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Becoming friends: UTSA’s Jenkins and De Leon Negron reflect on the journey

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Jordyn Jenkins and the UTSA women's basketball teams celebrates at the Convocation Center after winning the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday, March 1, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins led the Roadrunners to AAC regular-season title and into the tournament as the No. 1 seed. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA point guard Nina De Leon Negron and forward Jordyn Jenkins grew up in different worlds, and yet they are so connected, so in tune with each other on the basketball court, that when they play you almost expect to hear a symphony in the background.

When fans of the Roadrunners watch these two, they see passes from De Leon Negron thrown into the post, right on Jenkins’ fingertips.

Nina De Leon Negron. The UTSA women's basketball teams celebrates at the Convocation Center after winning the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday, March 1, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA point guard Nina De Leon Negron (right) had a few things to say to broadcaster Carlie Heineman after the Roadrunners clinched the AAC regular-season title. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Or, they’re thrown from the paint to the perimeter on a drive and kick, with Jenkins set up perfectly for a three-point shot. Two wondrously talented kids, making it look easy.

Moreover, they also seem to have a tight, sister-like bond off the court. You can see it in their occasional in-public, chit-chats with one another and also in their whimsical displays of mock outrage and disagreement on the silliest little things.

For instance, De Leon Negron recently joked in a news conference about a claim that Jenkins wanted to buy a ranch in Texas one day.

She questioned irreverently the notion that her friend could run a ranch, noting that after the team’s trip to Puerto Rico last Christmas, she came away with the impression that Jenkins is afraid of animals.

“Like, which one?” Jenkins said, her eyebrows arching.

“In Puerto Rico,” De Leon Negron replied, “you were scared of everything.”

Oh, well.

One thing that is not open for debate, is that Jenkins and De Leon Negron will work as a unified force for the Roadrunners to win the American Women’s Basketball Championship this week.

They’ll lead the top-seeded Roadrunners into the quarterfinals on Monday in Fort Worth against the Rice Owls, with tipoff at noon at Dickies Arena.

Rising above adversity

To understand their connection as players, it’s best to consider their back stories, and how both faced significant obstacles in basketball and life before they became recipients last week of major awards in the American Athletic Conference.

Jenkins, from Renton, Wash., overcame ACL injuries to both knees.

The first mishap came late in her career at Kentridge High School. As a result, she sat out her senior year and part of her first season at the University of Southern California. The next one came in 2023, about a month after completion of her first season at UTSA.

Though she returned to play for the Roadrunners late in the 2023-24 season, Jenkins wasn’t quite the same player that she was a year earlier, when she was named Player of the Year in Conference USA.

This season, Jenkins returned to form, winning Player of the Year honors in the AAC, while leading UTSA to a 26-3 record, including 17-1 in conference.

De Leon Negron also endured a long road to being named AAC Newcomer of the Year and second-team all conference. When the Puerto Rico native came to the United States as a teenager, she spoke very little English.

Nina De Leon Negron, Karen Aston, Jordyn Jenkins - USTA Senior Day.

Nina De Leon Negron, Karen Aston, Jordyn Jenkins at USTA Senior Day. – Photo by Joe Alexander

First, she moved to Florida to attend Montverde Academy, then to Tennessee for a two-year stay at Austin Peay University and later to San Antonio for two more years at the University of the Incarnate Word.

She admitted at times wondering whether she might be better off just going home.

UTSA coach Karen Aston said that with everything that Jenkins and De Leon Negron have been through, she wouldn’t wish it on anyone. In terms of leadership, Aston said the two know how to play off the coaches

For instance, if coaches are upset and “getting on” the players, then the two know how to become positive to lift up their teammates.

“Our staff is like that,” Aston said. “They’ve learned how to play off of each other too, and play off of me, and I think that’s always when you have a successful team is when your players can become an extension of your coaches. That’s kind of what (De Leon Negron and Jenkins) have become.

“Our team has a lot of personalities, but they are definitely in the lead as far as that’s concerned. They’ve learned what the team needs, and I think that’s probably because of the efforts that they’ve made off the court, to get to know their teammates and spend time together, so they probably know each other’s personalities a lot better than I even know that they do.”

Recalling their first interaction

In NCAA games played against one another, De Leon Negron is 1-0 against Jenkins, a fact that is the source of discussion between the two to this day.

It was in December 2022, when the 5-foot-6 De Leon Negron was in her first season at UIW and Jenkins, a 6-foot forward, was in her first at UTSA. It was also the first time that either had come face to face with one another.

