RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team kicked off their summer with their first team practice under new head coach Brandon Chambers on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. 
 
The Vaqueros are allowed to spend time on the court working on individual skills, team practice, and time in the weightroom if they are enrolled in summer courses. The new staff and the 14 squad members met on Sunday evening for their first team meeting to lay the groundwork for the 2026-27 season.
 
On Monday, the Vaqueros ran through a pair of workouts that focused on the three E's: energy, enthusiasm, and effort. In both sessions, all three of those main points could be felt throughout the UTRGV Fieldhouse. 
 
A quick glance at the court gave a bit of perspective of what can be expected this season from the Vaqueros. Everyone that dawned UTRGV or Vaqueros seemed like they were pulling in the same direction, even on day one. 
 
The other thing that was noticeable was how athletic the Vaqueros looked on the court. Some drills lent themselves to putting the Vaqueros in spots to flex their athleticism a little bit and it even had some of the local media in awe. 
 
"I knew we were athletic but not this athletic," Chambers said. "The overall athleticism. The secret sauce for us is the character of the guys. Not only have we been able to get every guy that we wanted but they really care for each other. They want to be great. They have a chip on their shoulder. These guys are all pros in their own way."
 
The Vaqueros spent the day going through fundamentals that will be in place throughout the season, whether it involved rebounding, being physical with the ball, sharing the ball, communication and so much more. 
 
It's been 64 days since Coach Chambers was hired and it has been a whirlwind as he needed to fill his staff and then of course, his roster.
 
Chambers has two returning from last year's Vaqueros squad in Always Wright and Luis Ramirez. 
 
The other 12 come from a variety of places. There are a couple from in-conference teams like T'Johnn Brown (McNeese) and B.B. Knight (Lamar). There are a couple from power four schools in Jace Posey (TCU) and Devon Pryor (Oregon).
 
Then you have those from junior college or other divisions but come with success in Chris Uwayo (Tyler Junior College), Josiah Hill (Tyler Junior College), Caden Bell (Tyler Junior College), Darius Carr (Midland), Terrell Wright (Newman), Bobby Crawford Jr. (Lander). And then you have the freshman in Kaleb Corbitt, who had originally committed to Troy, and Ian Parham Jr.
 
Each one was brought in for a specific purpose. Each one here because of one thing and that's to win. 
 
"In our first class, we wanted to lay out the foundation of the program," Chambers said. "In my press conference, I talked about the three E's. I wanted to make sure we had the right guys that fit those three mantras. There is a formula for us to win. I am not shy or afraid of our goals and what we want to accomplish and to do that we had to get the horses. We joke that you can't win the Kentucky Derby with a donkey. Let's go get some horses and we got to see that today."
 
The Vaqueros will take advantage of their summer as they will practice through July. While they will grow on the court in the next couple of months, the Vaqueros also want to grow off the court as well. 
 
It will be important to them to build that all so vital piece to every championship team: chemistry. The Vaqueros will utilize Team Tuesdays to build that part of the formula that will feature different team activities. 
 
That team chemistry, that team unity is one of the top priorities for the Vaqueros this spring. Everything is in place for them to have success but that is the one thing that they can control day in and day out. 
 
"We have everything we need," Chambers said. "We are very talented. The defining characteristic of our team will be our collective why and the character of our collective why. Are we going to care about the same thing and how are we going to come together as a team. For us, all the install and X's and O's sound great but a lot of it is how are we developing as a group and are moving towards that collective unit. For us, that is our task No. 1."
 
There was a lot of buzz in the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Tuesday. The summer could be the start of something special for the Vaqueros men's basketball team. 
 
The new chapter has begun for UTRGV men's basketball. 
 
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