Clean bill of health

EDINBURG, Texas - Nichele Hyman wasn't cursed, though it may have seemed like it for a while last season.

The 2015 Clovis High graduate and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley junior guard was already battling through a concussion, and then late in the season she started to feel intense pain in her lower half.

"I noticed my legs were hurting," Hyman said, "and nobody knew what was going on. Some people thought it was shin splints. I had different diagnoses and they just weren't working. None of the treatments were working."

Until Lee Williams came to the rescue. Williams, one of Hyman's former AAU coaches, referred her to a specialist in San Antonio, who diagnosed her with exertional compartment syndrome - defined as 'an exercise-induced muscle and nerve condition that causes pain, swelling and sometimes disability in the affected muscles of the legs or arms.'

Finally, there was someone who knew exactly what was wrong with Hyman and how to attack it.

"He was ready to do the surgery the next day," Hyman said. "It was perfect timing, and since then I was able to run, jump and play basketball without any pain."

And she came charging into this, her senior season, feeling almost reborn. At least athletically.

"I'm playing without any pain right now," she said, "so that's amazing. Definitely a blessing."

UTRGV's first-year head women's coach Lane Lord certainly thinks so. Lord feels blessed for having Hyman around.

"We got here in June as a new staff and from Day One she's been an outstanding leader for us," Lord said. "Great personality. Her personality reflects on the team. ... Not just the way she plays but the way she carries herself. Coaches are always looking for players who make the rest of the team better."

Lord says he has been using Hyman mostly as a key reserve, the first player off the bench. She responded right away, knocking down 14 points in 15 minutes of floor time during UTRGV's Nov. 10 season opener against Texas Lutheran.

Hyman played 15 minutes in each of the season's first three games and has averaged 12 minutes a game for the season overall, but has played 28 minutes as recently as a Jan. 26 game at New Mexico State. She scored 10 points that day, her third time in double figures this season.

"She's really starting to play her best basketball of the year here lately," Lord said.

Which has illustrated Hyman's adaptability. A new coaching staff and new system can be confusing to established players, but Hyman has embraced it all.

"New plays, new defense, new everything," she said. "We run a dribble motion (offense) and it allows you to create as a basketball player. You'll have chances for an open shot. Overall, it's a great system for everyone."

The way Hyman explains the offense, it could probably best be described by a phrase from the B-52's song 'Love Shack' - everybody's movin', everybody's groovin'.

"It's really simple," Hyman said. "One girl penetrates and everybody moves, everybody shifts in the offense. We're not staying still at all. So when the ball moves, you move."

Hyman tries to make the most of her opportunities in that offense, but also when the Vaqueros don't have the ball.

"She's kind of a defensive stopper for us," Lord said. "She always has that assignment to guard the other team's best guard. And she's versatile. She can guard the one-guard, two-guard, three-guard."

"I feel like I come off the bench and make a difference, as far as making defensive stops and doing the little things right," Hyman said. "I definitely focus on playing defense, boxing out, stopping my man defensively. ... And also communicating with my teammates."

Hyman and UTRGV will carry a four-game winning streak into Thursday's game at Seattle University with a 13-10 overall record, 7-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. Though just six regular-season games remain in Hyman's senior season, she is still looking to evolve as a Division I player, still looking to do more for her team.

"I feel like I have room to grow. I feel like everybody has room to grow," Hyman said. "There's always something new that you can learn, always something more that you can do. When you're asleep, somebody's in the gym. When you're doing homework, somebody's in the gym. So there's always room to grow."