Fennell accepts head coaching position at Western Michigan

EDINBURG — The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley announced this past weekend that its head basketball coach has accepted a position at another university.

Kahil Fennell, who coached the Vaqueros the last two seasons, has officially taken the job to be the head basketball coach for the Western Michigan Broncos.

Fennell led UTRGV to an admirable season as the squad had its winningest season since 2018-2019. The team finished the year with a 19-13 record. The 2018-2019 campaign, the team garnered 20 wins under the late Lew Hill.

“My experience at UTRGV was an incredible one, Fennell said in a release. “I’m incredibly grateful for the people who made it special, not the least of which were the players, the administration, and the fans at UTRGV.”

Fennell arrived as the head coach for UTRGV during the 2024-2025 season as the entire Athletics department officially transitioned to the Southland Conference from the Western Athletic Conference — more notably, known as the WAC.

The team garnered a 16-15 record that season, as Fennell earned a 35-29 in his career at UTRGV. The team also went two rounds deep in the Southland Conference Tournament as they had a victory against Nicholls State, but ultimately fell in triple overtime to McNeese — a team that ended up winning the whole thing, which earned them a ticket to the “Big Dance.”

Chasse Conque, who is senior vice president and director of Athletics, said that the university experienced a “renaissance in basketball” in an official statement.

“I want to extend my personal thanks to Coach Fennell and his family for their efforts in creating a winner over the past two seasons” Conque said. “After 35 wins in two years, including 19 this season, I am proud of what we accomplished together. The success we have built here at UTRGV is being recognized nationally. While we are disappointed to see him go, we are grateful for his many contributions and confident in the foundation we have established and the direction of our program.”

The Next Step
It’s safe to say that the program has been on a rise in more ways than one for the last couple of years. Not only from the positive outcomes from the result of the seasons, but the investment is evident when one walks onto the Edinburg campus.

As Conque said in a statement, the “recent $35M investment” made for enhancements of the UTRGV Fieldhouse and the atrium (which opened last October), reflect not only the rise in how the program presents itself, but just how far the progression has come for basketball at the university in general.

Those who remember walking into the old-school University of Texas-Pan American gym — remember that there was no atrium or even digital tickets — those who were going to watch the Broncs just went through some old “pushable” doors with a printed ticket in hand to get into the game. Oh yeah, there was no digital screen scoreboard with replays, live stats or anything like that — it was just the traditional one, which was custom for the time.

That said, the team and university are officially searching for a new coach to lead the men’s basketball program.

“We are currently engaged in a national search to identify a lead who can fully leverage our resources, our region, and the momentum across UTRGV Athletics,” Conque said.

W. Michigan Status
On March 8, Western Michigan announced that its head basketball coach, Dwayne Stephens, wouldn’t be returning for the 2026-2027 campaign.

The Broncos operate within the Mid-American Conference. In that conference, one will see teams like Miami (OH). 

If that name rings any bells, it’s because that’s the same team that had an undefeated 31-0 regular season record this year in college basketball. Other conference teams include Akron University, Toledo, Ball State and University of Massachusetts (UMASS).

Stephens was the 15th head coach in that program’s history when he took the job back in April 2022, according to the Western Michigan athletics’ website.

During his time there, he finished with a 42-84 overall record. This recent season, the Broncos were 10-21.