ROY HESS | Staff Writer
As a recent all-state honoree, Mia Paz already has proven her ability to shoot the basketball on the high school level.
Now the four-year standout as a shooting guard for the Hanna Lady Eagles is taking her game to the NCAA Division I ranks.
The graduating senior signed an athletic scholarship agreement Wednesday to play next school year at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.
The signing took place at the Hanna auditorium with a number of family members, classmates, teachers, coaches and school officials on hand to witness the landmark event in the life of the young basketball star.
It was the 12th college signing of the school year at Hanna, and quite possibly the most well-attended signing event of all of them.
Paz said she had been thinking about her signing day for quite a while.
“It feels good because it’s a great accomplishment for me,” she said. “I’m already committed to the school. I no longer have to stress out about where I’ll end up next (school) year to play basketball. I chose UTRGV because it’s close to home, and I’ll be close to my family.
Being here at Hanna has been one of the best things in my life,” she added. “These people have treated me like I was part of their family. They’ve welcomed me with open arms.”
One of Paz’s teammates at UTRGV will be Valeria Tapia, a 2017 graduate of St. Joseph Academy who just completed her sophomore season for the Vaqueros’ women’s team.
They played against each other in high school. Now they’ll be teammates.
“I can’t wait to play with Valeria next season,” said Paz, who plans to pursue a kinesiology degree at UTRGV along with a minor in mathematics so she can one day become a teacher and basketball coach.
Paz, never shy about putting up long-range shots, has received numerous honors as a basketball player, including first-team all-state recognition as a senior last month by the Texas Girls Basketball Coaches Association.
As a senior, she was a 32-6A All-District first-teamer and The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro MVP. Paz was chosen as an All-Valley first-team selection who played in the All-Valley Showcase hosted by the RGV Vipers.
As a junior, Paz led the state with 123 3-pointers. She set a Valley record with 410 3-pointers during her four-year Hanna career. Also during the past season, she surpassed Alex Denson, a 1997 Hanna graduate, as the city’s all-time leading scorer with 2,968 points.
Also as a senior, Paz averaged 24.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists while leading the 26-12 Hanna girls back to the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. She had a 50-point game last December in which she made 12 3-pointers.
“These awards mean a lot to me, but it’s not just me,” Paz said. “I owe it all to my teammates. They are the reason I’m up here on the (auditorium) stage (signing a scholarship).”
Paz had many people to thank, including her parents, John and Becky Paz, plus Hanna girls coach Luis Gonzalez, who has guided her throughout her high school years.
“I thank my parents, my whole family and everyone, plus my coach,” she said. “Most importantly, I thank God for giving me this opportunity and allowing me to continue playing basketball because basketball is my life.
“I’m going to really miss Hanna, and I’m always going to be glad I came here,” Paz added.
Gonzalez said he’s never coached a scorer the caliber of Paz. He said he wasn’t going to shed any tears at Wednesday’s signing ceremony, but added he probably will shed some on the first day of practice next season when he realizes Paz is no longer around to play for the Lady Eagles.
“This is an amazing day,” Gonzalez said. “I’m so proud of Mia’s accomplishments. She’s had great accomplishments throughout the years, but signing an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship says it all. I don’t think it’s happened in Brownsville in at least 30 years, so I’m just so happy for her, and it’s so well-deserved.
“A lot of people just see her 3-pointers, and they don’t realize there’s a lot of work behind them with all the time she spends in practice and all those summers away from the family (playing basketball),” the Hanna coach added. “It takes a lot of work to get to that level.
“What can I say? Mia has left her mark with her legacy in Hanna basketball. Actually, it’s not just Hanna, but the entire Valley. There are a lot of little girls who are going to look at Mia Paz (as a role model), and they’re going to want to play NCAA Division I basketball, too. (That type of recognition) couldn’t happen to a better person.”