Xavier Aguilar 
EDINBURG – Basketball returns to UTRGV as the men’s basketball team held one of their first two practices last week, in preparation for the start of the season.
The team is coming off last season’s 3 to 15 conference record and an overall record of 8 to 23.
Matt Figger, the men’s basketball head coach said he is building the team by creating trust within his players.
“We are working on keeping things simple. Learning how to be good teammates. We want to be fast as a team, push the tempo, get a lot of possessions … “ […] so right now, we’re trying to build our identity and what we stand for. Be consistent with who you are,” said Figger.
Figger mentioned the team will show a better identity of his coaching style by playing faster, getting up and down the court, having a lot more post touches, and a better defense and rebound recovery. He adds he’s not rebuilding the team but rather building the team from the ground up.
Justin Johnson, guard and forward for the team who has a career average of 17.7 points, 2.3 assists, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.8 steals, said he is focusing on improving his overall game.
“There’s a lot of areas I’m working on mainly three-point shots getting my percentages up lowering my turnovers …you can expect big things, I just want to improve from last year,” said Johnson.
Johnson is the only returning starter on the roster this season.
The team hopes to bring a conference title, play cohesively, and better represent themselves as a team.
The first game will be November 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV fieldhouse against the Concordia tornadoes.
