Basketball

UTEP men’s basketball begins summer workouts

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6 months ago

June 25, 2024

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UTEP men’s basketball begins summer workouts

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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The UTEP men’s basketball team began its summer workouts at the Foster Stevens Center on Monday.

Monday’s workout marked the continuation of the team’s development as it looks to build on what it accomplished last season.

After a regular season full of ups and downs that ended with a 16-15 overall record, UTEP made a run in the Conference USA Championships. The Miners ended up losing to Western Kentucky in the tournament final, coming up one win short of punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, a stage the program hasn’t been to since 2010.

However, UTEP’s run to the CUSA Tournament final injected a new life into the program. And with UTEP returning ten players from last year’s squad, there is optimism this upcoming season could be a great one. But first, UTEP is focused on putting in the work this summer.

“It’s like first day of school. Everybody’s dressed nice. Everyone has a lot of energy,” UTEP men’s basketball head coach Joe Golding said. “It’s great to have everybody back. Obviously, that’s a huge plus for us but it doesn’t guarantee anything, right? You still got to go out. You got to earn it. We got to get back to work. These kids have been developing since the spring and then of course this summer we have to continue to develop them.”

“It’s just getting back to work. We’re not going to be giving anything just because we made it to the conference tournament last year,” UTEP senior guard Otis Frazier III said. “So, we are putting in the work the same way we did last year. We are getting the new guys in, putting the system together, gelling together, that’s pretty much what we are focused on this summer.”

As mentioned earlier, UTEP is bringing back ten players from last season’s squad. Otis Frazier III, Trey Horton III, David Terrell Jr., Corey Camper Jr., and Derrick Hamilton are some returnees to mention.

As far as newcomers, UTEP’s biggest pick up of the offseason was in attendance for summer workouts: Tarleton State transfer guard Devon Barnes.

One other new addition to this year’s UTEP team is Americas High School graduate Jordan Hernandez. The product returns to El Paso and joins the team after playing at Cochise College.

Here’s a look at UTEP’s roster for the summer.

Returnees

Baylor Hebb, senior guard

Corey Camper Jr., senior guard

David Terrell Jr., sophomore guard

Trey Horton III, sophomore guard

Antwonne Holmes, redshirt sophomore guard

Otis Frazier III, senior forward

Babacar Mbengue, redshirt freshman forward

Derrick Hamilton, senior forward

Elijah Jones, sophomore forward

Kevin Kalu, senior forward

Newcomers

Ahamad Bynum, guard, transfer from Trinity Valley Community College

Devon Barnes, guard, transfer from Tarleton State

KJ Thomas, freshman guard, Canyon Randall High School

One other newcomer to the UTEP men’s basketball team is on the coaching staff. Mike Roberts is now part of Golding’s staff.

WHAT’S 10:33?

One thing incredibly hard to ignore at UTEP’s first summer workout of the year was that all the players were wearing shirts with ’10:33′ on it. When asked about what it meant, players kept their cards close to their chest.

“That’s obviously stuff we are keeping in the locker room to ourselves,” UTEP guard Trey Horton III said. “10:33 was special. Obviously when we are in spots like that, we just need to remember that moment.”

“I can’t talk about it that much but anybody who knows what it means, you know what it means to this program.” Frazier III said.

“It’s just something to remind them guys that there’s a lot to work for this year man so it’s a little saying we have inside our program.” Golding said.

No member of the team told reporters what ’10:33′ on the shirts exactly meant on Monday.

I have a hunch it is a callback to UTEP’s opening game of last season’s Conference USA Tournament. UTEP found itself down 12 points against Liberty with 10:33 to play and put together a game-closing 24-3 run to complete a 66-57 comeback victory to kick start its run in the tournament.

That is my only guess and I think an educated guess. Oh well, UTEP will continue its summer workouts with the goal of assembling another team that can make a run back to the CUSA Tournament final, and this time, win it to give the program a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over a decade.