WESLACO — Harlingen South guard Steven Ortegon did damage from the perimeter and post Nick Garcia went to work in the paint to lead the Hawks past the Weslaco East Wildcats 51-40 on Friday at Weslaco East High School.

The Hawks improve to 7-0 in District 32-5A. The Wildcats drop to 5-2 in league play.

Ortegon scored a game-high 17 points, and Garcia had a breakout game with a 14-point double-double.

“Nick is a very coachable kid, and it was just a matter of time before he broke out of his shell,” Harlingen South head coach Brian Molina said. “We tried to put him in a successful spot and I’m proud of him. He executed, he used his teammates, his teammates got him involved. I think we also proved we’re not just a one-man team. We got several guys out there that can score, and it showed tonight.”

Garcia battled down low against East’s bigs and consistently came down with offensive rebounds and put them back up for buckets.

“It’s just the mentality knowing they have to worry about Steven on the outside so I can go do my thing on the inside. We just work on it in practice, and that was the key tonight,” Garcia said.

South held a four-point halftime lead before blowing the game open during the third quarter. Isaiah Cantu and Pablo Guevara both added nine points for the Hawks.

“We were just using our energy. Our energy increased and our game increased, and that’s what led us tonight,” Ortegon said.

Jediah Rivens led Weslaco East with 15 points. Zion Rodriguez and Carlos Roman both finished with seven points apiece for the Wildcats.

Weslaco East moves on to face Brownsville Porter at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Weslaco East High School. Harlingen South will look to remain perfect in district with a tough test against Brownsville Veterans at 6 p.m.

“We’re just going to take it one game at a time,” Molina said. “I knew it was going to be a gauntlet. I knew it was going to be a marathon coming into this really tough district dropping from 6A to 5A, so I just told them we can only control what we can control, and that’s controlling ourselves and trying to get wins one game at a time.”

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PSJA High head baseball coach Marco Guajardo will be reinstated to his position after being placed on administrative leave while PSJA ISD conducted an investigation into an offense report submitted to the PSJA ISD Police Department regarding Guajardo.

Based on the findings of the investigation, PSJA Administration decided to reinstate Guajardo effective Monday, Jan. 9.

PSJA Administration issued the following statement to The Monitor:

“The PSJA ISD Police Department received an offense report regarding the PSJA Bears Head Baseball Coach and immediately initiated an investigation with the assistance of District Officials. As part of that process, the Head Baseball Coach was placed on administrative leave while the investigation was being conducted.

“The complaint was thoroughly investigated. The Administration, based on the findings of the investigation, decided to reinstate the Head Baseball Coach effective Monday, January 9, 2023. The complainant, at her request, was transferred to a new position.

“The Board of Trustees are not a part of this process and do not make any decisions regarding investigations such as this one.

“PSJA ISD encourages students, parents, and staff to immediately alert administrators or law enforcement officials of any improper situations they may witness or learn about that impact the safety and well-being of our students and staff.

“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority.”

The 2023 baseball season is set to begin with the first day of practice Jan. 20. Games are scheduled to begin Feb. 20.

PSJA High baseball finished the 2022 season with a 28-5-1 overall record and won the District 31-6A championship with a 15-1 record. The Bears advanced to the area round of the playoffs after defeating Harlingen High in Round 1.

MISSION — The Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks erased a 13-point halftime deficit to takedown Edinburg Vela 58-49 in a battle of District 31-5A unbeatens Tuesday at Sharyland Pioneer High School.

The Diamondbacks (15-10, 6-0) now sit alone atop the 31-5A standings, while Edinburg Vela (13-12, 5-1) slides into a tie for second with McAllen Memorial.

“We know that Edinburg Vela is a very well-coached team. We knew it was going to be tough competition coming in,” Sharyland Pioneer first-year head coach Fernando Rodriguez said. “I feel like our boys came out a little bit asleep early on. Shots weren’t falling, we weren’t doing the little things in terms of rebounding, missing assignments on defense, so we just went into halftime with a calm head, told them to keep battling, play our game, and if we do that, we’ll come out on top.”

“It was a good playoff atmosphere game between unbeaten teams. Hats off to them. They played a great game in the second half,” Edinburg Vela head coach Lucio Rodriguez said.

