COUNTDOWN FOR VAQUERO BASKETBALL - The Valley's Student Station

Kevynne Aleman

UTRGV Madness is an event that allows the community to show their school spirit with the Vaqueros basketball team, as well as it encourages the squads for the upcoming season.

Senior forward Aheren Freeman, expressed how exciting it is to see the support of the community.

“It’s crazy,” Freeman said. “Last year it was packed to the brim. I don’t think there was a single seat not taken. It’s exciting just seeing everybody come out and support men’s and women’s basketball. It just means a lot, they are excited to see what we can do.”

Next month marks the beginning of the UTRGV Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams season, the women’s first exhibition game is at 2 p.m. Nov. 4 against St. Mary’s University.

The men’s first exhibition game is at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 against Southwestern Adventist University. Both will take place at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Since they recently added new players to their rosters, both teams have been preparing for the season. Head coach for the UTRGV Men’s Basketball team Matt Figger discussed the differences for his team compared to previous seasons.

“It’s just a totally different team, totally different style of play,” Figger said. “I think we have more guys that have a high care factor. What I mean by that is there’s more guys that are willing to compete and I think on the competitive side of the ball is what we are going to see an improvement.”

Head coach for the UTRGV Women’s Basketball team Lane Lord described the areas the team has been focusing on most in the preseason.

“We are just trying to tune everything,” Lord said. “Trying to get a couple of kids healthy. We got a couple of nagging injuries, [overall] I really like our team. I think we have a chance to be really good. I like our depth, I like our athleticism, and we can really shoot the basketball so we are really excited to get going.”

Junior guard Elijah Elliot will make his debut with the Vaqueros in this exhibition game. He talked about what he’s looking forward to this season with the team and individually.

“As far as the team, I’m just looking to playing fast and just winning a lot of games,” Elliot said. “And individually, I just pray for a healthy season and do what I can do on the court to help the team win.”

Lord has implemented changes with the ladies this preseason. Graduate student forward Nyjah Mitchells talked about the examples Lord has brought up to the team.