[Note by Adrian Mac, 10/21/10 12:12 PM CDT ] Update: I have spoken with Daz Sparke and can confirm that he has committed to the UTEP Miners basketball team. Sparke confirmed that he visited UTEP last weekend and Tim Floyd was the lead recruiter.
"I'm glad to be a Miner. I love everything about the community and the campus and the history that the school carries." When I asked Daz whether he saw himself playing small or power forward at UTEP, he said, "Its hard to tell right now because I'm still growing as a player. But, I play whatever Coach Floyd needs me to play."
Good answer, Daz. Miner fans, be sure to follow Daz on twitter here.
Here is the original post on Daz Sparke's commitment to UTEP.
Dazmond "Daz" Starke, a 6'7, 230 lb. power forward from Eastern Arizona, JC., announced on his twitter account that he will play basketball at UTEP this coming season. Starke has had a nice career at Eastern Arizona which was highlighted by a monster 58 point, 15 rebound game over Glendale last season. Starke has not yet been rated by Rivals.com.
No. 6? RT @_eacstarke23: next season i will be hooping at the university of texas el paso(utep), in el paso,texas; what I'm talkin bout bra
Adrian Mac
MinerRush
Information on Starke is limited since Scout and ESPN have not yet scouted him either. Starke played high school ball at Highland Springs High in Virginia. We know that new UTEP assistant Jason Niblett coached at the Heat Academy in that state so its very possible that this is a kid that Niblett has been following for some time now. Coaches, of course, can't comment on potential recruits until signing day.
Highlights of Starke are hard to come by, but I did find this clip of him dunking it in a high school game. Check it out.
Starke will become the fourth post player to commit in this recruiting class, joining PF/C Cedric Lang, and small forward's Darius Nelson and Jalen Ragland. Starke might only be 6'6 or 6'7, but he has a much stronger upper body than the others and looks to be destined for a power forward spot. According to the article above, Starke's freshman season was the 2008-2009 year, so I'm assuming that he is in the midst of preparing for his sophomore season now at Eastern AZ. That means he would have two years of eligibility with the Miners beginning next season.
I'll continue to follow up on Starke in the coming days. For now, check out the new UTEP Basketball Recruiting section for news on Tim Floyd's entire 2011 class.
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