The Broncs will take on all comers but when you are taking the leftovers from major schools it is hard to find teams that want to commit especially when those teams know you have those two studs up front. There are no top 25 teams on the schedule as of now as like most Indies not named Nirvana or Notre Dame you have to take what you can get.  Coach Sam Williams has the horses at least on the offensive end play an entertaining brand of basketball.  The Broncs have the talent to play with any team out there on a given night and that is precisely why many programs avoided them.  The Broncs will have to find a big whales to play or wing an enormous number of games to get a shot at the post season.  This is the season to get this done as their two superstars are seniors and their last chance at glory since they dominated the NAIA so many years ago. 

The Broncs are renowned for having a big front line full of ornery characters led by an all-world power forward from up the road in San Marcos. The main man in Edinburgh is senior Lucious ‘Jackson.  Jackson is a man child underneath. He has a solid inside game and is an intimidating force for opponents. He is a great rebounder who can dominate games on the boards. He also can score.  He may have been the best big man in the country you do not know about.  Jackson will definitely be playing a the next level and it helped also that he was able to play his more natural position of power forward for most of his career here.  Luke is one Cool Hand when it comes to playing stiff completion as his matchup with Elvin Hayes was epic though they lost. The funny thing about playing the Big E was that Hayes came from prepping in Louisiana to Houston to play college ball as LSU was not going to bring in a black kid. At least not then they weren’t. You can argue they already had Petit which is true but the Tigers did not integrate until the year after Hayes left to play for the Cougars.  The irony was that Jackson had to leave San Marcos as they did not allow integrated sports teams.  He lived with his family in Bastrop Louisiana to that he could play competitive basketball and had several games against Hayes and other great big men like Willis Reed and Robert Parish from that fine basketball zone. Jackson did come back to play collegiately in the Lone Star State so that he would be closer to his family and they could watch him play.  The only school he could find was this NAIA school that ready to integrate as Williams was ahead of the curve on getting black athletes to come play for the Broncs. For some reason the Longhorns who were also behind the times did not offer Luke a scholarship. Their loss as Jackson immediately had a huge impact in Edinburgh.  Jackson led a team well represented with other black athletes to a national title in their first year of competition at the NAIA tournament in Kansas. Jackson’s team was so dominant there are rumors that they played a Jayhawk team in a ‘secret’ game and Jackson outplayed Clyde Lovelette.  The Jayhawks barely won but only after Phog Allen had to switch the Big Dipper over on Luke to slow him down.  Those two remain friends after that game.  The next season this program, with even more black athletes who had been looked over by less receptive schools, went back and made the final four.  To say they did not get a call while in Kansas City would be like saying the Chiefs don’t get protected by the refs.  This success, however, was the impetus for jumping to D-1 last year. The problem was that many leagues do not want a program with talent that is this good to come in and destroy the competition in their first year.  The only conference that was willing to accept them was the local Southland but they have a nice round 12 teams and no way they or any other conference is going to 13 teams.  They did make an agreement to play the Broncs and they have with 10 games on the upcoming schedule being against Southland teams.  Jackson has already been invited to the Olympic trials for next year and easily could make the team.  He is that good but will his Broncs be able to stay above water for one more year.  Last year they won 18 games but did not get an invite to the post season and the recruiting, which you would think would have increased, was hindered by the move.  You see this program now has to rely on getting second hand talent from the Juco pool as many of the black athletes that could not find a home a few years back are welcomed with open arms to big time programs.  Yes, even in the south. And though these kids are talented it is hard to build cohesion with two year players and Williams would be the first to admit last year’s kids were not at the same level as the class that came in with Jackson. 

The reason that Jackson could play the 4 spot for the last 3 years was because fellow senior Otto Moore was around to take up some space as well.  Moore is even bigger than Jackson though not as gifted.  His ability to take some low post pressure off Jackson made the team better.  Moore’s size and ability to board should get him a tryout at the next level but he must get better offensively if he s going to stick.  He is a good shot blocker and has the size (6’11) and demeanor to be a good solid pro but he most definitely needs to eat some more barbecue as 205 is not going to cut it at that level.  This Floridian liked the Texas area and has stayed all four years and teamed with ‘Luke’ to have one of the best post combos in the country.  This is their last hurrah but Williams is already attempting to find their replacements which will be difficult at best. Sophomore Ken ‘Apple’ Green should be a good complement to Moore and Jackson as he plays the same style. This Atlanta JC transfer can score and board but will have to adjust to this level of play. He does play bigger than his six nine frame and is a solid 225. He will be heavily counted on next year as the main go to guy in the post but this year he will be provide depth up front to the two seniors.  That is if he can beat out a bunch of incumbents that have come to Edinburgh on the same route Green did. .

