(By JOSHUA BLANCH)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Early this past spring inside Reed Arena in College Station, it was easy to find the Texas A&M Aggies women’s basketball team hard at work. However, among them was someone working perhaps even harder, despite knowing she would never step on the court after the tipoff of any game.

Aubriana Montoya, a senior at A&M and one of the student assistants, worked tirelessly day in and day out to help her team achieve ultimate success. She did this not only to be a good teammate, but because of her passion for the game.

A steward and student of the game, Montoya started playing when she just was 6 years old  and continued all the way up until her senior year at New Braunfels High School. Soon after that, Montoya’s focus shifted to coaching.

“I still love to play the game, but now I prefer to instruct and help develop athletes who share a similar passion to mine when I played,” Montoya said. She soon started her coaching journey at A&M, only it was 253 miles away from Aggieland, all the way in Corpus Christi, at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC).

While in Corpus Christi, Montoya was a student manager; however she knew in her heart that she wanted a little more.

“I had a strong determination to achieve my dream of working with such a large basketball program like the one here at Texas A&M,” Montoya explained. “It was extremely difficult to walk away from the friends I made while also serving as a student assistant [in Corpus Christi]. However, they [TAMUCC] were so supportive of me following my dream, so that made the transition so much easier.”

The average day of a student manager is a long one. According to Montoya, the day is filled with many tasks such as going to class, getting to the gym over an hour before practice, staying late after practice and even doing team laundry, among other things.

There are many upsides and downsides to this commitment to her team. “The worst thing has been missing out on some other important or fun things in my life,” Montoya said. “I have had to sacrifice missing on certain things that have gone on in my family and that hasn’t been ideal. I have also missed out on going on fun trips with friends that I know I would’ve enjoyed.”

Montoya said the hardest thing is definitely time management.

“As someone who is very social and loves being around my friends and family, it is difficult to manage my time,” she said. “Along the way I’ve learned determination and loyalty are the keys to being successful.”

But one thing that certainly wasn’t hard for Montoya was meeting some of her role models and icons. “Being able to meet Team USA when they came to play us in an exhibition. I got to meet some of the best women basketball players in the game and one of my idols,” said Montoya of her opportunity to meet Team USA’s Diana Taurasi.

Unfortunately for Montoya and the Aggies, their quest for a run at a national championship was put on hold in March 2020 when the NCAA decided to cancel March Madness, the NCAA basketball playoffs, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It hurts,” Montoya said. “It hurts to see all the hard work the girls put for the season to compete for the title. I feel especially bad for the seniors. I know we had the talent to go far.”

While that did put a damper on the season, the ever-optimistic Montoya looks forward to a bright future after graduation. She seeks to become a college basketball coach, or a high school basketball coach who teaches history, hoping to share her passion for the game she loves.

(Editor’s Note: This story is part of our Featuring Texans series. The writer of this story, Joshua Blanch, is a friend of Aubriana Montoya, and submitted this piece as part of ACC’s News Reporting 1 course.)