By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
As Port Isabel head basketball coach Mike Hazelton put his finger prints on the Tarpons varsity program and set in motion a culture shift, sophomore Daniel Rinza Jr. quickly cemented his role as a starter and one of the team’s key contributors.
Both would have lasting impacts as they helped lead Port Isabel to a 20-13 record, second place in District 32-4A, its first playoff win since 2002 and the program’s first regional quarterfinal berth in school history.
For that reason, Hazelton has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2018 All-Metro Coach of the Year, while Rinza has been tabbed as the All-Metro Newcomer of the Year.
While new to the varsity program, Hazelton wasn’t new to the Port Isabel school district, having spent time at the middle school level before leaving for three years and ultimately returning.
“I looked at the roster and I knew they had guys returning and they played pretty well near the end of district last year,” Hazelton said. “I knew who some of the seniors were and I knew who Tommy Zurrita was from junior high. From that group alone and then you start adding new pieces to it, they look pretty decent.”
The Tarpons found their footing quickly as the upper and underclassmen groups began to mesh on the court, leading to good showings in preseason tournaments against larger schools.
Among those underclassmen was Rinza, who went from the freshman team to the varsity team after making a quick impression on Hazelton, who noticed him shooting around during the summer.
“I was watching him shoot and I’m like ‘Who’s this guy?’ and somebody said he was on the freshman team last year,” Hazelton recalled. “It didn’t make any sense to me. I was told he was a pretty good player, but he had really improved during the summer. He puts in a ton of time shooting and playing basketball (with AAU).”
Rinza didn’t come in lacking confidence either as he felt his summer workouts had put him in good position to succeed.
“I put in a lot of work in the gym with coaches,” he said. “From there, I felt I could do a lot of things for this team and ended up a good season. Once I started my first district game, I felt like I could get the rhythm of the whole district and it came flowing and flowing.”
Rinza quickly became a scorer and would continue to develop into an all-around player on the fly in the starting lineup.
By season’s end, Rinza averaged 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks per game and was tabbed as the District 32-4A Newcomer of the Year.
During a bi-district win over Orange Grove, Rinza was one of three Port Isabel players with 14 points along with Tommy Zurrita and Fernando Lopez.
For Rinza, his breakout season was not only about getting better as a player, but helping his upper-class teammates leave their mark.
Coming in, he felt they had the tools to make that happen.
“With a new coach, we felt like we could do some big things and the returners from last year wanted to end this season on a good note,” Rinza said. “Especially those seniors after all the years of playing basketball without making anything. We all wanted to come out and show what we could do.
“It really meant a lot to me being one of the younger guys on the team to be able to help and the season on a good note for those seniors.”
Hazelton added stability to a program that had a string of tough breaks that caused players to leave the program in the past. He also inherited a senior class who started the year with their third varsity coach.
“I had been here a while and they’ve always had some players, but something would happen like players quit or get kicked off and cause a chain reaction,” he said. “I told the guys if they could stick together the whole year and hang on together, we can accomplish some stuff.
“I think they see now that we can have success and we are able to compete with a lot of teams.”