UTSA forward Nick Allen rises up to hit a corner three-pointer in practice. The Roadrunners open the season Nov. 7 at home against St. Edward’s.
Eight days before showtime, third-year UTSA basketball coach Steve Henson stopped to talk to reporters after practice Tuesday afternoon and said he wants his team to compete for a championship.
Since UTSA has been picked to finish fifth in the C-USA poll, reporters asked Henson if the goals are loftier than that, given all the talent returning from a 20-win team.
“We’re not talking about a number of wins or any of that,” Henson said. “But we’re moving in the right direction. We’re stronger than we were. We’re deep. We got some pretty good maturity, some good leadership. We’re trying to position ourselves to make a run at a league title.”
The Roadrunners kick off the season at home against St. Edward’s, an NCAA Division II team from the Heartland Conference, on Nov. 7. On Nov. 12, UTSA will welcome coach Lon Kruger and the high-powered Oklahoma Sooners.
A starting lineup could consist of Nick Allen and promising newcomer Atem Bior in the post positions, with Byron Frohnen at wing and Keaton Wallace and Giovanni De Nicolao at the guard spots.
UTSA is expected to have one of the better backcourts in the conference, especially when sophomore Jhivvan Jackson is cleared to play.
Jackson, UTSA’s leading scorer last year, is recovering well from a knee injury and is tentatively set to play in early December, Henson said.
A promising newcomer
Henson said he has been particularly pleased with the play of Bior, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound power forward from Brisbane, Australia, who will bring a physical style under the glass.
“He’s a strong guy,” Henson said. “He’s extremely quick, rebounds the ball above the rim. You know, we got a bunch of guys that box out and chase after rebounds, but you notice him getting rebounds up higher than the other guys.”
Bior, who played last year at New Mexico Military Institute, averaged 13.1 points and 8.7 rebounds in leading the Broncos to an 18-12 record.
He started 29 of 30 games, shooting 48 percent from the field and 76 percent at the free-throw line. Bior is classified as a junior.
UTSA power forward Atem Bior hails from Brisbane, Australia.
The Associated Press 2018-19 preseason All-America team, with school, height, year and votes from a 65-member national media panel (key 2017-18 statistics in parentheses):
The UTSA Roadrunners have been picked fifth in the Conference USA men’s basketball race, the conference announced Thursday. UTSA is coming off its first 20-win season in seven years.
Additionally, sophomore guard Jhivvan Jackson has been named to the all-C-USA preseason team. Jackson is recovering from knee surgery, with an expected return in December.
2018-19 Conference USA Preseason Team
Jon Davis, Charlotte
Daquan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
Jon Elmore, Marshall
C.J Burks, Marshall
Roosevelt Smart, North Texas
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
B.J. Stith, Old Dominion
Zack Bryant, UAB
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU
Desean Murray, WKU
High-scoring guard Jhivvan Jackson’s return from a knee injury is now projected for “early December,” UTSA men’s basketball coach Steve Henson said Tuesday.
Late in the summer, Henson and his staff were hopeful that Jackson would be able to play in the Nov. 7 season opener against St. Edward’s.
Jhivvan Jackson
But the coach confirmed the new timetable after putting his team through its first official practice at the Convocation Center.
“The doctor, in studying that data, just changed his philosophy a little bit,” Henson said. “It pushes his return back. Which increases his chance for a full recovery, which is what we want.
“But we’ll miss him in some of those games now.”
The Roadrunners will play seven games in November, a schedule that includes a Nov. 12 home date against the Oklahoma Sooners.
They’ll play another six games in December, including a Dec. 15 game in North Little Rock against Arkansas.
Conference USA play opens Jan. 3 at home against the UTEP Miners.
Last season, Jackson set the school’s freshman scoring record with 534 points and led the team with 18.4 per game.
He suffered the injury on Feb. 24 in a home game against Louisiana Tech and sat out the remainder of the season, during which UTSA finished 20-15.
It was UTSA’s first 20-win season since 2011.
The former Puerto Rico junior national team guard had surgery in the third week of March.