De Leon Negron described the mood in the Cardinals’ camp as “really serious” at the time, playing a game that the school “needed to win.”

“I remember the scout (on) Jordyn Jenkins, like, we need to be all over her. She’s really good. She still had a really good game. But I do remember that I went for a layup and she blocked my shot and she yelled at my face.

“I don’t know what I did to her,” De Leon Negron said. “I actually wasn’t talking trash. That was our first encounter.”

The two talked about the game in a sit-down with UTSA media staff and media before a March 1 Senior Day game against Florida Atlantic.

Recalled Jenkins, “I honestly think that’s funny, how that was our very first interaction…like, me, getting switched on her. It was like a low clock. High ball screen switch. And, yeah, I blocked her shot. And, yeah, I don’t know what I said.”

Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA beat Florida Atlantic 60-52 on Senior Day to clinch the American Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at the Convocation Center.

In December 2022, Jordyn Jenkins and UTSA played on the road against Nina De Leon Negron and Incarnate Word at UIW. Jenkins blocked her shot, but De Leon Negron scored 18 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals won, 56-53. It was the first interaction between players who would later become teammates. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Later in the game, De Leon Negron was starting to impose her will, in more ways than one. She was on a scoring binge, bringing the Cardinals back from a deficit, leading into what she recalled as “the free-throw incident.”

With UTSA’s Sidney Love at the line and a little more than a minute remaining, the first free throw was missed.

“So I was coming in, to go to my position.” De Leon Negron recalled, “and I just, like, tap her on the back and say, ‘Good shot. Do it again.”

UTSA’s Kyra White heard the exchange and took exception to it, and apparently some words were exchanged. Ultimately, referees started to blow their whistles to sort out what was going on.

“I actually didn’t do anything,” De Leon Negron said. “I just wanted to get into her head. We ended up getting a double tech, or something. But we got the win, and that’s all that matters.”

For the record, De Leon Negron and the Cardinals, playing at home, defeated Jenkins and the Roadrunners, 56-53.

She played a major role in the outcome, scoring 18 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. Even though the Roadrunners were upset at the time, the game also left an impression on Aston, who stepped in to recruit De Leon Negron immediately after she entered her name in the transfer portal last spring.

Becoming a Roadrunner

Today, De Leon Negron is a Roadrunner, and she has become one of Jenkins’ biggest boosters. Likewise, Jenkins said she knew from the first practices last summer that the addition of De Leon Negron to the squad was a plus.

“When Nina first got here, in the summer, I noticed how vocal she was and … knew how much of a hard worker she was,” Jenkins said. “She had already been getting shots up with one of our assistant coaches and one of our (former) players, as well. I knew that she was dedicated and that we were going to be on the same level mentally.”

The chemistry between the two developed quickly. Even in early practices last summer, De Leon Negron’s passes always seemed to be delivered to Jenkins with touch, leading to easy moves she could make around the basket.

“I mean, I kind of already kind of knew that I needed to get the ball to Jordy,” she said. “Not so we can score. But, like, kind of. It just makes everybody’s life easier, as I keep saying. But, she was just running the court and she was open, so I was just getting it to her.”

One day last summer, it looked to an outside observe like magic, as deft passes were delivered, and shots were made. It looked as if they had been teammates for months, not weeks.

“I feel like those practices in the summer, at the rec, they helped a lot,” De Leon Negron said. “Like, with our chemistry. I would see her running. It’s kind of hard sometimes with a post, because if they run, and one time you don’t give it to them, sometimes they get mad.

“Like, ‘I’m running. What are you doing? Why are you not passing it to me?’

“And I’ve never minded that. I’m like, ‘Jordyn, if you’re open and I don’t give it to you, tell me something.’ And she was kind of like, ‘I know you’re going to pass it to me every time I’m open.’ But I was like, ‘You need to tell me, because I need to know.’ Like, I like that.”

In explaining the early chemistry between the two, Jenkins said it’s always been her passion to work to get open for a shot.

“I’ve always played with a really good point guard,” she said. “I guess I know what they’re looking for and I think my IQ is really good, so … one thing I take pride in is … always trying to get open. Open in the post, however way I’m being guarded.

“You know, just trying to get my hand out. Catch any pass I can. I take pride in catching passes, as well, so I love assisting and I love catching passes.”

In the not-too-distant future, both players could be playing in the professional ranks. De Leon Negron is expected to have a chance to play pro ball, possibly in Puerto Rico. Jenkins could get a look from the WNBA.

