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Homeward bound: Nina De Leon Negron prepares to play for UTSA in Puerto Rico

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Nina De Leon Negron. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA graduate senior Nina De Leon Negron is averaging 11.8 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. She’s also making 53.3 percent from three going into two games this week in her hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Ever since Nina De Leon Negron signed with the UTSA Roadrunners last spring, she has been excited for a chance to travel home and see family and friends on Thanksgiving.

The journey is happening, indeed, as UTSA (4-1) will take on the UNC Greensboro Spartans (6-1) on Thursday and the Towson Tigers (0-6) on Friday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Karen Aston. UTSA beat UT-Rio Grande Valley 74-69 in non-conference women's basketball on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Karen Aston has credited her team’s play at point guard this year for her team’s improvement on offense. Nina De Leon Negron and Sidney Love both start and alternate in bringing the ball up as playmakers. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Earlier this week, the Roadrunners’ graduate senior point guard sat and talked at the Convocation Center about how far she has come since she left home five years ago to live in the United States.

As a kid, she once was just another Puerto Rican ball player with dreams.

“It was fun,” she said. “It’s definitely different than the United States. I feel like kids here start training (early) with skills trainers. They’re young and they develop a lot of stuff. Like, they get good when they’re younger. They lift weights and stuff like that.

“In Puerto Rico, we don’t have those big facilities. So it’s kind of like, harder.”

Even though De Leon Negron took a different route to a starter’s role than most athletes in NCAA Division I, she made the most of it.

After a year at Montverde Academy in Florida, she began her college career with two seasons at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.

The former U17 player on the Puerto Rican national team then transferred to the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio for another two seasons. Now she’s a key player for the Roadrunners, who are among the favorites in the American Athletic Conference.

Combining with junior Sidney Love to give the Roadrunners a talented dual point-guard look, De Leon Negron has sparked the team to three wins in a four-game streak going going into San Juan.

As the first Puerto Rico native in UTSA women’s basketball history, she’s averaging a robust 11.8 points and 3.8 assists. After sitting out the second game of the season with a heel injury, the 5-foot-6 spark plug has found her offensive groove with games of 14, 13 and 16 points.

Not bad for someone who grew up, basically freelancing, as a young player on the Caribbean island.

“It was fun, but we were mostly playing instead of training,” De Leon Negron said. “You’re playing more than you’re training, which, I don’t think that’s the correct way. But, that’s kind of how it works there. But it was always fun. I always had my parents’ support. They were always like, you want to go shoot? You want to do this? I’ll take you. They were always there for me.

“So I’m definitely excited to go back and play for them.”

For De Leon Negron, another obstacle to achieving success in the college game came in overcoming the language barrier. It was a challenge for the Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican to learn English on the fly, starting in 2019 when she moved to Florida.

“I was not fluent (in English),” she said. “I barely knew (it). I moved to Montverde and, in Florida, there are a lot of Hispanic people in the schools. So I would speak Spanish, and then just English on the court. When I went to my first school, Austin Peay, there were no Hispanics there. I just knew one person who was Hispanic. So, that’s where, like, I learned English.

“I had to. I had no other choice.”

At Austin Peay, De Leon Negron played 55 games, starting all 33 as a sophomore when she led the team in assists (3.4) and ranked second in the Ohio Valley Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.95). Moving on to San Antonio, De Leon Negron took off as a player at UIW.

She averaged 11.7 points in 58 games over a two-year period, at one time scoring 25 in a victory over the Roadrunners as a junior.

Twice, she made all-Southland Conference. De Leon Negron was placed on the SLC second team as a junior and first team last season. Looking for “something new,” she entered the transfer portal last spring and hoped for the best. De Leon Negron found a new home with UTSA.

Initial workouts at the Convocation Center with grad assistant (now assistant coach) Angel Almaguer led to her introductions with all her new teammates.

“I would come in here with him and see the other girls, so I was already creating that bonding,” she said. “And then everyone was really welcoming. Like, the coaches and players … We’d always talk about the goals, to win the championship.

“It was really good, an easy transition,” she said. “Like, I’d been in San Antonio for two years, so it was easy. I like San Antonio, So I really feel comfortable. It was like a home.”

UTSA coach Karen Aston said the team’s appearance at the multi-team event in Puerto Rico was set up more than a year ago, well before De Leon Negron entered the portal.

“Was not aware of her being available or anything like that,” the coach said. “Obviously it ended up being maybe a good recruiting tool for us, because when we started recruiting her, we had the schedule. But it was a stroke of luck, for her, you know. She’s never played in front of her family. Just a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for a young lady … It’s well-deserved.”

When players visit their home locales on road trips, sometimes the emotion of a homecoming can be a distraction for them. But Aston said she’s not concerned about that with De Leon Negron.