With these two monsters around, Coach Williams wants to fill in the holes with shooters and that is just what he is attempting to do.  Enter Junior Marshall Rodgers and his amazing jump shot.  The kid transferred in from Kansas after he saw the Broncs play in the NAIA tourney and got ahold of Williams. He was tired of riding the pine behind Jo Jo (and Lido) but had to sit out a few games but when he got eligible he began to fire!  And never stopped.  He (along with a wave of wings on the Broncs roster) virtually made the sky look like firework were going off they shot so many long rangers during Pan Am games. There may have not been a more aggressive group launching three pointers in the country. Rogers, in particular, has no conscience.  He will fire from Kansas if he gets the ball. Of course, he lives by the motto that shooters have no conscience.  Or memory!  You have to make a few if you shoot so many and this kid can make his fair share.  His style perfectly complimented the big guys and the fans loved it.   Senior Fred Taylor is one of those four year guys who has been around for the glory road and the move to D-1 which has been anything but.  Taylor got his fair share of the minutes on the wing once again and continued to be an elite all-around performer as a Bronc. The fans of Edinburgh love his attitude and desire.  He is the perfect wing next to the two big men as he can do everything well.  He shoots, defends and runs the court. Williams has brought in several others to get some time but none are as good all-around as Taylor. And he’s a heck of a running back as well.  Really! He and Rogers will almost assuredly start next to each this year and the complement each other well.  But as seen above Williams has options on the wing and to be honest just about everywhere though no one is playing in front of Luke.

UTPA has the highest percentage of Hispanics of any college in the TU system and it is no wonder the most popular Bronc is junior Jesus ‘Chuy’Guerra. Guerra upholds his namesake as he likes to share the basketball with all of his teammates.  Guerra was a high school legend up Roma Texas averaging over 26 points a game and was All-Texas three times and All-American twice.  Still, he could find no national suitors (no comment) and took the offer from Williams to run the show down in Edinburgh.  Guerra is a terrific ballhandler but has had to his game to become the facilitator instead of the shooter. His days as a scorer helped here as he knows where and especially when to get his teammates the ball in the best possible position to score.   Chuy can really pass now and has a nice chemistry with Rogers but Coach Williams has several others in competition for the spot. After all, this is the weakest part to the team though I would not want to bench Guerra as there might be some rioting at the UTPA Fieldhouse.   Seniors Jim Board and Paul Friddle are both true point guards who platooned during the championship season. Guerra came on the year after and was obviously better but they did not get to the Mountain top which does not settle well with the rednecks in these parts.  Both of these kids can also distribute but are nowhere near athletic enough for this level and are way too small at 5’8 and 5’9 respectively.  Guerra goes 6’2 and it his job for now but Williams has stated above has a whole slew of incoming kids from the Juco ranks and most of them are guards.   

Coach Williams has some nice role players as well. Seniors Mitchell Edwards and Jim McGurk showed some game when they get a chance.  Edwards was actually the first official African American recruit here quickly followed by Jackson and started on both squads that made the NAIA runs at the small forward.  He is a gamer and long and smooth but got put in the sixth man role (Taylor moved up to the three) last season when Rodgers came aboard.  McGuirk is an undersized post player from New York City.  Williams has not been afraid to go into the urban areas of the East to find players who have been looked over and McGuirk set that in motion.  He would be the first to admit that adjusting to southern Texas was a bit of an eye opener but it helped being on successful team.  He was the sixth man on those great teams but has fallen down the totem pole as he only goes 6’4 and that is way too short (Agnew) for D-1 even as an Indy.  Junior Frank Lorthridge is big at 6’8 240 and throws his weight around well.  He has been a great practice guy but fell back in the pack last year with some new juco kids coming in to play who were a bit better then the walking Mac truck that is Lorthridge. Fellow seniors Howard Montgomery and Anthony Eatmon were part of the JC transfer pool that came in last year.  Both are solid forwards who are physical and know how to play.  Neither player much early on but both and especially Montgomery came on strong down the stretch.  Howie as he likes to be called, is a 6’5 220 pound rollerball who can play both forward spots.  He played primarily the three and when Taylor went down for a few games got his shot and excelled.  He can run the court and really understands the mid-range game.  If he had a bit more range on his three he would start for sure but Williams likes him coming off the bench for now. Eatmon is a power plug at 6’7 230 and hails from Houston just like Montgomery but is more of a four. He did not play much behind Jackson and probably never will while here but is great depth up front though he would be best suited taking a redshirt year and challenging for a starting role next year.  Speaking of next year, Sophomore Melvin Thomas is also in the mix for minutes up front and is a little more athletic but only goes 6’7. He played on the JV last year and will obviously get many more minutes this year on that team but Williams will play him often against the varsity to get him ready to attempt to take over next year. Moore will have someone his size finally to play against in practice as Williams has landed a big time Juco kid in 6’11 John Perry.  Perry goes by Pete and is a terrific goaltender who might push Moore for minutes but that has yet to be seen.  All of these guys give the team some options off the bench though none are exactly Jackson and Morre in the paint.  Williams has a lot of experienced players to replace next season if none of them redshirt and there is more beef and brawn coming this year.  

The Texas Pan-American Broncs have long been a team known for its ability to dominate with some terrific athletes at the NAIA level. They have decided to try and make this program legit and jumped last year to D-1. This did not go as well.  The key is getting into a conference and that was the goal for this year.  Behind the play of some great big men and some premiere shooters, the Edinburgh faithful may just achieve their goal.  This team can get up and down the court with anyone. They can also bang inside with just about anyone.  With Coach Sam Williams style of beef in the middle and wings who let it fly they definitely play like they belong in a big time, well, any league.  Can you hear the door knocking and will they let the Broncs in? If some conference doesn’t let them in they could always join the old ABA the way they play!   ‘It’s jus old Luke and Luke’s waiting on Judgment Day!’ No truer words were ever said.  Thanks Robbie!