Local hoopster Kenyon Aguino is already making good in the college ranks.
Aguino, three-time New Mexico Gatorade player of the year and four-time Class 5A state champion with Volcano Vista High School, is already making an impact as a freshman with the University of Montana.
Aguino, of Ohkay Owingeh, grew up on the pueblo and in the surrounding areas before heading to Albuquerque for high school and a higher level of club ball.
“I lived on the pueblo and my grandparents have a store (Clyde’s RV) in Española,” he said in a phone interview from Montana. “My mom’s (Jessica Ortiz) side of the family lived in Alcalde and Los Luceros and dad’s (Frank Aguino) side in the pueblo area.”
Aguino said growing up in the Valley had a big impact on him and helped make him who he is today.
“It really helped me,” he said. “Up there, there’s more than just a family feeling. You have a whole community feeling. When you’re from a small community, everyone knows each other and that’s definitely helped me. Having all that support, even now, that’s a good thing.”
His exposure to Northern New Mexico basketball didn’t hurt either.
“On the court, there’s that toughness and that run-and-gun action, that style of play,” Aguino said. “And I feel that off the court, it’s helped me a lot, too. The community feel, the support that the town has. That was definitely great.”
He got his first exposure to the game through family, since his dad played, as did all his cousins, which made for some spirited battles on the court.
“Since I was super young, a toddler,” he said of the start to his basketball journey. “I always had older cousins and they were always playing. Family, parents played, so I’ve always been around it. Always seeing everybody in my family playing, it just kind of came to me. Ever since I was little and always being around and seeing it, it’s been something for me like that ever since.”
And now he’s doing it on the Division 1 level, as if he was still in high school, averaging 10.5 points a game, which is second on the Grizzlies, while leading the team with 5.6 rebounds. And for good measure, he has 13 assists, which is third-best on the team, helping Montana to a 4-4 start — that includes a tough 86-81 loss at Texas A&M.
His coach, Travis DeCuire, appreciates what Aguino has brought to the Grizzlies.
“Kenyon has been great since day one,” he said. “You can never have too many players that are tough with high basketball IQ. He’s been a great addition to our program, on and off the court.”
His AAU coach, Brandon Mason, said he had no worries that Aguino was going to find immediate success.
“It’s hard for a freshman to have an impact like he has,” Mason, a former New Mexico State player and New Mexico assistant coach who is now the director of basketball prep school ABC Prep, said. “I didn’t have any doubts because of the type of kid he is and the work ethic he has. One thing about Northern New Mexico, those kids play hard.”
It certainly helps that Aguino sports a chiseled 6’7”, 222-pound frame with quick hops and a high work rate.
“He was with us for four years and we barely lost a game,” Mason said. “That shows how unselfish he was because he dominated the game. But not just with stats, just the way he’d use his intelligence and his skill set, which is translating in college, which is a pleasure to see.”
And the fact that Aguino stuck around for that long was also a true credit to him, Mason said.
“I just love being a part of his journey, even if it was just spring and summer, being along for the ride,” he said. “He made our team and program a high focal point for AAU. He could have played on Nike, Adidas, but they wanted to stay home and finish here. That says a lot about him and his family and who they are. I appreciate them being loyal and helping our program.”
For his part, Aguino said he could not have gotten to where he is without the help of people like Mason, his high school coach, Greg Brown, and all his teammates.
“The people I met through the process and mentored me,” he said. “That was the biggest part. All of the people throughout the whole process. It’s a bunch of people. All of the coaches. My AAU coaches. Elementary school coaches. Biggest ones, coach Brown, and all the coaching staff at Volcano. AAU coach Brandon Mason. Those coaches stick out in particular. They were always helping me through the practices, the recruiting, getting noticed.”
And that’s continued now that he’s in college.
“My coaches and teammates, I get the trust from them,” Aguino said. “It’s just going back on all the work you put in and believing in yourself. This is what I trained for.”