5 reasons to get pumped for UTSA Men’s Hoops

Rowdy fires up the student section in UTSA’s 100–67 win over FIU on Feb. 7, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Huehn/UTSA Athletics)

Oct. 28, 2019 — Basketball season is here! And in case you haven’t heard, big things are expected from the men’s basketball team for the 2019–2020 season.

Both the college basketball experts at Blue Ribbon Yearbook and Conference USA’s coaches have picked the Roadrunners to finish second in the conference this season (behind Western Kentucky).

Junior guard Jhivvan Jackson was named the preseason C-USA Player of the Year, and Jackson and fellow junior Keaton Wallace were two of only five players to be named to the preseason All-Conference USA team. 

You can get your first glimpse of the Roadrunners when they open the season on Wednesday, Oct. 30, with an exhibition contest against Texas A&M International. The game tips off at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center. In the meantime, there are five reasons to be pumped about the upcoming season.

Jhivvan Jackson (on left, wearing UTSA No. 2) walks through the pregame introduction before UTSA’s contest with Mid-America Christian on Dec. 8, 2018. Keaton Wallace (on right, wearing UTSA No. 22) celebrates a 76–74 victory over North Texas with teammates Atem Bior and Adrian Rodriguez on Jan. 12, 2019. (Photos by Jeff Huehn/UTSA Athletics)

1. JHIVVAN JACKSON IS A RECORD-BREAKING SCORER

There’s a Youtube video floating around out there that refers to Jhivvan Jackson as the Puerto Rican Allen Iverson. Although no one would mistake the UTSA junior for the former 11-time NBA All-Star, there are several striking similarities between their styles of play. Like Iverson, Jackson is an undersized scoring machine who has no fear driving to the basket for a tough bucket or, more likely, pulling up for a long 3-pointer. In true Iverson fashion, Jackson can also overwhelm any defense when he gets hot. Western Kentucky found that out the hard way in January [watch the clip, below]. 

Jackson put the conference on notice as a freshman in the 2017–2018 season. The Bayamón, Puerto Rico, native set the UTSA freshman scoring record with 534 points (18.4 per game) despite missing the final six games due to an ACL injury. He was named C-USA Freshman of the Year for his efforts. As a sophomore, he led the conference in scoring at 22.9 points per game—even though he played limited minutes in nonconference play as he recovered from the ACL tear. Jackson has been so prolific that if he merely maintains the scoring average from his sophomore campaign as a junior, he would become UTSA’s all-time leading scorer by the end of the season. If that doesn’t get you excited for Roadrunner basketball, the other half of UTSA’s electric backcourt surely will.

2. KEATON WALLACE WILL DO SOMETHING THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND

Just ask anyone who was in attendance for this dunk at the Convo last season.  

KEATON WALLACE! 😤😤😤 🔨🔨🔨 pic.twitter.com/BHvuyAJQfJ

— UTSA Basketball (@UTSAMBB) February 8, 2019

Wallace, a junior from Dallas, is a tremendous athlete who can make a crowd erupt with a monster dunk or hit a string of 3-pointers to lead UTSA to victory. In fact, Wallace shattered the previous school record by sinking 121 3-pointers last season. He was fourth among all Division I college basketball players in 3-pointers made per game in 2018–2019 (and for what it’s worth, Jihvvan Jackson was eighth in the nation in that category). Simply put, he’s a phenomenal threat on offense. Two nights after Jackson scored 46 points against Western Kentucky last season, Wallace scored 45 points in an overtime win at Marshall. 

There were only two pairs of teammates in college basketball last year who averaged more than 20 points per game. Wallace and Jackson were one pair. The other was Duke’s Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett, who were two of the top three selections in the 2019 NBA Draft. That might be why UTSA’s dynamic duo is drawing considerable preseason buzz from outlets like SBNation’s Mid Major Madness, or ESPNU and CBS Sports Network, which have both added UTSA men’s basketball games to their broadcast schedules. 

⇒ Meet the Roadrunner Men’s Basketball team.
⇒ See the full UTSA hoops schedule.

3. STEVE HENSON HAS THE SHIP HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Of course, Jackson and Wallace wouldn’t be in position for a breakout season if not for the tutelage and style of play implemented by fourth-year head coach Steve Henson. He’s earned a reputation for fostering guards who can score in bunches. Before arriving at UTSA Henson was an assistant coach at Oklahoma who was instrumental in the development of Buddy Hield, a two-time Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and now the starting shooting guard for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. 

UTSA Men’s Basketball has shown great progress since Henson was given the reins to a program that posted a 5–27 record in the 2015–2016 season. The Roadrunners followed up a 14-win finish in 2017 with a 20–15 campaign in 2018 that earned Henson the Conference USA Coach of the Year award. Last season UTSA overcame a rough 3–7 start and injury-related limitations to notch a 17–15 record and second place in the conference. The Roadrunners have won 11 conference games in each of the past two seasons and certainly have the talent to improve upon that mark this year.
 

4. THIS COULD BE THE DEEPEST TEAM UTSA HAS HAD IN YEARS

Jackson and Wallace get a lion’s share of the attention, but the Roadrunners return a third starter in senior forward Byron Frohnen. He led the team in rebounds per game last season, including a 13-rebound game at UTEP that was crucial to a UTSA victory. His ability to create second-chance scoring opportunities will be paramount to the team’s success. A couple of other returning ’Runners, senior Atem Bior and sophomore Adrian Rodriguez, will also pull down plenty of rebounds in the frontcourt, while sophomore guard Adokiye Iyaye continues to make valuable contributions off the bench. 

There are lots of exciting new additions as well. Freshman center Jacob Germany was a four-star recruit at Kingston High School in Oklahoma last year. His ability to block and finish at the rim will be more than welcome. Junior Knox Hellums is a stellar 3-point shooter who will finally see the court after transferring from Pepperdine University. Luka Barisic is another transfer who should make a big impact for the team. He averaged 17.9 points and 6.8 rebounds a game last season at Highland Community College in Illinois en route to becoming a junior college All-American. 

⇒ Want more insights on Roadrunner Men’s Basketball? Check out UTSA Today again on Oct. 30
     for a breakdown of key games and a look at the Convocation Center fan experience.

5. THIS TEAM IS F-U-N TO WATCH

You won’t find any slow, plodding basketball here. The Roadrunners like to push the pace and keep scoreboard operators busy. Last season UTSA scored more than 100 points in four different games (all wins), the program’s most since the 1992–1993 season. Because the Roadrunners can get red-hot in a flash, they can quickly take big leads and erase large deficits. UTSA did just that against eventual conference champion Old Dominion last season. With a little more than three minutes left in that contest the Roadrunners trailed the Monarchs by 17 points. UTSA’s chances of winning the game at that point were one-tenth of a percent. What happened next was simply magical [watch the clip, below, to see]. 

It was a legendary comeback that sent not only the Convo crowd into a frenzy but shockwaves across the college basketball universe. The monumental rally prompted a featured segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter, an interview with Henson on Stadium TV’s Campus Insiders, and so, so many articles. You wouldn’t want to miss another moment like that, would you?

— Shea Conner

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