Basketball season kicks off for Miner Nation

Sophomore guard Jordan Lathon pushes the ball upcourt against Texas Tech in charity game Oct. 12, 2019.

Isaiah Ramirez, Staff Reporter • November 5, 2019

Miners‘ basketball season is upon us. The Men‘s basketball team has Miner fans excited for the upcoming season with its postseason potential.

Men’s basketball loaded with touted talent (players to watch: Bryson Williams, Jordan Lathon, Daryl Edwards, Eric Villa).

After defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders last month, the expectations for the UTEP men’s basketball team increased ten-fold. With several Division I transfers and returnees from last year’s program, Head Coach Rodney Terry’s blueprint of creating a team filled with defensive–minded and hard nose athletic players is coming to fruition.

“This is the first step of a marathon and a journey of a season for us and we’re playing Oct.12 but this felt like a regular–season game out there,” Terry said, following the Miner’s exhibition win over Texas Tech.

The electric atmosphere in the Don Haskins Center in the matchup versus Tech was just a taste of what Miner fans can expect this year. This year’s squad features standout junior forward Bryson Williams, who is a blend of skill and power at both ends of the floor.

Williams put up 19 points and nine boards against Texas Tech and provided a dominant presence down low.

Another skilled piece in Terry’s blueprint includes graduate transfer and guard Daryl Edwards, who came off the bench against Texas Tech and provided six three’s and a game–high 24 points against the 2019 national runner ups.

Redshirt junior forward Eric Villa looks to provide a unique blend of an inside out game with his ability to score down in the post or drag defenders out to the three-point line. The Northwest Florida transfer put up 10.8 points per game for the Raiders and knocked down 28 threes. The Spaniard also provided nine double–doubles for the season and led his team to a number one seed in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament.

Several players from last year’s team that will be essential assets to this year’s campaign include high scoring sophomore guards Jordan Lathon and Nigel Hawkins. Another force for the Miners is 2019 all–conference USA freshman team sophomore forward Efe Odigie.

UTEP’s men’s basketball regular season begins against New Mexico Highlands at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Don Haskins Center.

Isaiah Ramirez may be reached at [email protected]

About the Contributors

Isaiah Ramirez

Isaiah Ramirez is a senior multimedia journalism major at the University of Texas at El Paso. Isaiah has worked for the university’s paper The Prospector since Spring 2018 and has held the position as a sports editor and is currently a reporter at the publication. During the fall semesters he also works as an on-air reporter for Football Friday Nights a weekly radio show showcasing local football games broadcasted by 600 ESPN El Paso. He covers local news as well as local and UTEP sporting events such as football, men’s and women’s basketball, and has covered the annual Hyundai Sun Bowl game and two-time NBA champion Danny Green’s basketball camp here in the Sun City.

Michael Cuviello

Michael Cuviello is a multimedia journalism student at UTEP. He currently serves The Prospector at Sports Editor and reporter. During the summer 2020, he led the publication as Editor-In-Chief where he helped cover Black Lives Matter protests and the University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.