High expectations
UTSA is expected to be strong again this season, with a backcourt including returning standouts Jackson, Keaton Wallace and Giovanni De Nicolao.
Before Jackson returns to the lineup, Henson could go with a starting guard personnel that would include Wallace, De Nicolao and Byron Frohnen, who swings between the wing and power forward.
Or, he could plug in one of his two freshmen standouts — Adokiye Iyaye or Tamir Bynum.
Senior Nick Allen leads a contingent of post players that include Adrian Rodriguez, newcomer Atem Bior and Toby Van Ry.
Giovanni De Nicolao
Quotable
“We’re a veteran team right now. I think we can step up and show what we can do this year. Of course, we can still shoot from three. We can run. We just got to improve on some defensive things.” — UTSA junior guard Giovanni De Nicolao.
The University of Calgary hit a 3-point shot with seven seconds left Monday for a 70-69 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners. It is the first of three exhibitions for the Roadrunners in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Statistics
Guard Keaton Wallace led UTSA with 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Wallace hit 6 of 13 shots from the field.
Guard Adokiye Ayaye scored 12 on five of 10 shooting.
Forward Atem Bior had eight points and 12 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end.
The Roadrunners struggled from long distance, misfiring on 20 of 23 three-ponters.
Still recovering from a knee injury, UTSA star Jhivvan Jackson (2) is running and practicing with the team this summer but won’t play in the team’s three-game series in Costa Rica.
The UTSA men’s basketball team is set to open on Monday a three-game series of exhibitions in Costa Rica.
Third-year Roadrunners coach Steve Henson put the team through 10 workouts in San Antonio leading into the trip.
The coach will have 10 players available, including forward Adrian Rodriguez, who sat out last season after injurying his knee in the regular-season opener.
In addition, newcomers Tamir Bynum, Adokiye Iyaye, Atem Bior and Knox Hellums will see action for the first time.
“The basketball portion is an opportunity for the new guys to get meshed into the system with the returners,” Henson said in an interview on campus last week. “The) things we’re doing now are things that will take quite a bit of time to do when the official season starts.
“So, we’re getting some that stuff out of the way now. Help them create that comfort level.”
Key players from last year, including Giovanni De Nicolao, Keaton Wallace and Nick Allen, are set to play.
Guard Jhivvan Jackson (knee) and forward Byron Frohnen (hand/wrist) won’t play.
Jackson, the leading scorer for a 20-15 team last year, is hopeful of returning to play some time around the start of the season after undergoing surgery last spring.
He has been running and shooting but hasn’t been cleared yet for contact.
“I feel great,” Jackson said last week. “You know, I’m getting better every day. I’m starting to do all the drills except the physical (contact).
“When we get back from Costa Rica, I’m going to get the knee brace. Then, most likely, two weeks after the knee brace, close to a month, I’m going to be able to do the physical (contact in practice).”
Costa Rica exhibitions
Monday — UTSA vs. University of Calgary
Tuesday — UTSA vs. University of Calgary
Wednesday –UTSA vs. U21 Costa Rica national team
UTSA roster
Jhivvan Jackson, sophomore, guard, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Byron Frohnen, junior, forward, Las Vegas
Tamir Bynum, freshman, guard, Houston
Giovanni De Nicolao, junior, guard, Padua, Italy
Mitar Stanojevic, junior, forward, Serbia
Adokiye Ayaye, freshman, guard, Oklahoma City
Adrian Rodriguez, redshirt freshman, forward, Tulsa
Knox Hellums, junior, guard, Tomball/Pepperdine
Keaton Wallace, sophomore, guard, Dallas
Atem Bior, junior, forward, Brisbane, Australia
Nick Allen, senior, forward, Surprise, Arizoona
Toby Van Ry, senior, forward, Fort Collins, Colorado
Notable
UTSA finished 20-15 last season, including 11-7 and fifth place in Conference USA. The Roadrunners reached the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. It was UTSA’s first 20-win season since the 2010-11 squad finished 20-14. Forward Deon Lyle and George Willborn III, who had eligibility remaining, are no longer with the team.