“I don’t worry much about Nina,” the coach said. “She came here for legitimate reasons. She wanted a different experience, and she wanted to make the most of her experience, whatever that was. If that was learning something new, learning how to lead a different team, you know, Nina is all in.”

Aston said she doesn’t think De Leon Negron will feel any pressure. Rather, she said she thinks her playmaker will love the experience.

Puerto Rico native Jhivvan Jackson (left) is the all-time leading scorer for UTSA men’s basketball and recently signed to continue his professional career in Germany for the Wuerzburg Baskets. Jackson scored 2,551 points in his UTSA career (2017-2021) to become the all-time leading scorer from Latin America in NCAA Division I. His grandfather, veteran international coach Flor Melendez (right), traveled to San Antonio and attended a few UTSA practices during his grandson’s freshman year. – File photo, by Jerry Briggs.

“She has the opportunity to go down there and play in front of probably family and friends,” the coach said. “Her intention is to go right back to Puerto Rico when she finishes her season here and start her professional career. So I think this is just, kind of, a feather in her cap. It wasn’t expected.

“It’s not why she came here. But it’s a little bit of icing on the cake for her last year in college basketball.”

De Leon Negron’s face lights up when she’s asked about playing a college game on her home turf for the first time in her career.

“Yes sir, the first time, and I can’t wait,” she said. “I have all my family and my friends ready to go and watch me and support the team. I don’t know, I’m just so excited for it. I’ve been looking forward to it since coach told me.”

Coming up

UTSA vs. UNC Greensboro, Thursday, 10 a.m.
UTSA vs. Towson, Friday, 1 p.m.
Both games at San Juan, Puerto Rico

Records

UTSA (4-1)
UNC Greensboro (6-1)
Towson (0-6)

UTSA game by game

Nov. 7 — At Texas A&M, L, 51-55
Nov. 9 — UTRGV, W, 74-69
Nov. 14 — At New Mexico State, W, 75-61
Nov. 16 — At UTEP, W, 78-73
Nov. 20 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, W, 62-43

Making a statement? Ross finishes UTSA workout with a 3-point shooting flourish

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Taylor Ross. UTSA women's basketball at the Convocation Center on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. - photo by Joe Alexander

Taylor Ross, a UTSA freshman from Brennan High School, showed off her long-distance shooting touch in a drill at the end of Monday’s practice. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

I’ve seen the UTSA women’s basketball team practice probably a half a dozen times since July, and it seems like each time I come out to watch at the Convocation Center, a different player catches my attention.

Four months ago, a few days before the 4th of July holiday, I remember a workout that featured UIW transfer and point guard Nina De Leon Negron running the court and setting up the offense with slick ball handling and passing.

I noticed her touch passes into the paint, right on Jordyn Jenkins’ fingertips.

Later on, it was junior guard Siena Guttadauro, a returning player who didn’t see the floor much last season, coming on strong with confident play in the backcourt. In addition, I also remember Mississippi State transfer Nyayongah Gony.

The lithe, 6-foot-4 post seemed a bit out of synch on my first trip to campus. But slowly, step by step, she started to get better and better. In the last two or three workouts in a row that I’ve witnessed, Gony stood out with her speed, defensive agility and rebounding.

She was good again on Monday when she’d sprint in drills with multiple players on the floor, each of them combining to push the ball from end to end with long passes, all in an effort to get as many layups as possible in a certain amount of time.

Finally, as the workout was winding down, another player popped up on my radar. Six-foot-one freshman Taylor Ross drilled her first attempt in a three-point shooting drill. The shot looked smooth, so I kept my eye on her.

Pretty sure she knocked down five threes in a row, from different angles, before missing her last two. Other players seemed to have a pretty good rhythm, as well, with several knocking down triples from the corner, the wing and the top.

But it was Ross, a first-year college player from San Antonio’s Brennan High School, who seemed to have it really going on, perhaps trying to make a statement.

Playing power forward on a talented team, Ross is battling behind the likes of Jenkins, a preseason all-conference pick, and Gony, who has experience at both the University of Miami and Mississippi State, so finding playing time for her might be a challenge.

At least, initially.

“It’s going to take her awhile to get used to the speed of the game and the physicality, but she’s one we’re super excited about,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “She does have a lot of versatility, and she can stretch the floor at that four (position).

“I think she’s going to learn a lot from playing with someone as experienced as Jordyn.”

Last season, the Roadrunners were a team that excelled with their defense and their rebounding. They ranked among the national leaders in both categories in finishing 18-15 and making it all the way to the WNIT quarterfinals.

This year, Aston will demand excellence on the defensive end, as she always does, but it might be unfair to expect them to be as good as last year on that end of the floor.

Last season, with center Elyssa Coleman patrolling the paint and Kyra White on the perimeter, UTSA shut down opponents, holding them to 64 points and 36 percent shooting. Both players have moved on in their careers, leaving the Roadrunners to search for a new identity.

