Nov. 7, 2007

Who's ready for some UTPA basketball?

The Valley's Division I basketball season is just around the corner, and one person who's extremely excited about the upcoming season is second-year head men's basketball coach Tom Schuberth.

In his first season with the Broncs, Schuberth has changed the dynamics of the men's basketball program and has brought a more exciting brand of basketball to the UTPA Fieldhouse.

The UTPA General returns to a squad that finished the 2006-07 season with a 14-15 overall record, including an 11-2 home record. The Broncs will have plenty of chances to improve on their road record this season as they will play in five tournaments across the United States.

"Playing on the road is much more difficult, but that's the life of an Independent team. I do like the tournaments because we will be playing on a neutral site for at least one of the games. The thing about this season is because we're on the road so much, the following year we'll have more home games. I would love to envision half of our games at home and half on the road," said Schuberth.

With any season, a coach's main priority is to win as many games as possible, and the most important focus for this campaign is to get all the pieces of the puzzle to become one.

"Every coach wants to go undefeated, have a winning season, and most importantly be the best team we can be. Hopefully that will equate to us being the best Independent team in the country. There are seven true Independents, and we want to be the number-one team in the United States," Schuberth said.

UTPA will be without their strongest and most consistent player from the 2006-07 season in Colin Lien, but the recruiting class for the Broncs has brought in a talented combination of junior college transfers and true freshmen that will hopefully fill the absence of Lien.

"Our offense is going to change a lot with the loss of Colin. Right now, someone needs to step up out of our post players to be our inside scorer. With the addition of Nathan Hawkins (San Antonio, TX/Moberly Area C.C.) and Adinson Mosquera (Medellin, Colombia/Lon Morris College), we need someone step up and be able to take over where Colin left off," said Schuberth.

Below is a preview of the 2007-08 University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team.

Point Guard
Senior starter Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/Lansing C.C.) returns for his second year in a Bronc uniform and is coming off a season in which he started in 29 games at point guard. The quarterback of the team collected 10 games of 10 or more points and finished the season with 15 games of five of more assists. Stoll was a three-time recipient of the Independent Newcomer of the Week award while ranking first among all NCAA Division I Independent players in assists per game and was listed in the top-10 among all NCAA Division I Independent players in total assists.

"Paul had a great year last year considering he was new to the system and new to me. I think Paul did a great job and got better with each game. Paul is exceptional shooter and is really confident when the ball is in his hands. I think playing in China and playing against great players really improved his game. We are expecting big things from him. How he plays is the way our team will play, and that's a big responsibility," added Schuberth.

Rio Grande Valley product Danny Puente (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.) will be limited in the point guard position as most of his work on the court will come from the two-spot. The UTPA junior appeared in 19 games this past season where he earned a spot in the starting rotation on three occasions.

"I can't say enough good things about Danny, everything we have asked he's done. We'll play him some at the one, but we're looking at him playing at the two and three off-guard position," Schuberth commented.

Nick Weiermiller (Elmira, NY/IMG Academy) spent the 2006-07 campaign at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. During his prep career at Elmira Free Academy, Weiermiller was selected as the Star-Gazette All-Twin Tiers Boys' Basketball Player of the Year during his junior and senior campaigns. During his final campaign at Elmira Free Academy, the newly-signed UTPA guard averaged 21.1 points per game en route to earning fifth-team Class A All-State honors.

"Nick spent one year at IMG Academy which is a Prep School so he had an opportunity to have post high school experience at the Division I level. Nick has a tremendous attitudes and I think with him being here throughout the summer he is farther along than most freshman," Schuberth said.

Shooting Guard
UTPA standout Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris Junior College) returns for his second season with the Broncs. Burrell was selected as the United Basketball League Newcomer of the Year as the UTPA guard was the top vote-getter among all UBL first-year players while also earning a trip to both the UBL First Team and All-Newcomer Team.

The Bronc junior finished the season averaging a team-high 15.6 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds per game. The Bronc guard collected 10 or more points in 25 of 29 games and scored 20 or more points on eight occasions while leading the program in scoring in 15 of 29 games.

"Brian was our leading scorer last year, and somewhat-of our go-to-guy. He loves to win, and that's what makes our team successful because we have player's that don't care who gets the credit, and Brain is a perfect example of that. He shoots the ball so well, and we know he's going to have a good year if he continues to work hard, and we're looking for big things out of him," said Schuberth.

Senior Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/ James E. Taylor H.S.) returns for his final season in a Bronc uniform after appearing in 29 games with 28 starts. The UTPA senior averaged 7.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 steals per game during his junior campaign. Shankle ranked in the top-10 among all NCAA Division I Independent players in three-point field goal percentage.

"Dexter is a true leader. He did the little things necessary for us to win games. Taking charges, guarding the other teams best players, being a great teammate, being vocal and doing the little things that it takes to win games made Dexter a special player for us," added Schuberth.

True freshman Damon Franklin (Flint, MI /Flint Northwestern H.S.) will be one of the most interesting players in the Bronc lineup as he was heavily recruited by the UTPA coaching staff. Franklin was a two-time city scoring champion his junior and senior campaigns en route to averaging 18.2 points per game en route to earning first-team All-Area and second-team Class B All-State honors.

"Damon is one of the best athletes on the team. He can slash to the basket, and I'm expecting him to come in and contribute right away. He has the opportunity to step up and start at one of the guard positions," Schuberth said.