Edinburg Vela built its lead by playing tough inside defensively while allowing big man Axel Garza to go to work offensively. He scored all 12 of his points during the first half, finishing with 10 rebounds and two assists.

During the second half, however, it was Sharyland Pioneer’s backcourt play and defense that made the difference. Guards Jaden Garcia and Evan Yong combined to score 28 during the third and fourth quarters to propel Pioneer to victory.

“We just had to get the momentum going and keep working hard. We just had to execute. Defense and rebounding — that’s what won us the game,” the senior Yong said.

Edinburg Vela’s Axel Garza (13) attempts to control a ball is defended by Pioneer Jaden Garcia (12) during a District 31-5A game at Pioneer High school gymnasium Tuesday Jan. 03,2023 in Mission, Tx. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez

Garcia scored 17 of his 19 during the second half to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Yong scored 10 of his 16 during the third quarter, finishing with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Julian Valdez added 12 for Pioneer and Edward Chavez provided a spark off the bench with seven points and five boards.

“Today really brought out the best of us and we showed up as a team. I’m proud of my guys,” the sophomore Garcia said.

Edinburg Vela sophomore JP Olivarez finished strong with 10 of his 15 points during the fourth quarter and the SaberCats in comeback mode. EJ Avelar and Sam Sepulveda both had seven.

“I think we didn’t do a good job defending the ball in space. I think they were able to penetrate when we didn’t want them to penetrate,” Vela’s Rodriguez said. “They played a good game. Hats off to Coach Fern (Rodriguez), he’s doing a great job with those guys. First-year coach, he has them in a great position and I wish them nothing but the best.”

Edinburg Vela has a chance to bounce back against PSJA Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Edinburg Vela High School in Edinburg.

Edinburg Vela’s EJ Avelar (10) on a drive to the basket against Pioneer Edward Chavez (3) during a District 31-5A game at Pioneer High school gymnasium Tuesday Jan. 03,2023 in Mission, Tx. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez

Pioneer’s Rodriguez will look to lead the Diamondbacks to a seventh consecutive district win when they take on crosstown rival Sharyland High at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sharyland High School.

“I feel very blessed. All glory to God,” Pioneer’s Rodriguez said. “We got great kids, great parents, a great school district. We just come out here and compete every day. They come out here and work hard, put their best foot forward. That’s all we ask of them.”

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EDINBURG — The UTRGV women’s basketball team was in comeback mode from the midway point of the first quarter up until the final buzzer of its Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opener against New Mexico State.

The Vaqueros made it a one-point game during the fourth quarter, but didn’t have enough gas in the tank to complete the comeback, falling 67-59 to the Aggies on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.

UTRGV falls to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in WAC play. New Mexico State improves to 6-7 and 1-0 in conference. The Vaqueros are back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg against Seattle (0-11, 0-1).

“I thought New Mexico State really out-physicaled us all night. They got a lot of offensive rebounds, second-chance points, and defensively they were really on lockdown the whole night,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said. “We struggled to really do much. All the credit goes to New Mexico State. Another slow start for us offensively, but I thought we played much better in the second half.”

The Aggies set the tone by applying pressure defensively and outscoring the Vaqueros 24-8 in points in the paint during the first half. That led to a 32-24 lead for New Mexico State at the break.

Sophomore forward Deborah Ogayemi scored all 17 of her points during the third and fourth quarters to help the Vaqueros cut into the lead during the second half. Sophomore guard Iyana Dorsey finished with a game-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Tiffany McGarity and freshman post Charlotte O’Keefe scored six points apiece.

New Mexico State’s Shania Harper, Molly Kaiser and Sylena Peterson all scored double figures for the Aggies.

The Vaqueros will look to bounce back as they host Seattle on Saturday to close out their WAC homestand. Seattle was defeated by Sam Houston 92-72 on Thursday during its conference opener.

“We got to get off to a better start. Only 11 points in the first quarter and only 13 in the second — we got to score the basketball, we got to get to the paint,” Lord said. “I think if you look inside today, it ended up 38-28, they beat us by 10 in the paint, but it was lopsided in the first half until we started getting the ball down to Deb (Ogayemi) and Charlotte (O’Keefe). We’ll be back. We’ll be fine.”

