RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team accomplished things in 2025-26 that have put the program on the verge of taking huge steps forward. 
 
After winning 16 games in 2024-25, the Vaqueros won 19 this past season marking the first back-to-back winning seasons for the program since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons. Out of the 19 wins, 18 of them came in the prior to the Southland Conference Tournament, which tied for the most wins before the conference tournament since 2002. 
 
The Vaqueros finished the season with 14 wins in Southland Conference play setting the program record for conference wins as they earned the No. 3 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament. 
 
When you add everything up, the Vaqueros started to climb in the rankings. They got as high as 115 in the KenPom rankings, which is the highest in program history. 
 
While there were many highs, the Vaqueros still had to fight through adversity. 
 
The Vaqueros started out 2-5 through the first seven games and lost a key player in Kye Dickson. UTRGV won three of their next four games before closing out 2025 with three-straight losses at home.
 
Once the calendar turned to 2026, things started to come together for the Vaqueros. The roster started to fully buy into the philosophy that the staff had in place, and it was evident in the results and in the culture of the squad.
 
The Vaqueros finished third in the Southland (SLC) in scoring, averaging 75.9 points per game but led the SLC in field goal percentage (47.4%) and assists while ranking second in the conference in three-point shooting percentage.  
 
On the defensive side, the Vaqueros were second in the SLC in holding opponents to a 41.4% field goal percentage and third in holding opponents to 30.3% from three-point range. 
 
It seemed like the Vaqueros found their groove once sophomore Jaylen Washington earned his way into the starting lineup. He was the facilitator that ignited the offense as he finished sixth in the conference with 137 assists but ranked first in assist to turnover ratio with a mark of 2.9. 
 
Washington not only dished out assists, but he also had a hand in scoring as well finishing with a career-high 10.2 points per game. 
 
Washington was one of four players to average over 10 points for the Vaqueros. The Vaqueros were led by a pair of all-conference honorees in juniors Koree Cotton and Filip Brankovic who averaged 13.9 and 13.0 points per game, respectively. 
 
Graduate student Marvin McGhee III paced the Vaqueros with 78 three-pointers made and shot 43.3% from beyond the arc, which was tops in the SLC, while averaging 10.9 points per game.
 
The Vaqueros really started to flex their muscles when they put together an eight-game win streak that started with a home-win over McNeese, who was in first place at the time. They then rattled off wins over Southeastern, road wins over Houston Christian, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word, Houston Christian at home, and wins at New Orleans and Nicholls. 
 
UTRGV's eight-game win streak is the longest conference win streak in program history. The Vaqueros were turning heads throughout the conference and throughout the nation as they were mentioned on Fox Sport 1's Wake Up Barstool. 
 
After having their win streak snapped at eight games by regular season SLC Champions Stephen F. Austin, the Vaqueros closed out the regular season with four wins in their last five games. 
 
The Vaqueros headed into their first-ever SLC Tournament with momentum and they took advantage of the momentum to pick up an 86-68 win over Nicholls. 
 
If the Vaqueros were turning heads in the regular season, then all eyes were on them when they took on No. 2 seeded and eventual SLC Tournament Champions McNeese in the semifinals of the SLC Tournament. 
 
The Vaqueros went toe-to-toe with the Cowboys taking them to three overtimes before falling 84-80. It was the SLC's first-ever three overtime game and the talk of the arena was how good the Vaqueros had played. 
 
A couple of seasons after winning just six games, the Vaqueros had accumulated 35 wins over the last two seasons and were just a few plays away from making it to the SLC Championship game.
 
When you combine the success of the men's basketball team along with the women's basketball team, college basketball in the Rio Grande Valley took a major step forward. 
 
The Vaqueros have come a long way in a couple of seasons and are poised to take another step forward as a new chapter begins in 2026-27. 
 
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