumping.

After losing their conference opener on the road at Lehigh, their losing streak had reached five games, and they had dropped eight out of nine.

The Raiders were 4-10 at the time. They are 19-1 since then, and will take a 15-game winning streak into the national tournament, which starts next week.

Ferguson, a 6-3 senior guard from Fort Wayne, Ind., averaged 20.7 points in three Patriot tournament games.

During the tournament, with all three games played on his team’s home court at Colgate, he hit 18 of 25 shots from the field and 13 of 16 from 3-point range.

The Raiders are the 12th team to qualify automatically for the NCAA tournament.

NCAA automatic bids

Through Wednesday’s title games

Colgate (N.Y.) — Patriot League

Through Tuesday’s title games

Gonzaga (Wash.) — West Coast Conference
Jacksonville State (Ala.) — Atlantic Sun
Bryant (R.I.) — Northeast Conference
Delaware — Colonial Athletic Association
Wright State (Ohio) — Horizon League
South Dakota State — Summit League

Through Monday’s title games

Chattanooga (Tenn.) — Southern Conference
Georgia State — Sun Belt
Longwood (Va.) — Big South
Loyola-Chicago — Missouri Valley
Murray State (Ky.) — Ohio Valley

Texas State baseball holds on to beat top-ranked Texas, 6-4

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John Wuthrich hit a three-run homer to ignite a five-run third inning Wednesday night, leading the Texas State Bobcats past the No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns, 6-4.

Isaiah Ortega-Jones added a solo homer in the fourth for the Bobcats, from the Sun Belt Conference, who have won six of eight meetings this season against power conference programs.

Texas State has swept three games from Ohio State of the Big Ten, won two of three at No. 11 Arizona of the Pac-12 and now have split two against the top-ranked Longhorns from the Big 12.

On Tuesday night, Texas rallied from a three-run deficit to beat Texas State 9-8 in San Marcos. A night later, UT threatened to pull off another comeback in Austin, only to be stifled in the late innings by Bobcats relief pitchers.

The game got intense after the eighth, particularly, when three Texas batters struck out against Levi Wells.

After the third out, UT coach David Pierce was ejected by the home plate umpire. With Pierce coming onto the field arguing his case, fans howled. But pretty soon, Pierce went back to the dugout, gathered his things and left.

In the bottom of the ninth, Tristan Stivors, formerly of Medina Valley High School, entered to pitch for the Bobcats.

Mitchell Daly singled and Eric Kennedy reached on a one-out hit by pitch. With runners at first and second, slugger Ivan Melendez came at the plate.

Stivors didn’t flinch. He threw a breaking ball to strike out Melendez looking to end the game. Both Wells and Stivors each struck out three in an inning’s work to complete the victory.

Records

Texas State 11-3
Texas 12-2

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C-USA tournament: Old Dominion eliminates UTSA, 65-45

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Karen Aston. The UTSA women's basketball team lost its 2021-22 season opener to Stephen F. Austin 77-50 on Tuesday at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA finished the season 7-23 under first-year UTSA women’s basketball coach Karen Aston, but the team showed a competitive spirit that points to better days ahead. – File photo by Joe Alexander

The first season of UTSA women’s basketball under Coach Karen Aston is in the history books. The Roadrunners have finished 7-23. It’s not where Aston wants the program to be in the future but, all told, it was quite an improvement over the 2-18 season a year ago.

Amari Young produced 16 points, five rebounds and four assists on Wednesday as the Old Dominion Monarchs ousted Aston’s Roadrunners from the Conference USA tournament in the second round, 65-45.

In the game played at The Star complex in Frisco, Aziah Hudson had 14 points, Iggy Allen 12 and Mariah Adams 10 as the Monarchs won their 23rd game of the season and advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinals against the North Texas Mean Green.

The Roadrunners’ season has come to an end, but not without a big effort in the tournament.

