conference

Expectations were high for UTEP basketball fans coming into last season. The 2000-01 version of the Miners went 23-9, 10-6 WAC (tied for 2^{nd)
and advanced to the second round of the NIT. Eight of the top nine players
were returning, the very significant exception being first team All-WAC and
first team Academic All-American Brandon Wolfram. Still, with so many
players returning the Miners figured to make another run at the post season,
and, if the right players stepped up, it looked like the team had a shot at
the NCAA Tournament.}

All of these expectations came crashing down during an extremely disappointing 2001-02 campaign. Rather than step up there games, most players on the team performed much worse than they did the previous season. Head Coach Jason Rabedeaux (Rab) could not settle on a starting lineup, with ten players starting at least 6 games during the season. The Miners finished a horrible 10-22 on the season, including 3-15 in the WAC, dead last.

There is more bad news for Miner fans. Five players - PG Eugene Costello (13.1 ppg, 3.2 apg), C Brian Stewart (10.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg), SG Chris Neal (7.5 ppg), SF Leonard Owens (4.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg), and PG Victor Luces (2.8 ppg) - graduated (or at least used up their eligibility), while another player, SO SF Nick Enzweiler (6.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg), transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. These players combined to start 99 games, score 65% of the points, grab 49% of the rebounds, and dish out 70% of the assists for the Miners last season.

You would think that UTEP fans would be preparing themselves for another horrible season, but the attitude among the Miner faithful is actually very up beat. The reason for this is a solid recruiting class put together by Rab and his staff. The gem of this class is 6-3 Keion Kindred, a highly recruited PG from Dominguez HS in Compton, CA. Joining Kindred are 6-7 PF John Tofi from Riordan HS in San Francisco; 6-3 SG Gio St Amant from St Johns Bosco HS in Bellflower, CA; Darius Mattear, a 6-6 PF from Fort Scott (KS) Community College; and 6-1 PG Chris Craig from Arizona Western College in Yuma, AZ. Another new face will be 6-6 SG/SF Jason Hammock, a transfer from Illinois State who sat out last season. Basketball recruiting guru Greg Swaim was apparently very impressed with this class, telling me that it easily ranked as one of the top 20-25 classes in the nation. I believe this to be a huge reach, but this appears to be a very nice class nonetheless.

Frontcourt:

There are only two players that right now appear to be a lock for a starting spot next season, and both are in the frontcourt. The first, 6-6 SR SF/PF Roy Smallwood, needs to finally step up and become the star of this team. Roy is the team’s leading returning scorer (12.4 ppg) and rebounder (6.3 rpg). He is strong and quick w/ a soft shooting touch, and has the ability to go for 20 night after night. Still, Miner fans have been disappointed with Roy’s play the last two seasons. Roy was the runaway pick for WAC Freshman-of-the-Year in 2000 after averaging 13.4 ppg and leading the WAC in three point shooting (45.9%). At the time Miner fans thought that Roy would easily become one of the best players ever at the school. He has yet to live up to his promise however, as his scoring averages and shooting percentages were lower as a sophomore and junior than they were as a freshman. He needs to reacquire the desire and intensity that he showed as freshman if this team is going to be successful.

The other sure fire starter is 6-8 SR C/PF Justino Victoriano. Justino is a big strong kid who had several impressive performances last season, including an 18 point performance in only 17 minutes of play against Fresno State, an 8-12 for 19 points performance against Tulsa, and an 9-10 for 19 points outing at Boise State. He also led the team w/ a .586 shooting percentage. Unfortunately, Justino has a penchant for committing fouls, which limited his playing time to 18.7 minutes per game, his scoring to 8.7 ppg and his rebounding to 5.4 rpg. If Justino can keep himself out of foul trouble he will easily score well into double figures and average about 8 or 9 rebounds per game. If not his performance will be a repeat of last year, where he is brilliant in some games and totally invisible due to foul trouble in others.

The third starting frontcourt spot is up for grabs, with the leading candidates being a returning part time starter and a couple of newcomers. The part time starter is 6-6 JR SG/SF Antone Jarrell. Jarrell started 20 of the Miners’ 32 games last season, most of them at shooting guard. He will definitely contend for a starting spot at either the SG or SF position this season. Ranked as a top 100 player by Bob Gibbons coming out of high school, Jarrell has yet to live up to expectations. He only averaged 4.4 ppg on .398 shooting from the field, but did develop a reputation as the team’s best defender. While his stats are far from impressive, he did play significantly better last season than he did his freshman year, and, according to a friend, he is really working hard at his game. Hopefully he will start to become the player the Miners expected him to be when he signed with the team.

JC transfer Darius Mattear, a 6-6 PF, will also contend for a starting position. Mattear is a high flying athlete who prefers rebounding to scoring, averaging 12.5 rpg and 14.3 ppg at Fort Scott (KS) Community College last season. He apparently uses his athleticism to score as he lacks a good post game. He needs to spend the summer learning how to play with his back to the basket. Hopefully his enthusiasm for rebounding will become contagious, as the Miners have been extremely poor in that department the last few seasons.

The final potential starter in the UTEP frontcourt is incoming freshman John Tofi, a 6-7 PF from Riordan HS in San Francisco. Tofi averaged 15 ppg and 10 rpg for Riordan this year, helping to lead them to the CA Div III title. He is powerfully built with a strong post game and good rebounding ability, but is not overly quick. Rab has named his as a potential starter, but Greg Hicks of Prep West Hoops does not believe that he will be ready to start until his sophomore or junior season. All agree that he is a very nice addition to the team; we’ll just have to see how quickly he develops.

