At 5-11, Texas City LB comes up big on field
Solomon: Jacksons make it work as coach, assistant at San Jacinto
There was little humor around the Jackson household last season, their first at San Jac. The Gators went 3-27, finished 1-17 in conference play and ended the year on a 13-game skid.
Always overshadowed by the renowned men’s program built by Scott Gernander, San Jac’s women have not won a regional championship since 1983. San Jac’s league record the previous five seasons was 12-76.
The Jacksons weren’t accustomed to losing. And they weren’t about to adapt.
“We had to change everybody’s mindset … the mindset that losing was OK,” Brenita said. “It’s not OK to get into trouble. It’s not OK to not go to class. … Losing is not OK.”
The message has been received.
Entering Saturday’s game at Angelina, the Gators were 15-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference, with their losses coming to ranked teams, including two defeats to powerhouse Trinity Valley, the threetime defending national champion.
With five players scoring in double digits, led by sophomore Kendra Howard (15.6 ppg), San Jac was ranked No. 9 nationally before a 77-72 loss at Trinity on Jan. 14.
“It’s definitely a family environment here,” said Miranda Lejune, a freshman point guard from Pearland, who averages 9.4 points and 8.1 assists a game. “But there is no difference in playing for them than any other two coaches.
“Their being husband and wife doesn’t make a difference for us as players.” Whistle while they work
But it makes a difference.
At Friday’s practice, there was little question about who was in charge.
The head coach had a whistle. So did her husband. So did assistant Adonna Walker, who joined the staff last week.
But Brenita’s whistle was the only one getting any work.
The quiet gym, save for the bouncing of basketballs, and those whistles, is what you see when coaches are in sync.
Brenita had been away on a recruiting trip for much of the week, and without her saying so, Kevin knew she likely would be more hands-on prepping her team for a game the next day.
Theirs is a good fit. And has been for nearly 10 years.
Kevin said the two have talked to other married and co-head coaches about their unique circumstances, and tease about one day giving seminars on how it is done.
“That would be fun,” Kevin said laughing.
“Noooo,” Brenita responded with a smile, giving her husband one of those looks.
Not a lot of assistants get that look from their head coach. Not a lot of assistants look at their head coach like Kevin does. Passing glances
Five years before being recruited by Brenita to join her coaching staff at Lon Morris, Kevin , a defensive back at Southeastern Louisiana, was at the school’s soccer field when he saw a beautiful young lady from a distance.
One day he probably will tell his grandchildren it was love at first sight.
“I thought, ‘Man, she’s pretty, but I have work to do,’ ” he said.
So he didn’t even give Brenita, who was visiting the campus where she eventually would sign to play basketball, a doubletake.
The two wouldn’t meet until that fall semester when Kevin walked into an accounting class.
“And there she was,” he said, his eyes lighting up at the memory of the next sighting.
They talked. They became friends. Their first romance wouldn’t come until much later.
Kevin had hoped to find his way into the NFL after college, but a third torn ACL ruined any chance he might have of catching on with a team as a free agent.
Brenita, an All-Southland Conference pick at Southeastern Louisiana, left college to play professionally in Denmark, where she coached a junior club team to an unbeaten mark.
She returned home to a job as an assistant at Lon Morris, where she played after she left Cedar Hill High School, and she and Kevin stopped dating but remained good friends.
Kevin, who played high school basketball at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge, La., helped Brenita coach a youth summer league team in Dallas. Best friends first
Then she asked him to assist her in coaching at Lon Morris and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Kevin wasn’t sure about taking the job, but Brenita, who made one of her players do pushups at practice Friday for “indecision in transition,” knew her friend better than he knew himself.
“That’s the thing … you ask about the challenges of coaching together and being married? Well, she will always be my best friend,” he said. “That’s a great basis to start any relationship. We were solid, aces, almost immediately. That came first.
“Coaching basketball together has only made us closer.” jerome.solomon@chron.com twitter.com/jeromesolomon
Texas City linebacker D’Vonta Hinton recorded 153 tackles, including 18 for a loss, his first year on varsity.
The school record for tackles barely registered in recruiting circles.
He produced another 129 tackles, with 27 for loss, his junior year, and still nothing — certainly no early offers.
It was frustrating, to be sure, but Hinton didn’t let the lack of attention bring him down. He always knew that his height — a hair under 5-11 — was an issue, but he continued to rise to every occasion.
“I’ve been told, ‘Dang, you’re too short.’ I didn’t care,” Hinton said. “I just balled out, and just played the best I could, and said, ‘Shoot, if somebody knows talent, then they’ll get me, no matter the height.’
“I don’t know what 3 inches are going to help me do. Are they going to help me make 10 more tackles?
“That’s how I see it, but that’s me.” ‘A great fit’
Hinton’s perseverance paid off last spring, when Maryland, Utah and Texas Tech offered him football scholarships. The senior verbally committed to Tech in March.
“I think it’s a great fit for him,” Texas City coach Leland Surovik said. “Tech’s staff is energetic and they’re very high on him and they’re expecting great things from him, so I don’t think they’ll be disappointed.”
Surovik never was disappointed with Hinton’s performance, on or off the field.
He says Hinton (5-10, 218) is a student of the game with a strong inner drive and powerful work ethic.
“He has the distinct ability to avoid the blocks and knife through holes and make tackles,” Surovik said. “He has a great nose for the football.”
With 92 tackles this past fall, Hinton finished as the career leader at Texas City with 374 tackles, 58 for loss, to go with five sacks, 15 quarterback hurries, seven forced fumbles and five recoveries.
He was a finalist for the Houston Touchdown Club’s defensive player of the year. Overcoming doubters
He did it all without the extra inches.
“I’ve got a saying: If size matters, why isn’t the elephant king of the jungle?” Hinton said.
“So I have a chip on my shoulder from it, but I always have a chip on my shoulder. That’s just how I play when I get on the field.”
Hinton’s size kept the big schools away early, but they found him eventually.
TCU, which won a share of the Big 12 title and whipped Mississippi 42-3 in the Peach Bowl, offered him soon after Texas Tech.
“You’re not going to get a lot of early commitments when you’re 5-11, from big colleges, because when you’re 5-11, and you’re at a big school, they’re supposed to meet all the requirements, all the tangibles,” Surovik said.
“They want a 6-foot or better linebacker, and if he doesn’t fit that mold, they have to stand up and ask, ‘why?’ ”
Surovik, on the other hand, says why not.
Yes, taller players have better vision, but they also have a higher center of gravity, and the biggest offensive linemen still outrange most linebackers, whether their arms are an inch longer or not.
“Everybody wants a 6-2 linebacker, but he has the ability to make plays with his speed, because he’s so explosive, and he can use his shoulders and speed to avoid blocks or run through them,” Surovik said. “It never really affected him.” Tech ‘the right place’
Hinton took his official visit to Lubbock this weekend.
He also tweeted a picture of his new haircut Wednesday, replete with a red and black double-T shaved into the back.
“I guess he’s letting the cat out of the bag, and he’s pretty serious now,” Surovik joked. “Before, he wanted to keep it hushhush until signing day, but I guess he can’t stand it anymore.”
Hinton admitted TCU’s offer is tempting, and Surovik said the Horned Frogs’ defense is similar to his.
He has other offers, too, and didn’t rule out another visit before Feb. 4.
But he values his relationship with assistant coach Kevin Curtis, who recruited him to Tech, and he never has wavered from his pledge.
“I’m just getting all these signs to go to Tech,” Hinton said. “I feel like, right now, Tech is the place for me.” Jason McDaniel is freelance writer.