On Tuesday, Aston’s players pulled together and knocked off the UTEP Miners, 58-57, in overtime. Less than 24 hours later, they were on the court again against one of the better teams in the league and stayed in the game for more than three quarters.

LaPraisjah Johnson led with 21 points and four rebounds. Deborah Nwakamma scored seven. Afer that, the Roadrunners just didn’t get the firepower they would need to knock off the Monarchs.

First half

Old Dominion battled to a 31-26 lead against UTSA in the first half. Trailing by eight after the first quarter, a 15-12 second-period push lifted the Roadrunners back into contention. Johnson had five of her eight first-half points in the second quarter. For Old Dominion, Hudson scored eight points, while Adams, Allen and Young chipped in with six each for the Monarchs.

Records

UTSA 7-23
Old Dominion 23-8

Coming up

Thursday, 11:30 a.m., Old Dominion (23-8) vs. North Texas (16-11).

Notable

The Roadrunners defeated the UTEP Miners, 58-57, in overtime on Tuesday. Redshirt freshman Elyssa Coleman led the way with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The Monarchs were among teams that did not play on Tuesday, so they were playing their first game in the tournament. ODU entered the tournament led by Iggy Allen and Ajah Wayne, who were named first team All-Conference USA on Monday. An injury kept Wayne from playing against UTSA.

A championship legacy

Old Dominion is considered one of the traditional programs in women’s basketball.

Basketball was played at ODU starting in 1969-70, long before the NCAA began sponsoring sports for women. In 1974, the school became the first in the state of Virginia to offer athletics scholarships for women. The Monarchs won two national championships in 1979 and 1980 in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

Two of the greatest players in women’s basketball history, Nancy Lieberman and Anne Donovan, played for the Monarchs. ODU won the NCAA Division I title in 1985 with a team led by Medina Dixon and Tracy Claxton.

Roadrunners on the rebound

UTSA’s greatest seasons in women’s basketball came in 2008 and 2009 under the late Rae Rippetoe-Blair, who coached the Roadrunners to back-to-back Southland Conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances.

UTSA finished 23-10 in 2008 and 24-9 in 2009. The UTSA women have been down recently. They were 9-17, 7-19, 6-23 and 2-18 in the past four years, before the arrival of Aston, a former head coach at the University of Texas.

C-USA tournament: Southern Miss eliminates UTSA, 67-64

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Tyler Stevenson scored 22 points and Walyn Napper added 19 Tuesday night as the Southern Miss Golden Eagles ousted the UTSA Roadrunners in the first round of the Conference USA tournament, 67-64.

Steve Henson. North Texas beat UTSA 59-48 on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Steve Henson’s UTSA Roadrunners finished the season with a 10-22 record. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Jaron Pierre hit a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch and finished with 12 for the Golden Eagles, who snapped a 14-game losing streak.

Jacob Germany led the Roadrunners with 28 points and 12 rebounds. The Roadrunners committed 18 turnovers and finished the season with a record of 10-22.

Southern Miss improved to 7-25 and advanced to play Florida Atlantic Wednesday night.

Admitting to a “sick feeling” over the loss and the way the season ended, UTSA coach Steve Henson nevertheless paid tribute to the players who finished out a season marked by injuries, Covid-19 disruptions and roster upheaval.

“We started out six years ago recruiting high character guys,” Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast. “There are 12 high-character guys in that locker room right there that continued to prepare the right way.

“If you had walked into practice last Monday and Tuesday, and didn’t know our record, you’d think we had a pretty good year. The guys were still fighting and practicing the right way. They stayed together. That’s a real credit to them.

“Wish we could have made some better adjustments there out of some timeouts late. Wish we could have found a way to get that win. It’s a sick feeling right now. We’re disappointed right now. The last game of the season never goes away.

“Time does not heal all wounds. That’s not true. This will feel like crap for the rest of our lives. It just does. There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s a good group of guys. I really loved ’em and cared about ’em.”