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EDINBURG — Eighty percent of the starting lineup for the UTRGV women’s basketball team joined the program during the summer. The fifth starter, junior guard Halie Jones, served as the Vaqueros’ sixth-woman last season.

With only six returners from the 2021-22 campaign and a majority of the roster made up of new additions who signed out of high school or from the transfer portal, UTRGV head coach Lane Lord and the Vaqueros have spent the first third of the season putting pieces of the puzzle together.

The result is a 6-5 overall record, but the picture that’s still coming together game by game is of a battle-tested team that relies on its defense to get the job done.

Now, UTRGV is set to tip-off Western Athletic Conference (WAC) competition this week with home games against New Mexico State at 6:30 p.m. tonight and versus Seattle at 2 p.m. Saturday, both at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.

“I think the way we’ve competed the last couple weeks, the schedule that we played with four top 50 teams in the country out of 11 games, and to show the heart that we play with, the tenacity we play with, we’re excited for conference play,” Lord said.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley guard Iyana Dorsey (2) drives the ball down the court against St. Mary’s University in a non-conference game at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

Sophomore guard Iyana “Yaya” Dorsey is in her first year with the program after spending her first two seasons at Tarleton. Her knack for scoring came with her to the RGV from Stephenville as she’s averaging 14.8 points per game, the highest on the team.

She’s displayed fearlessness when driving to the basket, finishing through contact and consistency at the free throw line. Dorsey has also drilled a team-high 21 3-pointers in 10 games this season.

“We just want to win this year. We have a lot to accomplish and we have a lot to prove, so that’s what we’re here to do,” said the Saginaw native Dorsey.

Her running-mate in the UTRGV backcourt is Mele Kailahi, a junior college transfer from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Kailahi has been a sharpshooter for the Vaqueros through the first 11 games with a team-high .426 shooting percentage from long range with 20 made 3s.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley guard Mele Kailahi (20) drives to the basket against Texas A&M Corpus Christi in a non-conference game at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Edinburg. Joel Martinez

While Dorsey and Kailahi provide lethal scoring threats for the Vaqueros, their frontcourt starters have been the backbone of the defense.

Jones is in her fourth year with the program and has made a name for herself by playing hard defensively. Her tenacity and willingness to hit the floor to win 50-50 balls rubs off on every other player that enters the game for UTRGV. She leads the Vaqueros in steals with 1.5 thefts per game.

Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Halie Jones (24) attempts a steal on Seattle U’s Ramona Jagger (3) during an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Edinburg, Texas. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez

Tyler Junior College transfer Deborah Ogayemi, a 5-foot-11 forward, has made the transition from playing the five (center) to playing the four (power forward) for the Vaqueros. The move required adjustments to her game, but she’s become a force down low for UTRGV whenever a bucket inside is needed with an average of 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

“It’s different, but it’s a good different,” Ogayemi said. “I started off as a five, not really around the perimeter, but my teammates, they’ve helped me build my confidence in driving and shooting.”

UTRGV Falcons’ Deborah Ogayemi (33) pushes past Bowling Green Falcons’ Sophie Dziekan (3) to try to score Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, during Day 2 of the South Padre Island Classic at the South Padre Island Convention Center.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey

Holding down the five spot is Charlotte O’Keefe, the lone freshman on the team who stands at 6-foot-3. Her presence in the paint spreads the floor for shooters offensively, while her length and hustle impacts every game on the defensive end.

“She’s (O’Keefe) exceeded all expectations already and I think she’s going to continue. I think she’s got a chance to be freshman of the year in the (WAC) if she continues to grow the way she has in five months,” Lord said.

UTRGV Vaqueros’ Charlotte O’Keefe (1) searches for an open teammate as the Bowling Green Falcons’ defense moves to cut her off Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, during Day 2 of the South Padre Island Classic at the South Padre Island Convention Center.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey

UTRGV has also received consistent production from its bench, led by KaCee Kyle, Ashton McCorry, Tiffany McGarity, Zariah Sango and Jena’ Williams.

