After sitting out an entire season last year because of the NCAA transfer rules, guard Starr Breedlove returns to the UTEP women’s basketball team this season. Spending her senior season in the Sun City, Breedlove will use her quick agility to add depth to the Miners’ core.
In her opening game with the Miners, the Louisville transfer totaled 15 points against the St. Mary’s Rattlers. With the hot start, the 5-foot-six guard is expected to have a promising year for the Miners.
“I think this season feels really good for her,” UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. “I think it felt good for her to be back on the floor. Anytime you don’t play for a year, you get the game taken away from you. It feels great when you get back in the mix.”
Breedlove rejoined the team this off-season and will see many minutes on the floor as a starter for the team.
“Missing out for the whole year was kind of tough, but I just stuck it and I’m actually anxious to play now,” Breedlove said. “To put a ball in my hand and actually know I’m playing, it feels good. Instead of practicing and knowing I’m not going to play. “
The Louisville transfer sought new beginnings when she decided to come to El Paso.
“I felt like I needed a new start,” Breedlove said. “I was coming off my concussion and I needed a fresh start.”
Even though UTEP was not on her top choices of schools to go to at first, Breedlove decided to take a chance, which she would later not regret, by choosing to be a Miner.
“The coaches (are what brought me here),” Breedlove said. “Coach Adams has been recruiting me since I was a freshman in high school, and she always kept in contact. This time, I thought, let me give it a shot, and I’ve never looked back ever since.”
In her time on the squad, Breedlove has made an impression on not only the coaches, but also her fellow teammates.
“I like Starr a lot, she’s quick,” guard Jenzel Nash said. “It’s nice to know that you have somebody out there that can run and throw the ball. She’s good at getting the ball up the court. She sees the floor well.”
Prior to the Miners, Breedlove appeared in nine games for Louisville. In the nine games, she played 43 minutes and made 3-of-4 shots and hit 4-of-4 free throw attempts.
Breedlove’s first time with a colligate squad was with Trinity Valley Community College, where she led her team to the NJCAA championship. During the 2011-12 season, Breedlove averaged 9.4 points, 6.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds with Trinity Valley.
“She’s got good experience, we watched her play at Trinity Valley,” Adams said. “She helped them win a national championship. She’s a very good guard, she can shoot the ball, good decision maker and brings experience.”
Taking on a major role can be difficult, especially for someone who has sat out a year from the sport. However, Adams describes Breedlove’s role as one that revolves around leadership.
“What we ask from all of our point guards is to be a boss out there on the floor in terms of telling our team what we’re in offensively and defensively,” Adams said. “I look for our point guards to echo me. I communicate to them and they communicate to the other players. Giving directions and playing hard.”
Nash, who named C-USA Sixth-Player of the Year in the 2013-14 season is known for her offensive and defensive expertise off the bench, admires the balanced ball play Breedlove brings to the squad.
“She’s a good defender,” Nash added. “She can also create her own shot. She knows how to create and get the ball out to her other teammates. Overall I think she’s a great player.”
Finding herself as one of the role players, Breedlove has discovered that for this season, she will bring her experience to the table and hopes to continue to perform as an impact player.
“My role on this team is basically to lead the team,” Breedlove said. “My role is to find success and have success.”
To finish her last year of colligate basketball, the senior transfer has high goals for this season, and expects to go out with a bang.
“(My goals at UTEP are) to graduate and to win a National Championship,” Breedlove adds.
Adrian Broaddus may be reached at [email protected].
