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.^[1]

2017–18 UTEP Miners men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	11–20 (6–12 C-USA)
Head coach	Tim Floyd (First 6 games) Phil Johnson (interim)
Assistant coaches	Bobby Braswell Kris Baumann
Home arena	Don Haskins Center
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee	16	–	2		.889			25	–	8		.758
Old Dominion	15	–	3		.833			25	–	7		.781
Western Kentucky	14	–	4		.778			27	–	11		.711
Marshall †	12	–	6		.667			25	–	11		.694
UTSA	11	–	7		.611			20	–	15		.571
UAB	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
North Texas	8	–	10		.444			20	–	18		.526
FIU	8	–	10		.444			14	–	18		.438
Southern Miss	7	–	11		.389			16	–	18		.471
Louisiana Tech	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			12	–	19		.387
UTEP	6	–	12		.333			11	–	20		.355
Rice	4	–	14		.222			7	–	24		.226
Charlotte	2	–	16		.111			6	–	23		.207
† 2018 C-USA Tournament winner

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.^[2][3] 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.^[4][5] Assistant Phil Johnson was named interim head coach of the Miners the next day.^[6] On March 12, 2018, the school hired Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry as the new head coach of the Miners.^[7]

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

Justin Smith of Stevenson High School boxes out Evan Gilyard of Simeon Career Academy in 2015.

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (75)
Kobe Magee PG	San Antonio, TX	Brandeis High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A	Feb 27, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (0)
Tirus Smith SF	Petal, MS	Petal High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 19, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (0)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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.

Class of 2018 recruits

College recruiting information (2018)
Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Teddy Ochieng PF	Kenya	Cantwell Sacred Heart Of Mary	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	N/A	Oct 29, 2017
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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.

Roster

2017–18 UTEP Miners men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 1 Paul Thomas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Summer Creek HS Humble, TX G 2 Omega Harris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Putnam City West HS Bethany, OK G 3 Evan Gilyard 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Simeon Career Academy Chicago, IL F/C 4 Tirus Smith 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Petal HS Richton, MS G/F 5 Trey Wade 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr South Cobb HS Marietta, GA F 11 Jake Flaggert 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Lovejoy HS Lucas, TX G 13 Isiah Osborne 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So University of Windsor (Canada) Windsor, ON G 15 Kobe Magee 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Fr Brandeis HS San Antonio, TX G 21 Trey Touchet 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Saint Thomas More HS Lafayette, IN G 24 DeShaun Highler (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr JW North HS Riverside, CA G 25 Keith Frazier 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Kimball HS SMU/North Texas Dallas, TX C 41 Matt Willms 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Sr Findlay Prep Leamington, ON F 54 Isaiah Rhyanes (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Andress HS El Paso CC El Paso, TX	Head coach Phil Johnson (East Central) Assistant coach(es) Bobby Braswell (Cal State Northridge) Kris Baumann (Idaho) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

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^[8]

See also

• 2017–18 UTEP Miners women's basketball team