Nicholas Weiermiller (Elmira, NY/IMG Academy) spent the 2006-07 campaign at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. During his prep career at Elmira Free Academy, Weiermiller was selected as the Star-Gazette All-Twin Tiers Boys' Basketball Player of the Year during his junior and senior campaigns. During his final campaign at Elmira Free Academy, the newly-signed UTPA guard averaged 21.1 points per game en route to earning fifth-team Class A All-State honors.

"Nick spent one year at IMG Academy which is a Prep School so he had an opportunity to have post high school experience at the Division I level. Nick has a tremendous attitudes and I think with him being here throughout the summer he is farther along than most freshman," Schuberth said.

Local product Ben Smith (Pharr, TX/ PSJA North) will look for more playing time this season as he is one of the most improved players on the Bronc lineup. The UTPA freshman saw action in 14 games during his rookie campaign.

"With Ben being a local guy and a great shooter, we are expecting a lot of things from him. Ben still has a lot of learning but he's made great strides. I have confidence in him, and we're expecting him to help us not only for this season, but for seasons to come," commented Schuberth.

Steve Silva (Mission, TX/Sharyland H.S.) red-shirted during the 2006-07 season and will vie for playing time in his second year with the Broncs.

"Steven is a non-scholarship player, but he gives you everything he has. His improvement has been incredible. He's probably the most improved player on the team. He's made great strides, and I think Steven can vie for playing time before he graduates," Schuberth said.

Forwards
Senior Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) returns for his final season with the Broncs. Trader concluded his junior campaign with the Broncs by averaging a career-high 7.9 points per game to go along with 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

"Zack has shown tremendous leadership. He's improved not only on his game, but his body. He's become a bigger, stronger player, and I think Zack will be our most consistent inside scorer. I'm looking for him to be a leader not only by his actions, but verbally. He's our best inside scorer, and we need to give him the basketball to be successful," Schuberth said.

Emmanuel Jones (Washington, DC/Riverside City College) is a strong addition added to the Broncs' roster this season. Jones comes to the Rio Grande Valley from Riverside City College where he was honored with Orange Empire Conference first team accolades during his sophomore campaign with the Tigers. The 6-7 forward guided his junior college program to an Orange Empire Conference championship during the 2006-07 season.

"Emmanuel is a tremendous athlete. He will play the two-three position for us. He came to us late out of junior college. I've been very pleased with his progress because he is maybe as good an athlete on the team," said Schuberth.

Valley product Ryan Buck (Harlingen, TX/ Harlingen South H.S.) returns to the Bronc lineup after appearing in nine games during his junior campaign.

"Ryan is a wonderful young man. He already has his degree and currently is working on his masters. I'm hoping that Ryan can get in there and get some playing time. He works hard, and I think he will be called on to help us win some games," added Schuberth.

Due to a knee injury, Julius Allgood (Marion, AL/Southern Union State C.C.) will sit out this season, but will be back in the lineup next year. Allgood averaged 4.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.4 blocks and 0.2 steals per game in his first season with the Broncs.

"Injuries are apart of the game, and Julius getting hurt is not a good feeling from a coaches aspects. He was going to have a fantastic year for us, but he'll be back the following year. I'm very pleased with his attitude and the strides he's made. We were really counting on him this year, but someone has step up and take his spot," said Schuberth.

Jacob Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) returns for his second season with the Broncs after red-shirting his first year.

"Jake has an opportunity to play this year. Losing Colin Lien, Kano Edwards, Julius being hurt, Alex Robinson transferring, the forward spot is wide open, and Jake has an opportunity to get a lot of minutes if he'll work hard," Schuberth said.

Center
Newly-added low-post player Nathan Hawkins (San Antonio, TX/Moberly Area C.C.) was a standout for the Moberly Area Community College men's basketball program where he averaged 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in his single season with the squad. Hawkins is the nephew of NBA Hall of Fame standout George Gervin.

"Nate is probably our strongest post player. Even though, he's not as tall as the some of the other players; he knows how to use his body. We are expecting big things out of Nate, and he's going to contribute and help us," commented Schuberth.

Junior college transfer Adinson Mosquera (Medellin, Colombia/Lon Morris College) comes to the Rio Grande Valley from Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, TX, where he helped the Bearcats reach the NJCAA National Tournament during the 2006-07 campaign. The Lon Morris forward averaged 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the Bearcats' three games at the Region XIV Tournament.

"Adinson is a tremendous athlete. We've seen a lot of development in him over the last couple of weeks. He's only going to get better, he has a great attitude, and he works hard. The one dimension he gives us is his shot blocking ability. He can be a leader for us if he continues to focus and have that desire to get better, which he does," said Schuberth.

Overall
The Valley's basketball program enters the upcoming campaign with one of the most unusually schedules, which includes a record-setting five tournaments, 10 home games and an extended amount of road games. The Broncs will match-up against teams from the Southwestern, Heartland, Conference-USA and Southland Conference.

"We're going to play a couple tough teams. UTSA is going to be much improved. We have some of the independents coming to us and Texas State is a much improved team so we'll have our work cut out for us," Schuberth said.

With the addition of several new faces and the loss of key players, the Broncs will turn their attention to developing a new style of offense and defense.

The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team has a squad fully-loaded with offensive threats and an experience group of seniors. Six seniors make the face of the Broncs lineup as their leadership will be what carries UTPA to a successful season.

UTPA Sports Information