Bowling Green Falcons’ Nyla Hampton (12) guards UTRGV Vaqueros’ Jena’ Williams (11) Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, during Day 2 of the South Padre Island Classic at the South Padre Island Convention Center.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey

UTRGV’s six wins this season have come against McNeese, Northern Colorado, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston Christian, St. Mary’s and Boise State. Four of the Vaqueros’ five losses have come against teams — Bowling Green, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State — ranked inside the top 50 of the NCAA’s Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.

Now, the Vaqueros’ goal is to protect home court as they open WAC play against New Mexico State (5-7) and Seattle (0-10) this weekend.

“Our philosophy is you got to win your conference home games and you got to at least try to split on the road. If you do that, you’ll be in the top four and that’s our goal, to be top four in the league and have good seeding in the tournament,” Lord said.

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PHARR — The Edinburg Vela SaberCats didn’t surrender a point until under the four-minute mark of the first quarter of its District 31-5A game against PSJA North and rode that defensive effort en route to a 68-54 win against the Raiders on Thursday at PSJA North High School.

Edinburg Vela (13-11 overall) remains unbeaten in district at 4-0, while PSJA North (11-9 overall) drops to 2-2 in 31-5A competition.

“We talked about it before the game: we needed to come out with a good start by setting the tone defensively and imposing our will. They’re a good team, scrappy and kept us on our heels the whole game,” Vela head coach Lucio Rodriguez said.

While the SaberCats’ defense was stingy throughout, their offense was the opposite with eight different players recording first half points. Edinburg Vela’s ball movement led to open shots inside the paint and from beyond the arc, resulting in a 37-20 halftime lead.

JP Olivarez led the SaberCats with 13 points while Aiden Lopez added 12. Sam Sepulveda chipped in with nine and Axel Garza, Ozzy Garza and Diego Salinas scored eight points apiece. Olivarez’s drive-and-dish ability created looks around the basket for the SaberCats, which was key in sustaining their double-digit lead against the Raiders from the first quarter through the final buzzer.

“I think some of our best offense comes from our defense when we get those transition points and push the ball,” Olivarez said. “I just put a lot of trust in my guys and always try to look for them. Being a point guard, I’m a pass-first type of guy, so I look for them and then score after, but really and truly, it’s all the guys. Give them the ball and they’re going to make it.”

Gianni Beltran finished with a game-high 30 points for PSJA North with 18 coming during the second half. The SaberCats made operating on offense difficult for Beltran, but he battled through the adversity to finish nearly nine points above his 21.2 per game average thanks to some tough finishes inside. Mason Lopez added 12 for the Raiders.

“I think our kids played hard. That’s a very good Vela team but I think our kids played hard all the way to the end,” PSJA North head coach Angel Alonzo said. “It’s a tough district, so we just have to keep working.”

PSJA North will look to bounce back against Sharyland High at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30.

Edinburg Vela returns to action after the Christmas break with two big games against McAllen High at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30, and Sharyland Pioneer at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3.

“We want to keep getting better. We feel like we still have some areas to improve on, so those will be some games against battle-tested teams with great coaches and we’re looking forward to going against them,” Rodriguez said.

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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Defense has been the UTRGV women’s basketball team’s calling card throughout nonconference play and they showed it again during Day 2 of the third annual South Padre Island Classic.

Despite a 71-47 loss against Bowling Green on Tuesday at the South Padre Island Convention Center, the Vaqueros’ play in a defensive slugfest against a Mid-American Conference power showed promising signs as they shift their attention to Western Athletic Conference (WAC) competition next Thursday.

Bowling Green (10-1) entered its matchup against UTRGV (6-5) averaging 84 points per game, shooting 46.8% from the field and 38.4% from long range. The Vaqueros held the Falcons to 71 points, their second-lowest scoring output of the season, 41% shooting from the field, their third-lowest shooting performance in 11 games, and a season-low 17.6% shooting from deep.

The game against Bowling Green was UTRGV’s fourth against a top 50-ranked opponent in the Ratings Power Index (RPI).

“We really challenged ourselves in the nonconference and I think we’ve really grown. I think we’ve gotten better and better,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said. “Defensively, again, I thought we were just outstanding. (Bowling Green) averages 90 points a game. They’re an offensive juggernaut. We got a three-point game with three minutes to go in the third quarter, then we just couldn’t buy a bucket after that. … That’s a really good team, and we’re a very good team too, so we’re excited. I couldn’t be happier for this group because we got a lot of basketball ahead of us and we’re going to beat a lot of teams this year. If we can do the things that we did against these Power 5’s, we can do that against these WAC teams.”

