MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
SANTA ROSA — After leading the Santa Rosa Warriors to a second consecutive state tournament appearance in 2018, AB Lozoya went off to Kilgore College where he spent two semesters as a student and basketball team manager.
Though it was a good spot to be in, Lozoya felt his place was on the court.
“I didn’t like being the manager at all,” he said. “I felt I could’ve been playing. That pretty much just motivated me. Even though I felt like I should, I told myself that next year, I want to be there.”
Lozoya took the next steps toward getting back on the court when he signed his letter of intent to play for Southwest Junior College in Uvalde on Wednesday afternoon at Santa Rosa High School.
The opportunity came when former teammate Leo Lara and his father Andy Lara helped Lozoya get in touch with South Texas Ballers coach Juan Galvan, who had a relationship with the Southwest Texas program and helped get the ball rolling.
“Leo’s dad and his family knew I wanted to play, so he tried to make some calls and tried to find someone who could help me out with that,” Lozoya recalled. “We ended up finding (Galvan) in McAllen who was willing to help. He made a few contacts from the San Antonio area and I was lucky enough to get a callback.”
Lozoya was a four-year varsity starter with Santa Rosa, where he helped lead the Warriors to four district titles, three Region IV-3A tournament appearances and back-to-back trips to the state tournament.
The former Warrior also racked up multiple district and area accolades.
Santa Rosa head coach Johnny Cipriano said Lozoya putting pen to paper was not only a happy feeling, but a weight off his shoulders knowing his former point guard will get a shot despite his 5-foot-2-inch frame.
“I know we tried very hard to get him to go play somewhere,” the Santa Rosa coach said. “A lot of people look at his stature and say ‘5-2, what can he do,’ but I’ve always felt he has an extremely big heart, he’s got a lot of talent and his basketball I.Q. is off the charts. I know he can play; it was just a matter of getting him that opportunity to play. Hopefully he’s going to go over there and open up some eyes and show them what he can do and what we all know he can do.”
Southwest Texas plays in the South Texas Club Sports League and is coached by Phillip Botello.
Lozoya doesn’t know too much about his new program or what to expect, but one thing he does know is that he’ll be ready.
“I’m extremely excited to get back to playing an actual game and not just open gym,” Lozoya said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment, so I’m hoping I’ll be fine. I’m just hoping to come in, get minutes if I can and if not, keep working hard as I can.”