Individually

UTSA — Jacob Germany finished with a 28 and 12 night. He sizzled with 12 of 20 shooting from the field. Some were difficult shots, too, high-arching hooks from 14 and 15 freet. Isaiah Addo-Ankrah finished with 14. He hit 4 of 8 from three. Lachlan Bofinger and Erik Czumbel scored 10 apiece. Bofinger was effective in hitting 5 of 9 shots and snaring 6 rebounds. Dhieu Deing had a tough night, scoreless on 0 for 9 shooting, including 0 of 8 from three.

Southern Miss — Tyler Stevenson, one of the Golden Eagles’ best players who had been out four games with an apparent injury, came off the bench for 22 points and seven rebounds. He was 9 of 12 from the field. Walyn Napper, Deing’s teammate last year at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, also hurt the Roadrunners with 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Both Stevenson and Napper hit shots in the final two minutes. Jaron Pierre hit a go-ahead three with 2:16 remaining.

First half

Jacob Germany drove for a dunk on his first touch and then went to work with some soft hooks. In all, he made five straight field goals to open the half against Southern Miss.

The Roadrunners followed Germany to a nine-point lead in the first 10 minutes en route to a 30-25 halftime advantage on the Golden Eagles.

Germany finished the half with 17 points and six rebounds. Unfortunately for the Roadrunners, they were too careless with the ball, committed nine turnovers and allowed the Golden Eagles to stay close.

Records

Southern Miss 7-25
UTSA 10-22

Guard play guides No. 1 Zags to a WCC tournament title

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College basketball nation knows all about Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren, the big men who have led the Gonzaga Bulldogs to a No. 1 national ranking.

Timme led the Zags to the NCAA title game last year, and Holmgren is the heralded 7-foot freshman who could be among the top two or three picks in this year’s NBA draft.

The nation knows less about Julian Strawther, Rasir Bolton and Andrew Nembhard.

Those three guards showed off in style Tuesday night, leading the Zags to an 82-69 victory over the No. 17 Saint Mary’s Gaels, in Las Vegas, for the West Coast Conference tournament title.

With the win, Gonzaga secured the WCC’s automatic bid and all but locked up a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. Saint Mary’s likely will make the 68-team field as an at-large team, as well.

The Gaels, playing at home in Moraga, Calif., on Feb. 27, beat the Zags by 10 points and looked good in doing it. On Tuesday night in the WCC finals, Strawther, Bolton and Nembhard exacted revenge.

Running the offense and shooting with authority, Nembhard had 19 points and passed for seven assists. Bolton had 18 points and Strawther 16. Combined, the three hit eight of 13 three-point shots.

Quite a show by a backcourt that will need to play at this level in March if the Zags hope to make it back to the Final Four.

NCAA automatic bids

From Tuesday’s title games
Gonzaga — West Coast Conference
x-Jacksonville State — Atlantic Sun
Bryant — Northeast Conference
Delaware — Colonial Athletic Association
Wright State — Horizon League
South Dakota State — Summit League

Through Monday’s games
Chattanooga — Southern Conference
Georgia State — Sun Belt
Longwood — Big South
Loyola-Chicago — Missouri Valley
Murray State — Ohio Valley

x-The Bellarmine Knights beat Jacksonville 77-72 for the Atlantic Sun title Tuesday night but will not get the conference’s automatic bid. Bellarmine, located in Louisville, Ky., is in the second of a four-year transitional period from Division II to Division I that prohibits the Knights from competing in the “Big Dance,” per NCAA rules. As the regular-season champion, Jacksonville State (Ala.) was awarded with A-Sun’s automatic bid.

UTSA beats UTEP in overtime in C-USA women’s tournament

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Trailing by 13 points late in the first quarter, the UTSA Roadrunners kept plugging away and eventually edged the UTEP Miners 58-57 in overtime Tuesday in a Conference USA women’s basketball tournament opener.

With the victory, UTSA advanced to the next round to play Old Dominion on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

UTSA entered the tournament as the seventh seed in the C-USA West. Old Dominion is seeded third in the East.

