Coming into the season the Miners had five scholarships to award. I believed the team needed to add a JC point guard and a JC center/power forward, as we needed help in these areas immediately. I also thought that it would be best if the team looked for the future, adding a HS backcourt player and a HS inside player. The final scholarship should have been used on the best player available, regardless of class or position.

Two scholarships were awarded in the fall, one to 6-11 C Rudy Mauricette, the other to 6-0 PG Sheldon Pace. A third scholarship was awarded when 6-7 SF Thomas Gehrke joined the team mid season. Mauricette, however, was denied admission to UTEP for academic reasons, and Pace recently asked to be released from his letter of intent, a request that was granted. This gave the Miners four scholarships to use in the spring.

The staff filled all four available scholarships in the spring signing period. Coming into the program will be Brent Murphy, a 6-8 PF; Jason Williams, a 6-5 SF; Filberto Rivera, a 6-2 PG; and Omar Thomas, a 6-5 SF. Descriptions of each of these players can be found below in the "Incoming" section, and an analysis of this recruiting class can be found in the "Comments" section.

Gehrke, who joined the team on Jan. 20, averaged 7.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Coming in w/ a reputation as a shooter he struggled, hitting only 34.4% of his shots and only 3 of his 26 three pointers. He has shown a decent touch inside the arc, and some ability to take the ball to the basket. With two years remaining after this season, Gehrke has proven himself to be at least a solid addition to the team, and, w/ the off season to adjust to life in the states and a full season next year to get used to the coaching staff and his teammates, he may prove to be quite a find.

Rivera average 16.2 points and 6.7 assists per game this season, leading Southeastern to a 33-1 regular season, an NJCAA Tournament Championship, and a number 1 ranking in the final NJCAA Basketball Div 1 Poll. He was named MVP of the NJCAA Tournament, was named First Team All-NJCAA, and is a finalist for the NJCAA Player of the Year award. The extremely quick Rivera can shoot and score, plays smart, is a tremendous leader, and is a good passer. He was originally recruited by new UTEP assistant coach Sergio Rouco to Florida International, where he verballed but did not sign. His signing w/ UTEP was a boost to the program. Rivals lists him as a four star athlete.

Murphy, an academic qualifier out of high school, will come to UTEP as a sophomore. He averaged 11 ppg and 6 rpg for Lon Morris last season, playing alongside a very impressive front line. Murphy, at 6-8 and 235 pounds, has the body you want for a power forward, but, ironically, his strength appears to be his outside shooting. He shot 60% from both the field and beyond the arc last season. I believe that Murphy will be a solid addition to the team. He is listed as a two star athlete by Rivals.

Williams appears to be a very versatile player, averaging 13.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.6 blocks per game as a freshman last season at Kilgore. Like Murphy, he was an academic qualifier out of high school, and will come in w/ three years of eligibility. The Rivals three star athlete appears to be another solid addition to the team.

Thomas is a very intriguing prospect. He led all JC players in scoring (36.1 ppg) and was second in rebounding (17 rpg), and is the first JC player ever to amass over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds over his JC career. With numbers like this you would expect that everyone in the country was knocking at his door, but this is not case. Thomas is apparently an average athlete, needs to improve his 3-point shooting, and is a defensive liability. Still, he has an extremely effective midrange game and obviously knows how to hit the boards. The coaching staff is extremely high on this kid.

Nixon averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks last season. His strength is his defense and rebounding. On offense he has range out to the three-point line, but definitely needs to work on his post play. He needs to add bulk, but is hitting the weight room hard. The good news is that he understands his weaknesses, and is working very hard to correct them. The Miners are out of basketball scholarships, but are trying to convince Nixon to come to UTEP and walk-on. Nixon, an avid golfer w/ dreams of going pro, might accept a golf scholarship. If he does not come to UTEP Nixon, a devout Christian, will probably accept an offer from Bethany Christian College in Santa Cruz, CA.

None.

Gillispie's first recruiting class as head coach of the Miners appears to be a very good one. Many of the new Miners will start next year, and all should receive significant playing time. I have no doubt that the Miners will improve on the 6-24 record they posted this past season, and should finish w/ a winning record.

In my opinion the strength of this class is in the point guard and wing positions. Rivera should prove to be an amazing player, and appears to be the heir apparent to the great Miner point guard tradition, which includes players like Bobby Joe Hill, Nate Archibald, Jeep Jackson, Tim Hardaway, and Eddie Rivera. Thomas has expressed interest in playing the 2 and 3 spots, and Williams appears to be a jack-of-all trades that can play a number of positions. Star sophomore Gio St Amant (see my season review for my opinions of Gio and the rest of the returning players) and solid role players Chris Craig and Omar Duran will combine w/ Rivera and Pace to give the Miners an extremely strong backcourt, which should easily be the strength of next year’s team. Gehrke, whom I expect to dramatically improve, and senior Roy Smallwood should combine w/ Thomas and Williams to make the SF spot strong as well.

The one area where I’m not so sure that we improved in is our inside game. We lose Justino Victoriano, who averaged 8.2 ppg and a very important 8.5 boards a game, and I’m not sure that we’ve fully replaced him. The only new player in the mix down low is Brent Murphy. While his stats were respectable for a freshman, especially considered that he played alongside JC stars CJ Pigford and Diego Romero, they don’t necessarily indicate that he will be able to make a huge contribution next season. Returning sophomore John Tofi, who had an outstanding freshman season, should improve, helping to take up part of the slack generated by Victoriano’s graduation. Also, Smallwood will play some at the PF spot, and hopefully returning senior Darius Mattear will improve. Thomas should also be able to help w/ his ability on the boards. Still, beyond Tofi, I just don’t see us having the talent or depth we need inside to make a run at a WAC championship.

There is no doubt that this team will be greatly improved over last season. A winning record is expected, and some are predicting that this team will challenge for a post-season berth.

Go Miners!!!!

E-Mail the Author: Mark Hatch