# 2018–19 UTEP Miners men's basketball team

The 2018–19 UTEP Miners basketball team represented the University of Texas at El Paso during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Miners, led by first year head coach Rodney Terry, played their home games at the Don Haskins Center as members of Conference USA. UTEP finished the season 8–21, 3–15 in C-USA play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the C-USA Tournament. UTEP averaged 4,677 fans per game.

## Previous season

The Miners finished the 2017–18 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.
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. Following the season, it was announced that Johnson would not return.
On March 12, 2018, the school hired Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry as the new head coach of the Miners.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Omega Harris | 2 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Senior | Bethany, OK | Graduated |
| Tirus Smith | 4 | F | 6'9" | 250 | Freshman | Richton, MS | Transferred to Jones County JC |
| Trey Wade | 5 | G/F | 6'6" | 205 | Freshman | Marietta, GA | Walk-on; transferred to South Plains College |
| Jake Flaggert | 11 | G/F | 6'7" | 210 | RS Senior | Lucas, TX | Graduated |
| Isiah Osborne | 13 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Sophomore | Windsor, ON | Graduate transferred to Carleton |
| Trey Touchet | 21 | G | 6'2" | 190 | RS Junior | Lafayette, IN | Graduate transferred to McNeese State |
| DeShaun Highler | 24 | G | 6'2" | 165 | Freshman | Riverside, CA | Walk-on; transferred to East Los Angeles College |
| Keith Frazier | 25 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Senior | Dallas, TX | Graduated |
| Matt Willms | 41 | C | 7'1" | 235 | RS Senior | Leamington, ON | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Tydus Verhoeven | 4 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Manteca, CA | Transferred from Duquesne. Under NCAA transfer rules, Verhoeven will sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Souley Boum | 5 | G | 6'3" | 145 | Sophomore | Oakland, CA | Transferred from San Francisco. Under NCAA transfer rules, Verhoeven will sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Bryson Williams | 11 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Junior | Fresno, CA | Transferred from Fresno State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Williams will sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Anthony Tarke | 12 | G/F | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | Gaithersburg, MD | Transferred from NJIT. Under NCAA transfer rules, Williams will sit out the 2018–19 season. Tarke have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Ountae Campbell | 13 | G | 6'4" | 195 | RS Junior | Los Angeles, CA | Junior college transferred from Casper College. Will join the team as a walk-on. |
| Gilles Dekonick | 33 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Sophomore | Diest, Belgium | Transferred from Fresno State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Dekonick will sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. Will join the team as a walk-on. |

### Class of 2018 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jordan Lathon PG | Grandview, MO | Grandview High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 2, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Kaosi Ezeagu PF | Brampton, ON | GTA Prep | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | May 16, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Nigel Hawkins SG | Houston, TX | Cypress Falls High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Apr 23, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Efe Odigie C | Houston, TX | Pro-Vision Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Apr 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| 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. ||||||

### Class of 2019 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Brendan Wenzel SG | Helotes, TX | O'Connor High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 21, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Jesse Zarzuela PG | Houston, TX | Spring Woods High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 20, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A |||||||
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm | UT Permian Basin | W 90–63 | 1–0 | Don Haskins Center (4,227) El Paso, TX |
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm | at New Mexico State Battle of I-10 | L 69–96 | 1–1 | Pan American Center (6,125) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 14, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | at Arizona | L 46–79 | 1–2 | McKale Center (13,651) Tucson, AZ |
| Nov 19, 2018* 7:00 pm | Eastern New Mexico | W 66–59 | 2–2 | Don Haskins Center (4,505) El Paso, TX |
| Nov 24, 2018* 5:30 pm | at New Mexico | L 78–84 | 2–3 | Dreamstyle Arena (11,266) Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | New Mexico State Battle of I-10 | L 58–62 | 2–4 | Don Haskins Center (6,106) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | Northwestern State | W 77–47 | 3–4 | Don Haskins Center (4,670) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 4, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS1 | at Marquette | L 69–76 | 3–5 | Fiserv Forum (13,064) Milwaukee, WI |
| Dec 16, 2018* 1:00 pm | UC Riverside | W 68–56 | 4–5 | Don Haskins Center (4,454) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 21, 2018* 7:00 pm | Norfolk State Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals | L 62–75 | 4–6 | Don Haskins Center (4,284) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 22, 2018* 5:00 pm | Wyoming Sun Bowl Invitational 3rd place game | W 76–65 | 5–6 | Don Haskins Center (4,011) El Paso, TX |
| Conference USA regular season |||||
| Jan 3, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | at UTSA | L 60–75 | 5–7 (0–1) | Convocation Center (1,218) San Antonio, TX |
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm | UTSA | L 63–67 | 5–8 (0–2) | Don Haskins Center (4,565) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | North Texas | L 51–58 | 5–9 (0–3) | Don Haskins Center (4,451) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 12, 2019 7:00 pm | Rice | W 65–64 | 6–9 (1–3) | Don Haskins Center (4,345) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 17, 2019 6:00 pm | at UAB | L 63–76 | 6–10 (1–4) | Bartow Arena (2,297) Birmingham, AL |
| Jan 19, 2019 4:00 pm | at Middle Tennessee | L 72–75 | 6–11 (1–5) | Murphy Center (3,806) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Jan 24, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | Old Dominion | L 48–50 | 6–12 (1–6) | Don Haskins Center (4,798) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm | Charlotte | W 57–53 | 7–12 (2–6) | Don Haskins Center (4,856) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 31, 2019 5:30 pm, beIN | at Marshall | L 86–91 | 7–13 (2–7) | Cam Henderson Center (5,765) Huntington, WV |
| Feb 2, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Western Kentucky | L 59–76 | 7–14 (2–8) | E. A. Diddle Arena (6,397) Bowling Green, KY |
| Feb 7, 2019 7:00 pm | Florida Atlantic | L 48–61 | 7–15 (2–9) | Don Haskins Center (4,646) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | FIU | W 85–75 | 8–15 (3–9) | Don Haskins Center (5,094) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 14, 2019 5:30 pm, beIN | at Louisiana Tech | L 57–71 | 8–16 (3–10) | Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, LA |
| Feb 16, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Southern Miss | L 47–77 | 8–17 (3–11) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,536) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Feb 23, 2019 8:00 pm | Rice | L 81–85 $^{2OT}$ | 8–18 (3–12) | Don Haskins Center (5,071) El Paso, TX |
| Mar 3, 2019 12:00 pm | at Charlotte | L 58–68 | 8–19 (3–13) | Halton Arena (2,821) Charlotte, NC |
| Mar 6, 2019 8:00 pm | Middle Tennessee | L 53–69 | 8–20 (3–14) | Don Haskins Center (4,748) El Paso, TX |
| Mar 9, 2019 7:30 pm | at Middle Tennessee | L 47–48 | 8–21 (3–15) | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||
Source