Finals, at last, have passed.  Congrats to UTEP's class of 2010.  It's UTEP's biggest class yet.  In this Dig:  A nice preview of Derrick Caracter's draft potential from via Indy Cornrows; Tons of local coverage of conference realignment from C-USA cities, and some Houston Coog sportswriters have a war of words.  In The Dig.

The UTEP Miners

Gaining Interest:  Derrick Caracter is an intriguing second round draft prospect.  Indy Cornrows takes a look at his potential.  Personally, I see him in the mold of DeJuan Blair- I think DC's offensive skill set is vastly underrated.

The Pacers' roster is filled with frontcourt players, but most don't have the post scoring chops of Derrick Caracter. He has the potential to come off the bench, provide some scoring, and give the offense a different weapon besides the long contested jumper.

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Special thanks to jakeprobst, asalom, and everyone else in the community who has been FanShotting, e-mailing me links, or adding them in the comments.  This site will only be as good as the community that contributes to it and we're off to a hell of a start.  This time:  Sports Illustrated has some comments on Derrick Caracter, more Arnett Moultrie rumors; another paper has doubt as to Houston's ability to get into a BCS league; and more Kelsey Moore.  After all, it is Day 3 of Kelsey Moore Week.  The Dig is your best UTEP and C-USA Round-Up.  In The Dig.

The Race is On:  Former UTEP Miner Arnett Moultrie has instantly become the best available transfer prospect in the country.  Teams love that he's willing to pay his own way for a year and then only cost them a scholarship for one season.  For schools, it's literally no risk for the reward.  A writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wants Moultrie to become a Hog.

We all know Arkansas is on the recruiting trail hunting for help alongside forward Marshawn Powell in the frontcourt. While it may not be an immediate fix next season, adding Moultrie could prove huge in 2011.

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UTEP's Spring Commencement Ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday.  The Rush wants to congratulate the Miner Class of 2010.  This Time:  It's Day 2 of Kelsey Moore Week; J Will is off to China, Caracter Get's A Tryout, and some awesomely embarrassing news for the Houston Cougars.  The Dig is your best UTEP and C-USA Round-Up..  In The Dig.

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Miner volleyball star Kelsey Moore is set to represent the State of Texas in the Miss USA Pageant which airs Sunday night on NBC.  Expect some daily links following Kelsey's pursuit of the title.  Hey, it's baseball season!  The Rush is your best Miner and C-USA Round-Up.  And, it's not even close.   In The Dig.

In Good Company:  Rivals.com says three schools will have a 1,000 yard rusher, passer, and receiver.  You know UTEP's one of them (Trevor Vittatoe, Donald Buckram, and Kris Adams).  The other two?  Try Oklahoma and the Washington Huskies.

There are three teams predicted to have a player reach all three statistical plateaus: Oklahoma (QB Landry Jones, RB DeMarco Murray, WR Ryan Broyles); UTEP (QB Trevor Vittatoe, RB Donald Buckram, WR Kris Adams); and Washington (QB Jake Locker, RB Chris Polk, WR Jermaine Kearse)

Dr. Saturday at it Again:  Dr. Saturday has a "way too early" preview of the 2010 UTEP Miners.  Parts of it are funny, and amazingly, they don't mention the Price/Alabama scandal. 

If you followed last year's Mid-Major Monday columns, you might remember us pulling our hair out week by week in a futile effort to pin the Miners down. It will serve our purposes best to simply recap the first six weeks, in which the Miners: Lost to Buffalo by six, fell to Kansas by 27, were butchered by Texas by 57, upset No. 12 Houston by 17, and lost to Memphis by 15, which is about where we gave up trying to consider them as anything beyond an agent of chaos.

He Sounds Skeeered:  Tony Barbee sounds like he's scared to play UAB.  You're at Auburn, Tony.  Man up.

A: I don’t know. I think I’ve had my fill of UAB (as UTEP coach). I have a great relationship with Mike, with Donnie (Marsh), with Wes (Flanigan), his entire staff. Mike’s a great coach. He does a tremendous job. That being said, I played him for the last four years. I don’t know if we need to play anymore.

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From El Paso to Huntington!  Let's take a look around the C-USA landscape.  

UTEP Miners

Giving Culpepper Comp?  Julyan Stone posterized Tulsa's 7' star Jerome Jordan.  He discussed the dunk with KTSM.  Their website doesn't have an "embed feature," a la KVIA, so click here to watch the video of the interview and pretty ferocious dunk.

Get to Work.  Bob Stull writes articles for El Paso, Inc.? 

Bill Knight takes a look at Arnett Moultrie's interesting style of play. Knight argues that Moultrie is almost a hybrid forward/wing player who can use his size when he needs to but is truly more comfortable playing outside.  This unique skill set will undoubtedly draw attention from NBA Scouts.

Moultrie, despite his size, is more of a wing player. He played that position in AAU ball and he has played out there for much of his life. He was 6-foot-1 before his freshman year in high school. He grew to around 6-4 as a freshman and then grew four or five inches the next year and then scooted on up to his current height of 6-11. All this left him in a big man's body but with the skills to move and handle the ball and shoot the basketball.

Another Reason to Love Google Alerts:  UTEP volleyball star Kelsey Moore is the reigning Miss Texas USA.  She had a sit-down with El Paso Magazine and she discussed how being a volleyball player has helped her on the pageant circuit.  About 800 El Pasoan's are supporting her quest to become Miss USA via Facebook. 

Q:  On the same topic, how do you think your athleticism and your role as a student leader and athlete has helped you for the Miss Texas USA contest?

A:  I’ve learned that being a Division I volleyball player requires a lot of discipline and time management and that has definitely been very helpful.

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