BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — Angela Villarreal went against a saying often repeated by the Lady Panthers girls basketball coaching staff.
“My coaches always say there’s no crying in basketball,” Villarreal said.
The senior guard was understandably emotional given the circumstances. She was surrounded by members of her family, friends and teammates as she signed her National Letter of Intent to play basketball for the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley next year.
The signing occurred at Weslaco High School, where Villarreal has steadily grown her talents for the Lady Panthers.
Villarreal, fighting back tears, thanked her family for their ever-present support.
“I was the odd kid who liked basketball,” Villarreal said. “Nobody else (in my family) did anything athletically.”
Villarreal will receive a full four-year scholarship.
“The only thing she’ll pay for is an $89 parking pass,” Lady Panthers coach Griselda Fino said.
For Villarreal, choosing to take her talents to UTRGV wasn’t a difficult decision.
“It was about, academically wise, where I could get thing done,” Villarreal said. “It was about the best offer I could get. But also it’s about basketball, which I what I want to do.”
UTRGV will give Villarreal an opportunity to play the sport she loves in front of the people who matter most to her. It will also give her a chance to travel around the country as part of the Western Athletic Conference.
“The most important factor for her was playing in front of her family and playing in front of the home crowd,” Fino said. “That’s obviously a huge honor.”
Though several other schools from the San Antonio area, and one from as far away as Illinois, sought Villarreal’s services, it was UTRGV womens basketball coach Larry Tidwell who pursued the hardest.
Tidwell first saw Villarreal at a 5:30 a.m. practice at the beginning of last season. Tidwell and other coaches were at Weslaco to scout then-senior Laura Van Tilburg. But Fino wanted an opinion as to whether or not Villarreal could succeed at the next level. Tilburg currently plays for University of Texas-Pan American.
“(Tidwell) took two minutes to look at her,” Fino said. “We were doing some guard work and he said, ‘Coach, I want her.’”
Villarreal shares her mother’s high cheek bones and her father’s reserved demeanor. She was visibly nervous while speaking and often stopped to gain her composure. It was that quiet shell coach Fino sought to break when she first met Villarreal who was then in the eighth grade.
“We had an open gym and she came over,” Fino said. “And she was a shy kid. I couldn’t get her to get on the floor. She pretended to tie her shoes for 30 minutes.”
Now, Villarreal is the leader for what is arguably the best girls basketball team in the Valley.
“She’s always watching film and working hard to get better,” Fino said. “I can’t get her out of my office.”
The Lady Panthers are currently 6-0 on the season. The team’s most recent win came against Halringen, Tuesday night by a score of 50-36. Villarreal led the team in scoring with 19points.