UTRGV Vaqueros’ Halie Jones (24) moves the ball away from ball Bowling Green Falcons’ Elissa Brett (5) Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, during Day 2 of the South Padre Island Classic at the South Padre Island Convention Center.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey

UTRGV finishes 1-1 at this year’s South Padre Island Classic after picking up a 72-60 win over Boise State on Monday. Bowling Green went 2-0 over the two days with a 91-60 victory against Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday.

Halie Jones and Deborah Ogayemi led UTRGV with nine points apiece. Mele Kailahi and Zariah Sango had six, while KaCee Kyle, Tiffany McGarity and Charlotte O’Keefe all scored five points.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kailahi and a bucket inside from Ogayemi pulled the Vaqueros within three at 31-28 at the beginning of the third quarter, but that was as close as UTRGV would get.

UTRGV Vaqueros’ Deborah Ogayemi (33) ducks behind the guard of Bowling Green Falcons’ Allison Day (21) to score Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, during Day 2 of the South Padre Island Classic at the South Padre Island Convention Center.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey

Next for UTRGV is its conference opener against rival New Mexico State (5-7) on Dec. 29 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg. The Vaqueros then host Seattle (0-9) on Dec. 31.

“We’re hungry. That’s really the word — hungry,” Jones said. “Nothing’s better than conference play. It’s personal, it’s fun, just some dogs getting after it.”

“We’ve been working hard since June looking forward to conference play so we’re excited and ready,” Ogayemi said.

Tickets can be purchased at UTRGVtickets.com. The games can also be streamed online at ESPN+, ESPN’s streaming service.

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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — The UTRGV women’s basketball team tipped off the third annual South Padre Island Classic against Boise State and lost its leading scorer Iyana Dorsey momentarily during the first quarter due to two early fouls, then she exited for good after an injury in the second quarter.

The Vaqueros stepped up in her absence to pull out a 72-60 win over the Broncos on Monday at the South Padre Island Convention Center on South Padre Island led by a career-high 16 points from junior guard Jena’ Williams. UTRGV improved to 6-4 overall with the victory.

“It was just a complete game on both ends of the floor. We’ve been playing great defense, but our offense has kind of lagged behind, but tonight, we kind of put it all together, I thought,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said. “It was just a great team effort. We lose our leading scorer early in the game, and then people had to step up and Jena’ had a career-high tonight — she was awesome. It was kind of a trickle down effect from there, I thought we really shared the basketball well.”

UTRGV guard Jena’ Williams drives to the basket against Boise State on Day 1 of the UTRGV South Padre Island Classic on Monday at the South Padre Island Convention Center on South Padre Island. Courtesy Art – Kristella Cruz

Williams, who also added five assists, was one of three Vaqueros to finish in double figures. Mele Kailahi scored 13 points to go with five rebounds, three blocks, two steals and one assist. Deborah Ogayemi chipped in with 11 points and five boards.

“We got told in a timeout (Dorsey) wouldn’t return, so we all kind of knew we had to step up as a team. Yeah, I had a career-high night, but I’m not the only one who stepped up,” Williams said. “Our whole team really stepped up as a whole and made great plays. We did it tonight, but we really want her back.”

Lord said it was too early to determine Dorsey’s availability for Tuesday’s game against Bowling Green, but added the hope is to have her back in time for Western Athletic Conference play, which begins Dec. 29 for the Vaqueros.

The Vaqueros held a 33-26 advantage at the break, but Boise State came out hot to start the third quarter with the period’s first five points. UTRGV immediately answered with an eight-point run of their own to push the lead to double-digits and never looked back.

UTRGV guard Mele Kailahi attempts a layup against Boise State on Day 1 of the UTRGV South Padre Island Classic on Monday at the South Padre Island Convention Center on South Padre Island. Courtesy Art – Kristella Cruz

Kailahi came up big for the Vaqueros on both ends of the floor with momentum-building blocks and heads up plays offensively.