A pair of sophomore forwards, 6-7 Joe Devance and 6-6 Brandon Clausen, will be on the roster, but are not expected to see much playing time. Devance, and El Paso native, scored a total of 11 points in 11 games last season, while Clausen tallied 1 point in just and 3 minutes of play last year.

Backcourt:

A likely starter in the backcourt is 6-3 PG Keion Kindred, an incoming freshman. Kindred is a big, strong, athletic guard who is built more like a linebacker than your typical PG. Still, Kindred, who played his high school ball at Dominguez HS in Compton, CA, is very highly regarded lead guard among west coast recruiting experts. Coming into his senior season the only question on Keion was his shot, but he allayed those concerns after averaging 23 ppg, 9 apg, 8 rpg, and 3 spg for Dominguez last season. Kindred is considered to be a huge steal for the Miners, who beat out Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, and UConn for his services.

SO PG Luke Martin and JC transfer PG Chris Craig should battle for the other starting guard spot. Martin, a part time starter last season, was expected to be able to come in immediately and star at the PG position for the Miners last year. The 5-11 player, ranked by Bob Gibbons as a top 150 prospect, struggled, however, averaging only 2.9 points and 1.6 assists in 15 minutes per game last season. Martin, who had a reputation as a strong penetrator and shooter coming out of high school, did play well in a late season victory against rival New Mexico State, however, and will hopefully be able to build on that game.

Craig, a 6-1 guard from Arizona Western College in Yuma, AZ, expects to start at the PG position next season. Martin and Kindred each expect to do the same thing. Craig and Kindred both believe that Rab promised them the starting PG spot while he was recruiting them last season. On the surface it’s not easy to see why such a promise might have been made to Craig. He only averaged 7.7 ppg and 4.3 apg for Arizona Western last season, making only 41% of his shots, 34 % from beyond the arc. Observers who have seen him play insist that he is much better than his numbers indicate. I hope that they are correct. The Miners need for Kindred, Martin, and Craig to play well next season, and not concern themselves too much with who gets to start and at what position. Also, if Mattear and/or Tofi really come in and impress next season, Jarrell might assume the starting SG position, meaning that only one of the three PGs will be able to start.

Two more newcomers will look to make an impact at the guard position next season: Giovonni St Amant, an incoming freshman, and Jason Hammock, a sophomore transfer. Gio, a 6-3 SG, is very puzzling mystery. Some observers believe him to be a steal by the Miner coaching staff, while others consider him to be a huge reach for the program. His numbers and accolades seem to back up the opinions of his supporters. Gio averaged an impressive 25.8 ppg and 10.3 rpg for St Johns Bosco HS in Bellflower, CA, last season, and an even more impressive 33.4 ppg and 12.6 rpg during an amazing playoff run. In his final playoff game Gio nearly led his team to an upset of Southern CA basketball power Mater Dei before finally falling short late in the game. He also beat out more nationally renowned players such as Kindred and Bobby Jones to be named as the Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team Player-of-the-Year. Still, his critics insist that he does not have the outside shot to play the SG position in a conference like the WAC, and that he needs to significantly improve his ball handling. Rab has said that he expects Gio to be able to contribute as a freshman.

Hammock, a 6-6 SG, sat out last season after transferring from Illinois State. He averaged 2.6 ppg as a freshman at ISU and averaged 9.8 ppg and 5.3 rpg as a senior at The Colony (TX) HS. He is a lean, athletic slasher who really needed to work on his perimeter shooting. Hopefully he did this while sitting out last season. Hammock may also see time at the SF position.

The final member of the UTEP backcourt will be 6-3 RS FR SG Alexandros Anthis. I had high hopes for Anthis when he was signed as a 21-year-old freshman. He had averaged 15 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4 apg as a starter for the Greek National Team. In a couple of exhibition games and three early season games he played in before redshirting, however, he showed that he is in no way ready to contribute to a Div 1 basketball program.

Outlook:

This team will have its work cut out for it. There is no one on the roster taller than 6-8. The graduation of Neal and the defection of Enzweiler leaves the team w/o a proven outside shooter, as Smallwood has never regained the 3-point touch he has his freshman season. Three starting positions will have to be filled by players who have never played Div 1 ball before or have not yet proven themselves at this level. The two veteran starters each need to make improvements in order to get the most from their considerable skills.

Still, this team does have a good collection of talent, and should be able to surpass last season’s miserable total of 10 wins. This is in part due to the fact that the OOC schedule should be much easier than it was last season. Expecting a good team last year, the Miner coaching staff played a solid OOC schedule, with games against TCU and Providence on a neutral site, Texas Tech, Charlotte, and New Mexico State on the road, and Washington, Mississippi, and New Mexico State at home. This season the Miners will continue their home and home tradition with New Mexico State, and will play Texas Tech in the Don Haskins Center, but the next toughest team on their OOC schedule will likely be Air Force in the Sun Classic Tournament, with the rest of the schedule padded by cupcakes. The Miners should win at least 6, and might win 8, of their OOC games.

I don’t believe that this team will finish in the top half of the WAC, but they will hopefully be able to beat last year’s 3-15 WAC mark. If Roy steps up his game and Justino finds a way to stay in games I believe that the Miners can win 7 or 8 games in WAC play. If the newcomers are able to come in and play well immediately the Miners may be able to improve on this number, but they could just as easily repeat last year’s miserable WAC performance. I am going to predict that this team wins 15 games next season, with the young players giving Miner fans a lot to look forward to in the future.

by Mark Hatch


---- COLLEGE BASKETBALL ----
CollegehoopsNet.com	About Us	Contact Us	Sponsors	Advertise	Want to Write?