Quotable
“To be honest, we as a team, got really high expectations for ourselves. The main goal is to win the conference and go to the (NCAA) tournament … We got new guys coming in to help us get there and give us energy.” — UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson
Former Reagan swimmer Zach Yeadon beat his entry time by more than six seconds and placed seventh in the 800-meter freestyle relay Sunday on the last night of the Phillips 66 National Championships.
It was the third top-10 finish of the week for Yeadon, 19, a 6-foot-5 rising sophomore at Notre Dame. The meet was held at the Woolett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California.
Competing for Alamo Area Aquatics and swimming for coach Lou Walker, Yeadon notched a 10th-place showing in the 1,500 freestyle on Wednesday. He added a fourth place in the 400 free on Saturday.
Finally, he took seventh in the 800 with a time of 7 minutes and 56.32 seconds. It was a significant drop from his entry time of 8:02.52. Yeadon was seeded 15th coming into the meet.
Zane Grothe won in 7:44.57 for his second victory in two nights. Grothe claimed the title in the 400 free on Saturday.
Texas notables
Former O’Connor swimmer Mikey Calvillo was 16th in the 800 at 8:02.18.
Simone Manuel, who became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics two years ago, set a U.S. open record in winning the 50 free in 24.10 seconds.
Manuel, 21, from Sugar Land, also claimed first place in the 100 free last week. A swimmer at Stanford, she was fifth in the 200 after not competing in the event last year.
Evie Pfeifer, 19, a rising sophomore at the University of Texas, placed fourth in the 200 individual medley.
He was entered in most of the freestyle races when the U.S. junior and senior nationals were held at the Northside Swim Center.
Yeadon, formerly of Reagan High School, has come a long way since then.
He placed a surprising fourth Saturday night in the 400-meter free at the Phillips 66 National Championships.
The U.S. summer nationals are being held in Irvine, California.
Trailing in third place early in the race, Yeadon made a move and surged into the lead at the 200-meter mark.
But in the final 200, the 19-year-old rising sophomore at Notre Dame couldn’t hold on.
Zane Grothe, who took the lead at 250 meters, went on to win in 3 minutes and 46.53 seconds.
Grant Shoults claimed second in 3:46.90. Chris Wieser swam 3:48.92 for third place, followed by Yeadon in 3:49.09.
Yeadon, known primarily as a distance specialist, placed 10th in the 1,500-meter free on Wednesday.
He entered the 400 on Saturday with the 22nd-best qualifying time — a 3:53.10 — and broke it twice.
First, he swam 3:51.01 in the morning preliminaries for the No. 8 time of the session to claim a spot in the championship finals.
Next, Yeadon competed against the nation’s best in the night finals and lowered his time by another two seconds.
In the first 200 meters, he had the lead at 1:52.81. In the second half, he faded. But, still, Yeadon had executed another 2-second time drop.
So, what’s in store for this young man?
If Yeadon gains enough stamina in coming years to kick at the end of the 400 as well as he starts it, he could challenge for a spot on the next U.S. Olympic team.
Notable
Yeadon is swimming the national meet for Alamo Area Aquatics under the guidance of coach Lou Walker (pictured in photo above).
Former O’Connor star Mikey Calvillo, 17, also made his mark in the 400 free. He swam 3:55.56 for fourth place in the ‘D’ consolation final.
Yeadon, a Reagan graduate, was named Notre Dame men’s swimming Most Valuable Swimmer in 2017-18.
He equaled the best Notre Dame finish at the NCAA championship, placing fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle to claim first-team, All-America honors.
Yeadon established program records in the 500 (4:12.74), the 1000 (8:51.16) and 1,650-yard (14:34.60) freestyle.
Reagan highlights
Yeadon won a state championship as a Regan High School senior in 2017. Swimming the final individual race of his prep career, he claimed a gold medal in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:19.13. He also took third in the 200 free.
St. Edward’s beat UTSA 77-76 in men’s basketball on Wednesday night, Nov. 8, 2018, at the UTSA Convocation Center.