De Leon Negron said Friday at UTSA that she wasn’t surprised her friend was named Player of the Year in the American.

“I’ve been telling Jordy all the time, ‘You’re good,’ “ she said. “Like, you should be in the league (in the WNBA). You’re going to be in the league.’ ”

Jenkins made it clear that she is focused on one thing, and that is winning the AAC postseason crown to assure a trip to the NCAA tournament.

“I’m just grateful, and just glad that we worked hard this season, and that we won all these awards,” she said. “But the job’s not finished, and we’re excited to keep going.”

Nina De Leon Negron. he UTSA women's basketball teams celebrates at the Convocation Center after winning the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday, March 1, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Five-foot-six UTSA point guard Nina De Leon Negron has been named as the Newcomer of the Year and second-team all conference in the AAC. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Jenkins named AAC player of the year as four UTSA women win postseason honors

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA women’s basketball team cleaned up with four individual postseason awards Friday a year after they didn’t get any, another sign of growing respect for the Roadrunners in the American Athletic Conference.

Two of the awards were fairly obvious to everyone after the Roadrunners rolled to a 26-3 record, including 17-1 for the AAC regular-season championship, and those included Jordyn Jenkins as player of the year and first-team all conference, and Karen Aston as coach of the year.

Two others honored included point guard Nina De Leon Negron and forward Idara Udo. De Leon Negron, a transfer from the University of the Incarnate Word, was newcomer of the year while both players were all-conference second team.

Jenkins led the AAC in scoring with 18.7 points per game. She also showed off a multi-faceted skill set with 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks. Offensively, she was efficient, hitting 48 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and 82 percent at the free-throw line.

The honor was the second for Jenkins in her UTSA career. In her first season in San Antonio after a transfer from Southern Cal, she was named in player of the year in Conference USA for the 2022-23 season.

In April of 2023, she suffered an offseason knee injury that forced her to miss most of 2023-24 season in rehabilitation.

During the time that she couldn’t play in games, she worked extensively on skill development. It led to her developing a more dependable three-point shot to add to her prowess in the post and the mid-range.

With more versatility, she ended up scoring 20 or more points in eight of 16 conference games this season.

“The only surprise to me was that she wasn’t unanimous,” Aston said.

Aston was a unanimous selection for coach of the year after leading the Roadrunners to a historic season, including their first AAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in tournament. UTSA’s 26 wins are a program record, while their 17 conference victories are the second-most in AAC history.

De Leon Negron was a steadying influence as the team’s primary playmaker, while Udo helped make UTSA the conference’s best in rebounding.

“I told the group a few minutes ago, anytime you get an individual award, it’s based on what the team does,” Aston said. “It’s a team award, and I think that those two feel that way, that everyone’s been a part of these individual awards that are being given, but there’s no question they showed a true reflection of senior leadership this year.

“I mean, they produced and it’s always about production in this business, but their leadership skills were tremendous, along with (guard) Sidney (Love). You know, Sidney’s was tremendous and she didn’t rewarded for that, but again, she got rewarded with a championship.”

Another possible oversight in the awards was the absence of UTSA forward Maya Linton from the all-defensive team.

Notable

UTSA will play in the AAC tournament at Fort Worth as the No. 1 seed, starting Monday at noon in the quarterfinals against either the UAB Blazers or the Rice Owls.

The Roadrunners likely will need to win three games in three days for the conference’s postseason championship to get rewarded with a trip to the NCAA tournament.

In other words, even if they win twice and reach the finals and lose in the title game, it’s uncertain whether they would get an NCAA at-large bid.

If the Roadrunners fail to make the 68-team NCAA field, they are assured of a spot in the 32-team Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.

Aston said UTSA has an automatic bid to the WBIT based on its regular-season title, and she confirmed that UTSA would play in that tournament if it is not selected for the NCAA.

Last season, the Roadrunners were ousted in the second round of the AAC tournament and played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), reaching the second round.

UTSA women hope to clinch AAC title outright on Saturday

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Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA beat Tulsa 64-53 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball at the Convocation Center on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Forward Jordyn Jenkins is averaging an AAC-leading 18.7 points for the Roadrunners, who have forged a 24-3 record with two games remaining in the regular season. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In a pre-game ceremony set for 11:40 a.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center, the UTSA Roadrunners will honor forward Jordyn Jenkins and guard Nina De Leon on a Senior Day spiced with championship implications.

Afterward, the UTSA women will tip off at noon against the Florida Atlantic University Owls, hoping to win and clinch sole ownership of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the AAC tournament.

