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]
