Christian Meza
Sports Editor
The inaugural seasons for both men’s and women’s Jaguar basketball ended with the women’s team clawing their way to early success and the men’s team showing resilience.
The Mesquite interviewed both head coaches, who reflected on the season and the future.
Historic season sets championship standards for A&M-San Antonio
The Jaguar women’s basketball team saw early success by reaching the Red River Athletic Conference postseason tournament. Texas A&M University-San Antonio women’s basketball team finished with an 18-12 record and 14-10 record within conference play and the conference’s women’s basketball player of the year Natalia Trevino.
Their winning ways led them to reach the RRAC postseason tournament. The Jaguars made it to the semifinal round of the tournament, ultimately losing to the eventual champions, the Louisiana State University-Shreveport Pilots.
Women’s head coach Chris Minner said he believes the team adapted and performed well throughout the season with the injury bug forcing lineup changes, giving players opportunities for more playing time.
“It’s a great experience for the freshmen,” Minner said. “It’s more demanding playing against older players, learning the physicality, speed and the intensity.”
Freshmen TaMya Whitemon, Emily Carranco and Talaiyah Andrews came on late in the season but carved out significant roles to help elevate team playstyle.
Whitemon provided fast-paced scoring off the bench and her persistent defense led to 22 total steals for the season. Andrews was a rebounding machine, hitting double-digits in four games this season, and shot well from the floor at 44%. Carranco molded in Minner’s system as she excelled in the “three and d” playstyle. Carranco had 33 steals and 26 blocks on the season while shooting 29.3% from 3-point range.
Although proud of his team’s accomplishments, Minner isn’t satisfied and said the women’s success is far from over.
“We did well, but it’s not the standard going forward… I’m not getting a shirt that says fourth place,” Minner said. “I wanna cut nets down and get rings. I believe this university deserves that, the student body and the Southside of San Antonio deserves championship basketball.”
It’s no secret that Minner is expressive on the sidelines in games and demands excellence, effort and tenacity from his athletes — such as when he yelled at his leading scorer Trevino for “smoking” an open layup against North American University. Minner called a timeout after this play and went off on his team, demanding offensive perfection from Trevino and the Jags even though they held a 15-point advantage over NAU.
“My coaching style is not for everybody, but neither is winning,” Minner said. “I try to instill my high expectations with our female athletes. Some people look down on female athletes…I don’t.”
“We have the mindset that every position matters and that every minute should be played at the same energy level,” Minner said. “I owe everyone that plays every minute of the game my absolute best.”
A strength for this team all season was its signature full-court press defense, which caused havoc for opposing teams, allowing the Jaguars to have an abundance of points off turnovers. This playstyle forced opposing teams to play at a quick pace that favored the Jaguars.
“I think it’s hard to play against,” Minner said. “It creates a lot of turnovers and helps dictate the tempo of the game. It’s a huge advantage.”
Jaguars junior forward Maya Simon was recognized with an all-conference honorable mention for her defensive performance. Simon finished the regular season with 25 blocks and 45 steals.
Sophomore guard Victoria Adeniran earned the all-conference champion of character achievement, which recognizes Adeniran for being a team leader and for her integrity in maintaining academic excellence. Adeniran had 63 total steals on the season while shooting 47% from the field.
The Jaguars’ veterans Evelyn Lorenzo and Trevino were recognized for their season performances by the RRAC. Junior guard Lorenzo placed in the RRAC first team.
Lorenzo averaged 18 points a game and shot 77% from the free-throw line. She complemented her consistent scoring with playmaking averaging four assists a game. Lorenzo placed in the top five leaders in the RRAC for assists.
Graduate guard Trevino was awarded the RRAC women’s basketball player of the year. Trevino, along with teammate Lorenzo, finished in the top five leaders in points per game for the conference. Trevino scored 20-plus points in 13 out of her 30 games played this season, while also being a pesky defender, averaging three steals a contest. Trevino finished her student athletic career with an average of 19 points, six rebounds and four assists a game in her last season.
Grit, perseverance has Jags optimistic
A&M-San Antonio’s men’s basketball team embraced the process of building their progression as student athletes and team chemistry step by step. Embracing the development stage is a challenge that head coach Chris Dial and the team found hard to deal with as they all want to excel at the end of the day.
“You have to know that on those tough days that it’s not a failed season, that it’s a baby in its infancy,” Dial said. “We’re going to trip and fall and having to embrace that really maintained our sanity to a degree.”
“At the end of the day, we’re competitors, we don’t want to go out there and lose,” Dial said.
The Jags dealt with a multitude of injuries, often finishing practices with eight to nine athletes, leaving their bench depth thin and forcing several freshmen to step into the rotation. Some even had to play out of their own position, such as Aijan Hasadinratana.
“Ajian, if you watched his development through the season…he’s a local guy with a development mentality, and we threw him to the wolves,” Dial said. “He had to grow up.”
With so much inexperience at the collegiate level, many Jaguar freshmen accelerated their own progression playing against older and more experienced athletes. Every individual had a role in the lineup that contributed to this team such as Joshua Larry and Felix Grief.
“We have big expectations for Josh Larry; he really had a steady incline in progress before he had a tough injury,” Dial said. “He was knocking down shots and really became a key perimeter defender.”
“Felix had a great season for a freshman; we put a lot of weight on his shoulders,” Dial said. “He embraced it and was tough, and he got a lot of respect from the league.”
The men’s Jaguar basketball team ended its season on a multi-game losing streak and on an overall record of 5-25. However, its established veterans received RRAC recognition for their season performances.
Junior guard Antwone Gonzales placed in the RRAC second team all conference. Gonzales stepped up his play in the absence of leading scorer and graduate guard Journee Phillips. Gonzales had seven 20-plus-point games and one 30-point game this season.
Graduate guard Alex Nunnally was awarded the RRAC all All-Conference Champion of Character. Nunnally stepped up when his beyond the arc shooting was needed this season and emerged as a leader for the Jags. Nunally drained 32 three-pointers throughout the season while shooting at 38%.
“I applaud the guys; they showed some resilience and didn’t quit. They preserved and finished but now they’re hungry,” Dial said.
Dial and his coaching staff remain starving for success with their squad as they have a positive outlook of what’s to come with their developing Jaguar athletes. Dial gave his coaching staff credit as well for persevering through the losses and remaining patient to achieve their mission together.
“I never felt like I was on the island with these guys this year,” Dial said. “They put up with a lot, man I’m not the easiest guy to work with, especially when that competitive drive consumes you and you’re satiating that thirst.”
Dial’s expectations for next season are to improve and stay consistent with their progress, but not to set any unrealistic expectations as the program continues to prosper.
“I get on edge, man. The guys will tell you, but none of them quit and there was never an abandonment of our goal,” Dial said.
Dial said that the Jags are just as dangerous as any other team in the RRAC heading into next season. The Jags have nothing to lose and everything to gain if they make the postseason RRAC tournament.
“We don’t have anything to lose, that would be our mindset,” Dial said. “We’re not supposed to be here.”
“I’m showing up every single day with the intent to get this team into the conference tournament, and I believe that if we’re able to do that…coaches won’t be too comfortable lining up against us,” Dial said.