If they beat the Owls, they could lose in the regular-season finale on Tuesday at East Carolina and still finish ahead of both the South Florida Bulls and the North Texas Mean Green in the standings.

Nina De Leon Negron. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Point guard Nina De Leon Negron has contributed 9.6 points, 5.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds for the Roadrunners, who have already clinched at least a share of the AAC regular-season title. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Earlier this week, the Roadrunners claimed at least a share of the championship, and now they want it all in front of a crowd that school officials hope will eclipse the school record attendance of 2,000.

Jenkins, who is making a strong bid for AAC Player of the Year honors, ever-so-cautiously declined to speculate on how it would feel to clinch at home.

“I would always say I’m trying to stay grounded and stay in the present, because it’s easy to get ahead of myself and already see confetti and already (see myself holding) the trophy above my head,” she said Friday afternoon. “So, I just try to think about what I’m going to have for dinner tonight.”

The AAC women’s tournament opens in Denton at the Super Pit on March 8. It will shift to Fort Worth and Dickies Arena on March 9. UTSA, with a double bye through the first two rounds, will open in the quarterfinals on March 10.

What the Roadrunners have accomplished is nothing short of remarkable. Picked in the preseason to finish fifth in the AAC, they have won 17 of their last 18 games for a 24-3 record. Their record in conference is a robust 15-1. Moreover, they’re 12-0 at home going into their final regular-season home game.

Still, they won’t be assured of an NCAA tournament berth unless they can win three in a row in Fort Worth for the automatic bid. It’s a thought that is troubling to coach UTSA coach Karen Aston.

“After going through this, I think it is tragic that conference (regular-season) champions don’t get automatic bids,” she said. “I mean, I’ve been processing all of this. Like, how do you keep us out of the tournament, if we don’t win the conference tournament?

“This is a team that has sustained excellence for a really long period of time, which is how you win a conference. You (probably need) some luck somewhere along the way. Which, we probably did at Memphis. But you also have something in you, to get through this whole 18-game process.

“I think that’s what I appreciate the most (about the Roadrunners). I want for them to win the (AAC) tournament. I want them to go to the NCAA tournament so bad, for them. But I am more proud of this. Because it’s so difficult … It takes a really special group to do what we’re doing.”

Aston said she doesn’t even want to start thinking about what it will be like once the season is over and Jenkins and De Leon Negron have moved on in their careers.

While Jenkins bounced back from a knee injury that caused her to sit out all but the final 17 games last year, De Leon Negron traveled a hard road, moving from her native Puerto Rico to the United States as a teenager, speaking mainly Spanish at the time, and then forging her college career at three schools.

Last summer, De Leon Negron joined the UTSA program as a transfer from the University of the Incarnate Word, from one San Antonio-based NCAA Division I program to another.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the journey with this group,” Aston said. “It’s one of those teams you’re going to look back on and, like, they don’t make ‘em like this very often. This is a group that I told (them) a month or two ago that they better enjoy this, because it just doesn’t come around like this very often.

“What I will appreciate most (about Jenkins and De Leon Negron) is their leadership, and it’s been constant,” the coach added. “It’s been Nina coming in and getting her feet wet and understanding what the team needed and Jordyn becoming Jordyn again, really, after what she went through (last year).

“They almost like met in the middle. In the middle of the summer, and they realized that we could be special and that they were going to take the reins of that. I mean, it’s their leadership Their numbers are great. Their performances are great, and all of that. But what I will appreciate most are the efforts they’ve made off the court to make this team really special.”

De Leon Negron lauded Aston, describing her as a caring mentor for everyone on the team.

“I want to shout out coach,” De Leon Negron said. “And I know Jordy feels the same way. Because we talk about this all the time. But with transfers … and experiencing different coaches, I always tell the girls, like, we get (to have) a good year.

“We have a coach that just cares about everybody.”

Speaking directly to the coach in the news conference, De Leon Negron told Aston, “It’s kind of like I want to tell you, I really appreciate you and every time I feel like I’m not good mentally and I come into your office, you always make me feel better. So, just never change . So always keep being that person for everybody.”

Blushing at her lead guard’s comments, Aston said, “I’m too old to change.”

Records

FAU 10-19, 2-14
UTSA 24-3, 15-1

Coming up

UTSA at East Carolina, Tuesday, 5 p.m.
(end of regular season)
UTSA in AAC tournament quarterfinals, at Fort Worth, Monday, March 10, opponent and time, TBA

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.