EDINBURG — UTRGV has named long-time assistant coach Jai Steadman as the interim head coach of the Vaqueros men’s basketball team Thursday afternoon. Steadman takes over for late UTRGV head coach Lew Hill, who died Sunday during his fifth season leading the program.
“I’m just honored and blessed to have this opportunity to keep my friend and long-time big brother’s legacy going,” Steadman said. “We will play and compete as hard as Coach Hill has instilled in us. It’s the only way we know how to do things. … We’re going to take it day by day and hour by hour.”
“I appreciate Coach Steadman stepping up and stepping into this interim role as head coach,” UTRGV Vice President and Athletic Director Chasse Conque said. “Coach (Steadman) has been with this program for many, many years and was a loyal assistant coach and servant to Coach Hill as head coach the last five seasons. I know he will come in and really help our young people.”
Steadman has a lengthy track record as assistant coach at various levels of competitive basketball. He’s in the midst of his seventh season with the Vaqueros and was listed as one of the top two assistants in the Western Athletic Conference by Jeff Goodman of Stadium before the 2020-21 season began.
He has played an integral role in scouting, scheduling, in-game coaching and recruiting several of the team’s current players to UTRGV.
“The continuity piece is so big for us right now,” Conque said. “He has great relationships with our players, is respected by our coaches and knows our brand, institution and the Lew Hill way.”
Steadman worked as an assistant for the NBA G League’s RGV Vipers for three seasons before landing at UTRGV and helped lead the franchise to its first championship season in 2010.
He has also spent time as a collegiate administrative assistant at Nebraska and an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, North Texas, TCU and Tyler Junior College among others while gaining national notoriety as a recruiter.
The interim head-coaching title becomes Steadman’s first collegiate head-coaching opportunity and third overall. He has previously served as the head coach of Rander Cimbria, a professional squad in Denmark, in 2003-04 and Westwind Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2013-14 between his stint with the Vipers and the beginning of his tenure at UTRGV.
“You never really know when you’re ready or how those things are going to happen. This isn’t how I wanted to become a head coach, obviously,” Steadman said. “But you take what you can. … I hope I don’t mess up what we have going on and hopefully we compete for the WAC championship as best we can.”
Steadman and the Vaqueros team have resumed basketball activities as of Thursday, though the team will not play its previously scheduled two-game WAC road trip against California Baptist this weekend.
UTRGV’s next scheduled games are set for Feb. 19 and 20 for a back-to-back WAC series against Seattle U. The Vaqueros, who currently sit at 2-0 in WAC play, have left open the possibility of rescheduling canceled conference games against CBU, Grand Canyon and New Mexico State in midweek series or weekend pending any future schedule changes induced by COVID-19 protocols.
For Steadman and the Vaqueros, however, the mission from here on out has been clear: win the Western Athletic Conference championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
“When I first got here and Coach (Dan) Hipsher hired me, we weren’t very good although we competed,” Steadman said. “When Coach Hill got here … he elevated this program, raised us up and we rallied the Valley. The players we’ve recruited, his style, the way we practice and everything he’s taught us is the formula for success. We will do our best to complete that journey and win this championship.”
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
