# 2021–22 UTEP Miners men's basketball team

The 2021–22 UTEP Miners men's basketball team represented the University of Texas at El Paso during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by first-year head coach Joe Golding, and played their home games at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas as a member of Conference USA.

## Previous season

The Miners finished the 2020–21 season 12–12, 8–8 in C-USA play to finish in fifth place in West Division. They lost in the second round of the C-USA tournament to Florida Atlantic.
On April 6, 2021, Rodney Terry left for UTEP to accept an assistant coaching position at Texas. The Miners announced the hiring of Abilene Christian head coach Joe Golding as its next head coach on April 13.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Eric Vila | 4 | F | 6'11" | 225 | RS Senior | Girona, Spain | Graduated |
| Bryson Williams | 11 | F | 6'8" | 230 | RS Senior | Fresno, CA | Graduate transferred to Texas Tech |
| Kristian Sjolund | 12 | F | 6'8" | 206 | RS Sophomore | Kongsberg, Norway | Transferred to Portland |
| Vuk Vulikic | 20 | G | 6'4" | 198 | Freshman | Belgrade, Serbia | Transferred to UC San Diego |
| Adam Hess | 23 | G | 6'5" | 195 | RS Sophomore | Westlake, CA | Transferred to Eastern New Mexico |
| Efe Odigie | 32 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Junior | Houston, TX | Transferred to Troy |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Bonke Maring | 11 | F | 6'10" | | Junior | Cypress, TX | Blinn College |
| Jamari Sibley | 14 | F | 6'8" | 200 | Sophomore | Milwaukee, WI | Georgetown |
| Alfred Hollins | 15 | F | 6'6" | 205 | Senior | San Francisco, CA | Oregon State |
| Jorell Saterfield | 23 | F | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Ranger College |

### Recruiting class of 2021

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kezza Giffa G | Paris, France | | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | May 28, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Kevin Kalu F | Baltimore, MD | Our Lady of Mt Carmel School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A | Aug 26, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 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: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2022

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Khalfani Hill SF | Toronto, ON | Excel Hoops Training Institute | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A | Oct 24, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 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: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Western New Mexico | W 85–57 | 1–0 | Don Haskins Center (6,751) El Paso, TX |
| November 13, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at New Mexico State Battle of I-10 | L 71–77 | 1–1 | Pan American Center (8,089) Las Cruces, NM |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Northern New Mexico | W 88–53 | 2–1 | Don Haskins Center (3,808) El Paso, TX |
| November 19, 2021* 8:00 p.m., WCC Network | | at Pacific Golden Turkey Classic | W 73–64 | 3–1 | Alex G. Spanos Center (1,514) Stockton, CA |
| November 22, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | UC Riverside Golden Turkey Classic | L 40–52 | 3–2 | Don Haskins Center (4,037) El Paso, TX |
| November 24, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Florida A&M Golden Turkey Classic | W 67–53 | 4–2 | Don Haskins Center (4,196) El Paso, TX |
| December 3, 2021* 6:00 p.m., Stadium | | New Mexico State Battle of I-10 | L 69–72 | 4–3 | Don Haskins Center (6,392) El Paso, TX |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 8 Kansas | L 52–78 | 4–4 | T-Mobile Center (15,500) Kansas City, MO |
| December 12, 2021* 1:00 p.m., Stadium | | at New Mexico | W 77–69 | 5–4 | The Pit (9,044) Albuquerque, NM |
| December 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | McNeese State | W 82–72 | 6–4 | Don Haskins Center (5,522) El Paso, TX |
| December 21, 2021* 7:30 p.m., CUSA.tv | | North Carolina Central Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals | W 70–61 | 7–4 | Don Haskins Center (4,047) El Paso, TX |
| December 22, 2021* 7:30 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Bradley Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational | L 66–73 | 7–5 | Don Haskins Center (4,082) El Paso, TX |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2021 5:30 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at UAB | L 62–75 | 7–6 (0–1) | Bartow Arena (2,795) Birmingham, AL |
| January 6, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Louisiana Tech | L 52–64 | 7–7 (0–2) | Don Haskins Center (3,701) El Paso, TX |
| January 8, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Southern Miss | W 87-54 | 8–7 (1–2) | Don Haskins Center (3,841) El Paso, TX |
| January 13, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Charlotte | L 53–66 | 8–8 (1–3) | Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, NC |
| January 15, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion | W 78–70 | 9–8 (2–3) | Chartway Arena (4,528) Norfolk, VA |
| January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | UTSA | W 69–64 | 10–8 (3–3) | Don Haskins Center (5,021) El Paso, TX |
| January 23, 2022 2:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at UTSA | W 59–54 | 11–8 (4–3) | Convocation Center (924) San Antonio, TX |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Florida Atlantic | W 70–68 | 12–8 (5–3) | Don Haskins Center (4,458) El Paso, TX |
| January 29, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | FIU | W 79–68 | 13–8 (6–3) | Don Haskins Center (4,864) El Paso, TX |
| February 5, 2022 1:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at Rice | W 72–70 | 14–8 (7–3) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,872) Houston, TX |
| February 7, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at North Texas Rescheduled from February 3 | L 58–66 | 14–9 (7–4) | The Super Pit (3,813) Denton, TX |
| February 13, 2022 1:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Marshall | L 79–88 | 14–10 (7–5) | Don Haskins Center (4,129) El Paso, TX |
| February 17, 2022 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana Tech | W 63–60 | 15–10 (8–5) | Thomas Assembly Center (2,777) Ruston, LA |
| February 19, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | W 84–70 | 16–10 (9–5) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,861) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 21, 2022 5:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at Middle Tennessee Rescheduled from January 1 | L 59–77 | 16–11 (9–6) | Murphy Center (4,211) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | L 66–69 | 16–12 (9–7) | Don Haskins Center (6,100) El Paso, TX |
| March 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | Rice | W 70–67 | 17–12 (10–7) | Don Haskins Center (4,645) El Paso, TX |
| March 5, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Texas | W 70–68 | 18–12 (11–7) | Don Haskins Center (5,521) El Paso, TX |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (W4) | vs. (E5) Old Dominion Second round | W 74–64 | 19–12 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| March 10, 2022 8:00 p.m., Stadium | (W4) | vs. (E1) Middle Tennessee Quarterfinals | L 59–66 $^{OT}$ | 19–13 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| The Basketball Classic ||||||
| March 19, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Illinois First Round | W 80–54 | 20–13 | Don Haskins Center (3,500) El Paso, TX |
| March 22, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southern Utah Second Round | L 69–82 | 20–14 | Don Haskins Center (3,510) El Paso, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain. ||||||
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