PSJA North's Mason Lopez pens letter of intent for Missouri Valley College
PHARR — He’s sof-tspoken, but that’s because he did most of his talking by playing on the basketball court.
Mason Lopez, senior basketball player for the PSJA North Raiders, officially signed his letter of intent Friday to play at the collegiate level.
In front of friends, family and members of the high school — including coaches and teammates — Lopez penned his commitment to take his talents to MissouriValley College.
The PSJA North Raider is officially the fifth player this year from the Rio Grande Valley to sign their letter of intent to play for the Missouri school — which competes at the NAIA level.
The other four Valley players that signed to play at MVC within the past couple of weeks were: · Tony Cantu from Harlingen South · Kade Lopez from Weslaco High School · Erik Cantu from Vanguard Beethoven · Judah Rios from McAllen High School Lopez donned the role of captain for the Raiders and led them to a 26-13 overall record on the season, while finishing in second place (11-5) within District 31-5A. The district is arguably one of the toughest — if not the most difficult — to play in because the Raiders had to face teams like the Robert Vela SaberCats with Jordan Bustamante averaging close to 30 points a game, both Sharyland schools and of course, the undefeated McHi Bulldogs.
The senior finished top 10 in the Valley for points per game as he averaged 19.8. He also was not a stranger to rebounds as he grabbed 4.9 a game, along with 2.2 assists per contest.
Some of the accolades that Lopez raked in this year included the Region IV 5A All-Region Team, first teamAll District and of course, leading the Raiders to the second round of the playoffs.
“Agent Zero” — as coined by The Advance since Lopez was one of the select few to wear that number — proved to be a universal tool on the court as he was predominantly a small forward but with the ability to switch to the point or two-guard (SG) if need be.
More so, Lopez made himself comfortable around the perimeter and the mid-range as he was able to knock down shots with ease if given enough room.
Throughout the contests, Lopez was also not afraid to bang down low in the post to get second-chance points off of rebounds. One of his more signature moves down low was pump faking to get defenders up in the air to not only get a better aim at the basket but also to earn an “and-one” — meaning, the bucket and the foul.
The phenom made sure to thank all of those who helped mold him into the athlete and young man who he is today.
“I guarantee I’ll be representing the 956 and Raider Nation. Once again, thank you guys for coming; coming out means a lot. And now, it’s time to make it official,” Lopez said before signing the letter of intent in front of the crowd.