KINGSVILLE, Texas — These are exciting times for Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball. They are currently tied for first place in the Lone Star Conference at 8-2. They are also enjoying their first winning season in over a decade (15-6).
It was not that many years ago when they did not win a single game. Recruiting became difficult because the good players stayed away, but under third year head coach Michael Madrid, he is attracting some of the best players in the state.
Former Flour Bluff star Jayde Tschritter could have played at several other schools, but chose TAMU-K because she was sold on the team's new coaching staff.
"You could tell they really wanted to change the program and make this a school where people really wanted to come watch women's basketball," said Tschritter. "They changed the culture and the way we play here."
Mia Cherry was a star player at Brock High School and Blinn Junior College, and was also attracted by a new winning culture and wanted to be part of it.
"Everybody thought of Kingsville as just a bump in the road and we didn't like that and that did not sit well with us," said Cherry. "A lot of us came from successful programs and we just wanted to be part of a winning program here too."
"We have been going out and recruiting players that fit at what we are looking for," said TAMU-K women's head coach Michael Madrid. "We want young ladies who have terrific work ethic that come from winning programs who also value academics. We have been extremely fortunate a lot of them have chosen to come play here and just excited that we get the opportunity to coach them everyday."
The Javelinas love protecting their home court. They are undefeated (11-0) at The Steinke Physical Education Center. They have road games at Angelo State Thursday and UT Permian Basin Saturday before returning home to host Midwestern State February 17.
