# 2017–18 UTEP Miners men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UTEP Miners basketball team represented the University of Texas at El Paso during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Miners, led by interim head coach Phil Johnson, played their home games at the Don Haskins Center as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 11–20, 6–12 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to UTSA. UTEP averaged 6,155 fans per game.
Following a loss to Lamar on November 27, 2017, that saw the Miners drop to 1–5 on the season, head coach Tim Floyd announced that he was retiring effective immediately. The school had previously announced a new athletic director, Jim Senter, a week prior, but Floyd said that had nothing to do with his decision. Assistant Phil Johnson was named interim head coach of the Miners the next day. On March 12, 2018, the school hired Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry as the new head coach of the Miners.

## Previous season

The Miners finished the 2016–17 season 15–17, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for third place. In the C-USA tournament, they defeated Rice in the quarterfinals before losing to top-seeded Middle Tennessee in the semifinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Dominic Artis | 1 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | San Francisco, CA | Graduated |
| Tim Cameron | 3 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Freshman | Norcross, GA | Transferred to High Point |
| Adrian Moore | 4 | G | 6'4" | 175 | Freshman | Little Rock, AR | Transferred to Butler CC |
| Chris Barnes | 5 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Sophomore | Compton, CA | Transferred to Angelina College |
| Terry Winn | 12 | F | 6'7" | 230 | RS Sophomore | Monroe, LA | Transferred to Texas–Rio Grande Valley |
| Ivan Venegas | 13 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Sophomore | Chihuahua, Mexico | Walk-on; left the for personal reasons |
| Deon Barrett | 23 | G | 5'10" | 150 | Freshman | Lancaster, TX | Transferred to Texas–Arlington |
| Hudson Urbanus | 25 | G | 6'0" | 160 | Freshman | Austin, TX | Walk-on; left the for personal reasons |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Keith Frazier | 25 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Senior | Dallas, TX | Transferred from North Texas. Will eligible to play since Frazier graduated from North Texas. |

### Class of 2017 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Evan Gilyard #54 PG | Chicago, IL | Simeon Career Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A | Oct 7, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Kobe Magee PG | San Antonio, TX | Brandeis High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | N/A | Feb 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Tirus Smith SF | Petal, MS | Petal High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 19, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### Class of 2018 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jacob Eyman PF | Los Alamitos, CA | Los Alamitos High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 10, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Teddy Ochieng PF | Kenya | Cantwell Sacred Heart Of Mary | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | Oct 29, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Avery Martinez SG | Costa Rica | Cantwell Sacred Heart Of Mary | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Oct 29, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Lamar Norman Jr. SG | Wyoming, MI | Godwin Heights High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 1, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 28, 2017* 1:00 pm | | Sul Ross State | W 78–70 | | Don Haskins Center El Paso, TX |
| Nov 3, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Western New Mexico | W 98–50 | | Don Haskins Center El Paso, TX |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Louisiana College | W 100–50 | 1–0 | Don Haskins Center (5,835) El Paso, TX |
| Nov 16, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Boise State Puerto Rico Tip-Off quarterfinals | L 56–58 | 1–1 | HTC Center (701) Conway, SC |
| Nov 17, 2017* 8:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. South Carolina Puerto Rico Tip-Off consolation 2nd round | L 56–80 | 1–2 | HTC Center (987) Conway, SC |
| Nov 19, 2017* 9:30 am, ESPN3 | | vs. Appalachian State Puerto Rico Tip-Off 7th place game | L 72–76 | 1–3 | HTC Center (1,774) Conway, SC |
| Nov 25, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at New Mexico State Battle of I-10 | L 63–72 | 1–4 | Pan American Center (6,069) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 27, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Lamar | L 52–66 | 1–5 | Don Haskins Center (5,855) El Paso, TX |
| Nov 30, 2017* 8:00 pm, Stadium | | New Mexico State Battle of I-10 | L 60–80 | 1–6 | Don Haskins Center (7,078) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | New Mexico | W 88–76 | 2–6 | Don Haskins Center (6,394) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm, Stadium | | Washington State | W 76–69 | 3–6 | Don Haskins Center (6,341) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Incarnate Word | W 72–66 | 4–6 | Don Haskins Center (6,023) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Howard Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals | W 69–56 | 5–6 | Don Haskins Center (6,013) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | North Dakota State Sun Bowl Invitational championship | L 51–63 | 5–7 | Don Haskins Center (8,021) El Paso, TX |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | | North Texas | L 62–63 | 5–8 (0–1) | Don Haskins Center (6,306) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm | | Rice | W 80–62 | 6–8 (1–1) | Don Haskins Center (6,147) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 4, 2018 6:00 pm, beIN | | at Southern Miss | L 75–85 | 6–9 (1–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,956) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 6, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | L 88–97 | 6–10 (1–3) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,654) Ruston, LA |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | L 66–73 | 6–11 (1–4) | Don Haskins Center (5,643) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm | | FIU | W 72–68 | 7–11 (2–4) | Don Haskins Center (6,074) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 20, 2018 2:00 pm | | at UTSA | L 61–65 | 7–12 (2–5) | Convocation Center (2,210) San Antonio, TX |
| Jan 25, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium | | at UAB | L 78–85 | 7–13 (2–6) | Bartow Arena (3,013) Birmingham, AL |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Middle Tennessee | L 50–81 | 7–14 (2–7) | Murphy Center (5,227) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Feb 1, 2018 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Western Kentucky | L 60–72 | 7–15 (2–8) | Don Haskins Center (6,116) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | Marshall | L 65–74 | 7–16 (2–9) | Don Haskins Center (6,061) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | UTSA | L 59–63 | 7–17 (2–10) | Don Haskins Center (6,335) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 15, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Charlotte | W 87–86 | 8–17 (3–10) | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,059) Charlotte, NC |
| Feb 17, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Old Dominion | L 33–82 | 8–18 (3–11) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,902) Norfolk, VA |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | Louisiana Tech | W 74–72 | 9–18 (4–11) | Don Haskins Center (5,386) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | Southern Miss | W 73–44 | 10–18 (5–11) | Don Haskins Center (6,117) El Paso, TX |
| Mar 1, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Rice | L 70–76 | 10–19 (5–12) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,802) Houston, TX |
| Mar 3, 2018 4:00 pm | | at North Texas | W 68–66 | 11–19 (6–12) | The Super Pit (3,744) Denton, TX |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 6:30 pm, Stadium | (12) | vs. (5) UTSA First Round | L 58–71 | 11–20 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
Source