The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team, or UTRGV Vaqueros, represents the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas, United States.

The merged university inherited the athletic legacy of UTPA, including its WAC membership.

Before the merger, UTPA's teams were known as the “Broncs.”[3] The Broncs first began play in 1952 under their then-current institutional identity of Pan American College, as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Despite finishing with a 15–16 record, the Broncs made their first ever postseason appearance in 1961, playing in the NAIA District Playoffs.

This time, the Broncs finally made their first NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament appearance after beating Texas State twice in a row, 71–68 and 67–61.

The Broncs subsequently won the 1963 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament, winning five games by an average margin of 20.4 points.

Once again, the Broncs prevailed in the NAIA District Playoffs, beating McMurray 86–81 to advance to the Tournament again.

The following year, they finished 15–12, but lost in the NAIA District Playoffs again, this time to Midwestern State, 81–77 and 84–75.

In 1968, the Broncs (which had become Pan American University in 1965) qualified for the 1968 NCAA College Division men's basketball tournament with a 21–6 record culminated by a 19–3 end to a season that had zero losses at home.

The team fell to rock bottom in 1972–73, winning only 4 games in their worst season since 1956.

Decades later, the university rededicated the center court of the fieldhouse in honor of Williams.

They appeared in the 1980 TAAC men's basketball tournament, beating Hardin–Simmons in the Quarterfinals, but losing to eventual conference champion Centenary in the semifinals.

After losing all five senior starters, the team finished 5–20 season the following year, and White was subsequently replaced by Lon Kruger.

[5] Lon Kruger led the team to a 7–21 record in 1982, but they improved every subsequent season, to 13–14 in 1983, to 12–16 in 1984, to 20–8 in 1985.

In the 1990 American South Conference men's basketball tournament, the Broncs reached the championship game but lost to New Orleans 48-44.

In March 1996, the university acknowledged violations by the men's basketball program, specifically the conduct of illegal off-campus camps for basketball, free medical treatment for players and disregarding instructions by both the school and the NCAA on procedures of investigation.

Notably, less than two months later Brooks was indicted by a grand jury on a felony theft charge for an allegation regarding depositing a $25,000 check from Southwest Missouri State into his personal account and subsequently making withdrawals from the account.

He denied making the deposit or instructing a third party to do so, although he consents that the alleged $25,000 was added to his account.

It was found that the university had started their investigation in September 2008, which led to giving themselves a two-year probation sanction (starting in 2010), with the NCAA accepting UTPA's self-imposed penalties and choosing not to impose additional sanctions.

Despite the team rising to a 16–16 overall record (and 5 victories in 8 conference games) the following year, his contract was not renewed.

In their final season under the Bronc identity, the team finished 10–21 overall, with a 4–10 conference record, though they did win their final home game as the Broncs vs UMKC, highlighted with a buzzer beater 2-point shot as time expired.

In the 2017–18 season, the Vaqueros went 15–16 while winning going 6–8 in WAC play before losing in the Quarterfinals to Seattle.

Facing off against, the Vaqueros narrowly won 74–73, winning on a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining.

[15] Less than a week after Figgar's firing, UTRGV announced on March 25 it would leave the WAC for the Southland Conference effective that July.

[16] UTRGV announced on April 5, 2024, that Kahil Fennell, previously an assistant at BYU, would become the Vaqueros' new head coach and lead the team into its new conference.

The Vaqueros have appeared in one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) as the Pan American Broncs, losing their only game.