“I just fed off the energy I got from the bench. I think our bench brought a bunch of energy and it really helped me feel more confident,” Kailahi said. “I’m not really good at defense, but that means a lot to have that energy from the bench.”

The UTRGV South Padre Island Classic continues Tuesday with a 3 p.m. tip-off between Boise State and Texas A&M-Commerce. The Vaqueros will close the show with a 6 p.m. start against Bowling Green. Both games will be played at the South Padre Island Convention Center.

Bowling Green (9-1) defeated Texas A&M-Commerce (2-8) 90-61 in Game 1 of the UTRGV South Padre Island Classic on Monday.

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EDINBURG — The UTRGV women’s basketball team had a 12-day break from game action due to finals for the fall semester.

The Vaqueros returned to the court against St. Mary’s, shook off some rust and rolled to a 55-39 win over the Rattlers on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.

UTRGV improved to 5-4 overall, while St. Mary’s dropped to 5-5.

It wasn’t the Vaqueros’ best night offensively, but their defense is what carried them against St. Mary’s.

“Not playing for 12 days, we were pretty ice cold out there for a while, but it was good to get back on the floor. Defensively, we’re just so far ahead of our offense right now that it’s just keeping us in games and helping us win games,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said.

St. Mary’s got off to a 6-0 start before UTRGV began to lock in. The Vaqueros limited the Rattlers to 28.8% shooting from the field and finished with 10 steals, five blocks and won the rebounding battle 42-39.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley forward Charlotte O’Keefe (1) looks to pass the ball against St. Mary’s University in a non-conference game at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

UTRGV shot 45.5% and 50.0% during the first and second quarters to leap in front of St. Mary’s for good with a 35-24 lead at the break.

Iyana Dorsey led the Vaqueros with 13 points. Ashton McCorry added nine off the bench with three key 3-pointers. Mele Kailahi and Deborah Ogayemi scored seven apiece. Charlotte O’Keefe and Halie Jones both finished with six.

“(We tried) pretty much taking away the middle, the lane, that’s where their offense starts at the rim. Luckily our defense was there on the perimeter and I think our press helped out a lot,” Jones said.

Natalia Ryng led St. Mary’s with 10 points.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley forword Iyana Dorsey (2) attempts a basket against St. Mary’s University in a non-conference game at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

Next for UTRGV is the third annual South Padre Island Classic as the Vaqueros take over SPI on Monday and Tuesday with a round-robin style tournament featuring Boise State (4-7), Bowling Green (7-1) and Texas A&M-Commerce (2-7). All games will be played at the South Padre Island Convention Center.

The Vaqueros will face Boise State at 6 p.m. Monday, while Texas A&M-Commerce and Bowling Green start the SPI Classic at 3 p.m. Monday.

Tuesday will see Texas A&M-Commerce against Boise State at 3 p.m. and UTRGV versus Bowling Green at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at UTRGVtickets.com. The games can also be streamed online on ESPN+, ESPN’s streaming platform.

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EDINBURG — Travis Bush’s mother, Ida, was a cheerleader at Mercedes High School. His father, Bruce, served as head football coach at PSJA High, Donna High and PSJA North across three decades.

Tuesday, Bush, who attended Carnahan Elementary School in Pharr before embarking on a 23-year coaching career at the NCAA Division I, NFL and high school levels, was formally introduced to the public as UTRGV’s first head football coach during a news conference at H-E-B Park in Edinburg. H-E-B Park is where the Vaqueros plan to play their home games when the team kicks off its inaugural season in 2025.

“Exciting doesn’t explain what we’ve been going through. My tail hasn’t stopped wagging since this past weekend,” Bush said. “I’ve always said if the Valley ever got a college football team, holy smokes, watch out. I don’t think I said ‘smokes’, but it’s going to be fun. Now, after 40 years since my first football experience, to be standing up here as the head coach, it’s very humbling. I’m honored. I’m proud. I love the Valley. I love the communities. I love the culture. I love the people and geez, I love football. Understand, this is not just a job for me. This is the perfect opportunity to come back to a place I grew up, to come back to a place I love and give back to the community here and be a part of history.”

