EDINBURG — Bobby Espericueta got plenty of buckets during his time wearing the black and blue of Edinburg Vela.
Now, the SaberCats standout’s eyes are set on being just as prolific at the next level as Espericueta signed a national letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Concordia University Texas in Austin, a NCAA Division III school, on Friday surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches at the RGV Vipers practice facility.
“A lot of these people have seen me grow up and it’s a great experience just to have this signing day,” Espericueta said. “It’s been a goal ever since I was a kid to play college ball. I didn’t think it was going to happen, but I’m glad Concordia gave me a chance and I can’t wait to get up there. It’s a dream come true.”
A three-year letterman, Espericueta became one of the Rio Grande Valley’s top guards with a knack for scoring his points and locking up on defense. His play is part of the reason the SaberCats have seen much success over the past two seasons, in particular.
As a senior in 2019-20, Espericueta led the SaberCats with 16.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game as Edinburg Vela reached the third round of the playoffs and captured the District 31-6A championship with an 11-1 record. Espericueta was also named the District 31-6A Most Valuable Player by the district’s coaches, and earned a spot on The Monitor’s 2020 All-Area Boys Basketball First Team.
| Edinburg Vela’s Bobby Espericueta (23) goes to the basket against San Benito in a 6A Bi-district playoff game at Edinburg Vela on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) |
During his junior season, he averaged 10 points and three rebounds per game as the SaberCats reached the fourth round of the playoffs, a 28-11 overall record and were crowned co-district champions along with Edinburg Economedes.
During his signing, Espericueta made sure to call out and either thank or joke with every one of his teammates in attendance.
“Each of them has helped me in some sort of way, so I had to explain the little things. There’s a lot that goes on with them and I’ll never forget these guys,” he said.
Espericueta follows a string of Edinburg Vela hoopers who have gone on to play at the next level over the past few years in Vela 2019 graduate and current Texas Luthern Bulldog Noah Sekinger, and Vela 2017 graduate and current St. Edwards player Ryan Garza.
Edinburg Vela head coach Lucio Rodriguez said Concordia is getting a great player on the court and a great person off it in Espericueta.
“Concordia is getting a high character, very talented player with a solid work ethic. Failure is not an option to him; he’s going to go over there and I’m 100% sure that he’s going to succeed at Concordia and bring his shooting ability and his defensive presence to help the team over there,” Rodriguez said.
Concordia University Texas competes in the American Southwest Conference and finished the 2019-20 season with a 12-14 overall record and a berth into the ASC Championship Tournament. Espericueta plans to major in business with a minor in kinesiology.