Could they find it with more proficient perimeter shooting? Based on early reports, they have a chance.

“I think we’ll possibly hit the three a little bit better,” Aston said. “Maybe (we’ll) be a little more versatile. I think our post players have created a little more range in their shooting. They’ve gotten to a place where they’re a little more confident facing up to the basket than they were last year.”

In the frontcourt, both Jenkins and Idara Udo seem capable of hitting from distances beyond where they have shot in the past. Jenkins hit some from three last year after she returned from knee rehabilitation, and she looks comfortable again from that distance.

In the backcourt, freshman shooting guard Aysia Proctor did the most damage for the Roadrunners last season, making a team-high 40 triples on 38.5 percent.

But this year, she should have help from the other guards, namely point guards Guttadauro, De Leon Negron and Sidney Love.

Guttadauro, a 5-6 junior from San Jose, Calif., might have the most upside potential to get hot and sink the long ball in bunches, but all three can hit it. In addition, freshmen Damara Allen and Mia Hammonds have both shown flashes, as well.

Last year, the Roadrunners struggled mightily from the three-point line. They shot 29.4 percent to rank 11th in the American Athletic Conference and 240th out of some 360 teams in NCAA Division I.

“We’ve emphasized it a lot,” Aston said. “We have spent a lot more time on it … quite a bit more time than I have in the past, in practice. But, you know, they got to show up and do it in a game.”

Notable

UTSA will host San Antonio’s St. Mary’s University Rattlers, a Division II program, on Friday night in its one and only exhibition. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners will open the regular season on Nov. 7 at Texas A&M.

De Leon Negron rallies the UIW women past UTSA, 56-53

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One of the smallest players on the floor stood tall Thursday night at the McDermott Convocation Center.

Five-foot-six Nina De Leon Negron scored 17 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals erased an eight-point deficit and downed their cross-town rival UTSA Roadrunners, 56-53.

Playing on their home court, the Cardinals trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter and then by a 40-32 score entering the fourth.

At that point, De Leon Negron, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, took control of the game with a relentless string of drives to the basket.

UTSA seemed to have enough to hold off UIW when forward Jordyn Jenkins, who led the Roadrunners with 21 points and 11 rebounds, scored on a left-handed scoop mid-way through the fourth period.

Jenkins’ skillful move to the basket stablized the Roadrunners and boosted them into a 44-37 lead with 6:10 remaining.

De Leon Negron, however, was just getting started.

First she drove to the hoop, scored and completed a three-point play. After a Queen Ulabo turnover on the dribble, UIW came down and De Leon Negron swished a three from the top, cutting the deficit to one.

Jenkins missed, setting up a Chloe Storer layup on the other end as the Cardinals surged into their first lead since the second quarter. Kyra White answered with a drive and a bucket to make it 46-45 for UTSA.

With White converting at the 4:19 mark, it would be the last lead for the Roadrunners. After that, De Leon Negron scored seven points over the next four minutes to put UTSA away.

Trailing by five with seven seconds left, the Roadrunners made it interesting to the final whistle.

After Deb Nwakamma’s long two out of the corner splashed, accounting for the final points of the game, UIW inbounded with one second left. The pass landed in the hands of UTSA’s Jenkins, who was standing outside the three-point line, but couldn’t get off a shot as the buzzer sounded.

It was a frustrating night for UTSA, which remained winless this season on the road (0-4).

The Roadrunners out-rebounded the Cardinals (37-28) and hit four more field goals (21-17) and, somehow, they still managed to lose. Problems centered around UTSA’s perimeter shooting (0-for-10 from three) and free-throw shooting.

While the Roadrunners hit only 11 of 20 from the line, the Cardinals made the most of their opportunities, knocking down 20 of 28.

De Leon hit eight of 14 from the field and one of two from 3-point territory. She put down eight of 12 at the free-throw line.

Records

UTSA 2-6
UIW 4-4

Notable

De Leon Negron has been hot and cold this season. In her last four games, she was held scoreless at TCU, had nine points at Texas Tech, 16 against Division III Schreiner and now a season-high 25 against UTSA.

With the victory, UIW improved to 2-1 against UTSA over the past three seasons. UTSA leads the overall series, 3-2.

UTSA, meanwhile fell to 0-6 away from home this season, including 0-4 on the road. Five of UTSA’s six losses have come by seven points or less.

Forward Elyssa Coleman had a good start to the game, scoring 13 points through three quarters. She was scoreless in the fourth and ended up fouling out.

Coming up

UTSA plays its last non-conference game on Monday at the University of Houston. After that, the Roadrunners have a 10-day break before opening Conference USA play. The Roadrunners play at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 29 and at UAB on Dec. 31.

UIW, coming off an NCAA tournament appearance last season, plays at home on Sunday against Sul Ross. From there, the Cardinals are at SMU on Dec. 21. UIW opens Southland Conference play at Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 31.