Redshirt freshman Elyssa Coleman led the Roadrunners with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Graduate student Jadyn Pimentel had 14 points, six rebounds and six steals. Junior Charlene Mass hit the second of two free throws with three seconds left for the victory.

Junior Destiny Thurman scored 23 for the Miners, who were seeded sixth in the East.

Records

UTSA 7-22, 3-14
UTEP 14-15, 6-12

Roadrunners ‘fired up’ for the Conference USA tournament

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Jacob Germany. UTSA men's basketball beat Rice 82-71 on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at the Convocation Center in the Roadrunners' final game of the regular season. The Conference USA Tournament starts Tuesday. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA center Jacob Germany was named honorable mention on the all-Conference USA team announced on Monday.- Photo by Joe Alexander

For a team that endured a couple of agonizing multiple-week gaps between victories this season, the UTSA Roadrunners are feeling surprisingly good about themselves leading into the Conference USA tournament.

The Roadrunners will take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tuesday night in the tournament opener.

“We certainly got a couple of guys out for the season with injuries and other reasons, (and) we wish they were with us,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said Monday. “But with this group here, the spirits are good. Practices have been good. (We) made a pretty good run against North Texas, a great team, on Thursday. (We) played well on Saturday (against Rice) and (we’re) fired up to play tomorrow night.”

In a matchup of teams from the bottom of the C-USA West Division, UTSA (10-21, 3-15) plays Southern Miss (6-25, 1-17) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at The Star in Frisco. If the Roadrunners win, they would advance to meet the Florida Atlantic Owls (18-13, 11-7) on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

“I think everyone in this gym would say we’re going down there expecting to win,” said center Jacob Germany, the team’s leading scorer. “I think we all want to win. I’m really proud of our guys, that we’ve fought through this year and all the difficulties we had to face and overcome. Proud of everybody and everyone who stuck through it.”

While players and coaches felt good about themselves as they boarded a bus Monday bound for Frisco, they also have no illusions about how difficult it would be to win the tournament. For the Roadrunners to claim the C-USA title, they would need to win five games in five days.

Then again, they have made strides since they started conference with a 1-12 record.

Sophomore forward Isaiah Addo-Ankrah, for instance, has come on strong. In the last five games, the walk-on from Houston Second Baptist High School has averaged 9.4 points per game and has hit nearly 50 percent (14 of 30) from three-point distance. In addition, junior Erik Czumbel has averaged 11.2 points in his last six games.

In UTSA’s 82-71 victory over Rice at home on Saturday, Czumbel led four Roadrunners in double figures with a career-high 22 points.

“He’s been awfully good,” Henson said of Czumbel, from Verona, Italy, after the Rice game. “I thought he was terrific tonight. The ball was in his hands a lot. He got downhill. He got in the paint. Every time he shot it, it looked like it was going in.”

Playing limited minutes behind Darius McNeill, Jordan Ivy-Curry and Dhieu Deing in November and December, Czumbel couldn’t get anything going offensively. In his first 11 games, he took only 24 shots and hit six of them. He was 0 for 10 on 3-point shots until making his first trey on Jan. 3.

When Ivy-Curry left the team to enter the transfer portal a few weeks ago, Czumbel stepped up and started to make some things happen.

“It’s kind of been building,” Henson said. “His minutes have gone up … Erik’s going to gauge the situation, see how we’re flowing offensively. He’s not a guy who’s going to decide, ‘Hey, I’m going to go get 20 right now.’ But he understands some plays need to be made.”

While Czumbel has been a pleasant surprise as of late, Addo-Ankrah might have been the surprise of the year for the Roadrunners. He barely played for the first few months. He didn’t play at all in 10 of UTSA’s first 16 games.

But down the stretch, in the absence of Aleu Aleu, who is out for the year with a knee injury, Addo-Ankrah has scored in double figures three times. He torched Southern Miss for 21 points in Hattiesburg on Feb. 17.

