Breaking News! UTEP basketball loses two players

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA football coverage. Today, our UTEP Correspondent Carlos Silva Jr. brings you breaking news about UTEP basketball.

EL PASO, TX – After a week long search, 35-year-old Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee is a lock to be UTEP’s new head basketball coach.

Barbee had a meeting with UTEP athletic director Bob Stull in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, and was chosen among a large group of potential candidates.

Barbee will become the first African American basketball coach at the UTEP, and takes over a basketball program which returns three players that contributed significant playing time and minutes to a team that went 21-11 overall and 11-3 in Conference USA season last year. These players include senior point guard Kevin Henderson (7.9 pts, 32.6 min.), who started all 31 games, sophomore shooting guard Stephon “DJ” Jackson (8.0 pts, 25.2 min.), who came back from an early season broken jaw and sophomore forward Maurice Thomas (3.1 pts, 10.6 min). Sophomore guard Vernon Carr, the last returning players was used sparingly because of injuries.

Fortunately for the returning players, Barbee brings an established winning attitude. In the five years Barbee has been with Memphis the team has had five-straight 20-win seasons and five-consecutive postseason berths (2003, 2004 NCAA; 2001, 2002, 2005 NIT). This bids well for Miner fans, who expect him to replicate this at UTEP, after three 20 plus win seasons.

Barbee will also be looking to assemble a staff. He will try to retain current UTEP assistant David Anwar because of his link to the East Coast. Anwar was able to recruit current sophomores Stephon Jackson and Mauric Thomas from the Lutheran Christian Academy in Philadelphia because of his status as a former head coach.

Barbee’s second choice, according to cbssportsline.com, Milt Wagner, is likely to take the trek to El Paso because of the vacant assistant coaching position. Wagner has been the coordinator of basketball operations at Memphis for the past six years.