Northern New Mexico College’s women’s basketball team finished last year with just five active and healthy players.
A new coach is looking to turn things around with a local recruiting class, including a local star.
Samantha Stukes is the newest coach for Northern New Mexico College women’s basketball, bringing an El Paso style to the valley. She replaces J.R. Giddens, who had been with the team for three years and two seasons plus the canceled 2020-21 year.
“I was just really excited to have an opportunity to coach college,” Stukes said.
Stukes is from El Paso, and founded the Southwest Desert Hoops professional basketball organization. She coached the Desert Lynx team. She also had a successful career coaching Ameteur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball.
She is adjusting to living in Española after being in El Paso for so long.
“Definitely a different energy, it’s a lot smaller than I’m used to,” she said. “But, everything is exciting, everything is brand new. Right now, it’s just an adjusting period.”
Stukes and men’s coach and athletic director Jesus Aragon had worked together for three years in the Desert Cats organization, while Aragon was coaching the men’s team. And she assisted Aragon in men’s professional basketball in Mexico.
Stukes and her husband, TJ, will coach the team together. TJ, a former professional basketball player with the Harlem Wizards (a Globetrotters-like team), will be the assistant coach.
Stukes started in April, and went right to work recruiting a full team.
Northern finished last year with just five healthy players. But all five players plan on returning, plus Paulina Lopez-Cervanes who missed much of the season.
“It definitely speaks to their resilience,” Stukes said of those players, having made it through the end of the year and to the conference tournament. “I’m just so excited to see what they look like. And to add some pieces that will be able to help them out.”
Stukes is hoping to add size around those players with newcomers like Rebekah Carpenter (6-foot-2) from Highland, Evette “Sharky” Lansing (6-foot-2) from Shiprock, and Maesyn Lopez (6 feet) from Belen, who Stukes says can play any position.
“Like having a really tall point guard, and then like a really quick, shifty post players,” Stukes said of Lopez.
As for the guards, Mya Williams — who played at Trinidad State — is among those joining the backcourt and starting point guard Miranda Salazar, giving them a chance for a rest with a deeper bench.
And Stukes mentioned the shooting guards as a strength of the team. Zoe Brown joins from Valencia, and Gillian Roybal comes from Valley after playing college in Oregon. Those two, plus Lauren Hicks from El Paso, join two returners. Northern also adds Rhianna Padilla from Española Valley, and Stukes is excited to have local stars to bring in fans.
“We’re new, and coming to represent Española the best we can,” Stukes said.