Travis Bush wears a Vaqueros hat after being introduced as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s first head football coach during a in front of a crowd at H-E-B Park on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

UTRGV vice president and director of athletics Chasse Conque described the day at H-E-B Park, which featured music from mariachis, the pep band and spirit teams, as another milestone moment in bringing college football to the RGV.

“Football for us has lived at the administration level, it’s lived in our campus and in our offices, but now, it’s a passing of a torch to our leader,” Conque said. “To be able to have Coach Bush join us with his experience, his gameplan, his ideas for our program, and then the kind of person he is, the ties he has throughout the state of Texas, the ties he has to the Rio Grande Valley, I don’t think we could have found a more perfect fit to be the leader of our program.”

Bush has college coaching experience at Houston, Texas Christian, Texas at San Antonio and Texas State, NFL experience with the Buffalo Bills and turned around Seguin and New Braunfels Canyon’s high school football programs during his career. He also played quarterback at Gregory-Portland and walked on as a receiver at Texas State.

Travis Bush makes the V sign for Vaqueros during the end of his speech as he is introduced as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s first head football coach in front of a crowd at H-E-B Park on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

The next steps for Bush at UTRGV will be hiring a staff, visiting and learning from Division I programs across the state such as Baylor, Texas Christian and UTSA, studying future conference opponents and recruiting to beat those potential opponents.

UTRGV will sign its first recruiting class in 2024, conduct a practice season that fall, sign another recruiting class in 2025 and officially kickoff Division I football in the Rio Grande Valley on Aug. 30, 2025.

“Right now, there’s 130 teams in FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) Division I football. There’s another 131 in FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision). We’re going to open up in a conference with 10 teams in 2025, so today, Dec. 15, 2022, I guarantee there’s 10 teams that know the Valley has football,” Bush said. “Pretty soon, there’s going to be about 130 teams that know the Valley has college football, and one day, the entire country is going to know the Valley has college football.”

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley flags are waved by UTRGV cheerleaders during a ceremony to introduce Travis Bush as the first UTRGV head football coach in front of a crowd at H-E-B Park on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

Bush said he plans to recruit and hopes to keep the Valley’s best high school football players in the Valley. There will also be walk-on opportunities as they start the program, providing an opportunity for Valley football players and from across the nation alike. There will be no upperclassmen in 2024 or 2025 outside of transfers, creating space for walk-ons to potentially make the team.

“We’re going to sign the max we can sign in that first class, but we’re going to have to have probably equal to more walk-ons that first year — same thing we did at UTSA, great opportunity,” Bush said. “We can only sign a certain amount by the NCAA, so if we want to field a team to practice in 2024, we’re going to have to have another 30, 40, 50 walk-ons, and I think there will be tons ready to have that opportunity. Looking back at UTSA, there were guys that we didn’t know about, they came in, walked-on, they played, one of them got in camp with the Chicago Bears, so you never know. To have that opportunity, there’s going to be a lot of availability for guys that want to walk on and come join the team.”

Several local high school football coaches from across the RGV were in attendance Tuesday for Bush’s introduction. Bush said they would be a major resource to the Vaqueros, who will always keep an open door for Rio Grande Valley high school football coaches.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley football helmets are displayed during a ceremony to introduce Travis Bush as the first UTRGV head football coach in front of a crowd at H-E-B Park on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez

“Opportunities are going to be there just because they’re going to be able to see you. Travis is going to be going to the games, he has his dad here, these guys are going to live in the community and they’re going to be able to see our kids play and see that they can play football,” PSJA North head football coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “It’s not just people from Dallas and Houston and San Antonio — Valley kids can play football. We may not have as many, but we do have kids that can go and play at the next level.”

Bruce Bush, Travis’ father, is a member of the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame and Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor. He still lives in the Valley after retiring as head football coach at PSJA North in 2012.

“To have our family back together in this area and for Travis to have this great opportunity, we’re so thankful to UTRGV and Dr. Guy Bailey and Chasse Conque and the athletic department for giving Travis this great opportunity,” Bruce Bush said. “He loves football, loves the Valley, and he’s so excited to be down here and be able to get this program started and build the culture for UTRGV football.”

Deposits for season tickets for the 2025 season can be made online at UTRGVtickets.com for $25.

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