“I’m not surprised,” Germany said. “He’s in the gym every night. He puts in the time, the hours. He’s taken advantage of this opportunity he’s gotten and everyone is just super proud of him. He deserves every bit of it. He’s a big key for us.”

Deing could be a wild card for UTSA in the tournament. At times this season, the junior transfer from Dodge City Community College in Kansas has played extremely well.

At other times, he has slumped badly. Once, in the first few days of January, he got so upset after a poor performance in Alabama against UAB that he left the team. Now he is back and is playing well.

Deing, who played for South Sudan’s national team last summer, is averaging 16.4 points while hitting 40.9 percent from three in his last five games.

For most of the season, Germany has been the rock. The 6-foot-11 junior from Oklahoma has averaged career highs of 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds. Facing pressure in a lot of games from double teams, he has shot 48.2 percent from the field.

On Monday, Germany was named to the C-USA’s honorable mention team.

“There’s a bunch of good guys in our league, so I’m not surprised,” Germany said. “In my mind, I’m up there with anybody in the league. But the guys up there (on the first and second teams), they deserve it. I’ll be there next year.”

First-team honors went to Louisiana Tech center/power forward Kenneth Lofton, Jr. The big men honored on the second team were Thomas Bell of North Texas and Austin Trice of Old Dominion. On the third team, there were no big men listed, only five guards.

Coming up

UTSA in the Conference USA tournament, at Frisco
Tuesday — UTSA vs. Southern Miss, 7 p.m.
Wednesday — UTSA or Southern Miss vs. Florida Atlantic, 8:30 p.m.
Thursday — UTSA, Southern Miss or Florida Atlantic vs. UAB, 8:30 p.m.
Friday — Semifinals
Saturday — Finals

Chattanooga claims an NCAA bid on a buzzer-beating three

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The Chattanooga Mocs won the Southern Conference title and claimed an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament Monday night when David Jean-Baptiste hit a 30-foot, 3-point shot at the buzzer in overtime for a 64-63 victory over the Furman Paladins

In the game played at Asheville, N.C., Mike Bothwell put Furman in front by sinking a layup with 4.3 seconds left. Chattanooga elected not to call time out, and Jean-Baptiste took the inbounds pass, dribbled through traffic and, ranging to his left, let fly on a jumper that swished.

NCAA automatic bids

Chattanooga — Southern Conference
Georgia State — Sun Belt
Longwood — Big South
Loyola-Chicago — Missouri Valley
Murray State — Ohio Valley

Jhivvan Jackson scores 30 points in his Spanish league debut

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Jhivvan Jackson. UTSA beat Southern Miss 78-72 in Conference USA action at the Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. - photo by Joe Alexander

Guard Jhivvan Jackson, shown here in a file photo from the 2020-21 UTSA basketball season, made his professional debut last week in Spain. — Photo by Joe Alexander.

Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA’s all-time scoring leader, had 30 points and four assists in 26 minutes in his professional debut for Club Basquet Menorca in the third-tier Spanish league LEBA Plata, the school’s athletics media relations department reported.

A native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Jackson debuted with Basquet Menorca last week, on Wednesday.

Jackson played at UTSA for four seasons through the 2020-21 season and scored 2,551 points in his career, a performance that has been established as an NCAA Division I record among players born in Latin America.

The 6-foot guard’s point total in college is also the UTSA basketball school record, and it places Jackson at No. 52 overall on the Division I list.

In leading the Roadrunners to the Conference USA tournament last spring, Jackson suffered a shoulder injury, and he opted to rehabilitate it and not play professionally until recently.

The current UTSA coaching staff, led by Steve Henson, recruited Jackson and Keaton Wallace in the same class.

They both debuted for the Roadrunners in the 2017-18 season and became one of the highest-scoring duos in NCAA history.

Wallace left UTSA with 2,080 points, which is No. 2 in school history. He plays now for the Agua Caliente Clippers in the NBA G League, averaging 18.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists, according to basketball-reference.com.