In The Dig: It's noon on a Friday and the Rush should be on a patio with a Tecate somewhere. Since that's out of the question for a few hours, we might as well take a look around the good, old C-USA. The Rush kicks off the Dig with a shameless plug.
Miner Rush News
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY: Is just around the corner on February 2, 2011. The Rush is going to be your one stop shop for all the best UTEP signing day coverage. Be sure to check in early and often for constant updates, a mega post, breaking news, and more. This is the Rush's first national signing day, and I can't tell you how excited I am to help provide the Miner Nation with the kind of recruiting news and analysis that it deserves but has never been given.
FACEBOOK: Like the Rush on Facebook. Or don't. Hey, it's your life. Seriously, though the FB page has 199 likes. Somebody out there help take us over the 200 fan hump. Know that I won't clog your feed with every UTEP press release that comes out. Only breaking news, recruiting info, and an occasional Dig. Maybe this one.
TWITTER: I thought twitter was stupid at first but have to admit it's very cool- especially if you want constant updates on UTEP news and other things- like where the best happy hours are at in El Paso on a given day (I don't tweet that, I'm Doing El Paso does and it's awesome). Note that on the main page, all the way down the right sidebar, I've made a twitter widget with all the UTEP Players twitter feeds running. Randy Culpepper, Jeremy Williams, Julyan Stone? All on it. Even incoming UTEP players like Jalen Ragland and CJ Cooper are on it. The list I've created is for past, current, and future UTEP football and basketball players who are on twitter. There is one exception, Miner Rush favorite Kelsey Moore also made the cut. Sue me.
YouTube: The Rush now has a YouTube Channel, complete with one whole video. I won't post a lot of videos, but you should all subscribe to Duke Keith, MinersWon, UTEP Athletics, and Nicole Cartier who posts the C-USA's official videos.
UTEP vs. Tulsa Round Two
From the Horses Mouth: Check out the video above for Tim Floyd's thoughts on TU. The video is courtesy of UTEP Athletics.
CBS Colllege Sports: UTEP's 6:05 pm MST game against Tulsa will be televised on CBS College Sports.
Efficiency Reigns: Basketball Prospectus marks the C-USA squads for their efficiency. The measurement is simple. How many points per possession does a team score on offense? How many points per possession does a team allow? Now subtract the ppp allowed from the ppp scored and you get an efficiency rating. UTEP is the most efficient league in the C-USA (through Tuesday, so Tulane part 2 wasn't included yet). BP also manages a short dig at Tony Barbee.
C-USA: Does Tony Barbee ever regret leaving UTEP for Auburn?
W-L Pace PPP Opp. PPP EM
1. UTEP 4-1 63.1 1.06 0.92 +0.14
2. Memphis 4-1 67.4 1.01 0.96 +0.05
3. Tulsa 3-2 65.1 1.03 0.98 +0.05
4. East Carolina 3-2 65.1 1.07 1.04 +0.03
5. Marshall 1-3 70.0 1.05 1.03 +0.02
6. UAB 3-2 64.8 1.03 1.02 +0.01
7. Houston 3-2 62.3 1.08 1.08 0.00
8. SMU 2-3 61.3 1.09 1.11 -0.02
9. Southern Miss 3-3 67.8 1.10 1.13 -0.03
10. Tulane 2-3 65.3 1.07 1.11 -0.04
11. Rice 1-4 64.9 0.97 1.07 -0.10
12. UCF 1-4 66.3 0.96 1.06 -0.10
Duke Comes Through: Check out the video above for highlights from Duke Keith, from TWCSportsEP, and commentary on UTEP's win over Tulane. Duke caught the Stone to McCulley dunk that woke us all up in the Game Thread.
Iron Man: Bill Knight has a nice story up on his blog on Julyan Stone's minutes. Stone never comes off the court. Literally.
It's UTEP, Not Texas-El Paso: KVIA comes out of nowhere with an interesting read on UTEP associate athletic director Brian Wickstrom who tried to push some national publications into using "UTEP" instead of "Texas-El Paso" on articles.
Late last year, Brian Wickstrom, UTEP’s senior associate athletic director, wrote a letter to David Henke, president and publisher of USA Today, questioning why the second-largest daily in the country constantly refers to UTEP as "Texas-El Paso." Wickstrom pointed out that ESPN calls the school UTEP. So does the Associated Press. He questioned why UCLA and TCU get to go by their initials and UTEP does not.
UTEP Miners Football
Scheduling Note: The Spring Game for UTEP football has been scheduled for April 30, 2011.
Did Kappy Break a Recruiting Story? Steve Kaplowitz of KROD writes a column for Whats Up! El Paso. He recently wrote about future UTEP QB Nick Lamaison and notes that his teammate, receiver Mike Edwards committed to UTEP. I haven't seen any confirmation elsewhere that Edwards committed. We'll follow it and see if Kaplowitz was correct.
Coach Price might get more good news on National Signing Day, which is Feb. 2. Wide receiver Mike Edwards and offensive lineman James "Frosty" Martin have both verbally committed to the Miners, and their presence would bolster the offense.
The Movement: UTEP students are protesting against the school's decision to not celebrate Cesar Chavez Day.
C-USA Insider: Check out Eric Bailey's C-USA Insider. Bailey is one of the few C-USA beat writers who makes the effort to try and give his readers a view of the entire league.
The Mag: The guys over at MI have launched an online magazine covering UTEP sports. I'll admit I don't have the time to cover womens softball or womens hoops. The Rush focuses on Mens Hoops, Football, and we will highlight the other sports when we can. This mag tends to have a lot of content on the non-marquee sports, so check it out.
Go Da'Mon! Note that 10 C-USA players will play in the Super Bowl. Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith, UTEP's former safety, is on the Steelers practice squad. For the full list,click here.
THE SCHEDULE (All times CST)
2:00 pm: SMU Mustangs at Rice Owls
4:00 pm: Tulane Green Wave at Southern Miss. Golden Eagles
5:00 pm: Houston Cougars at East Carolina Pirates
6:00 pm: Memphis Tigers at Marshall Thundering Herd, UAB Blazers at Central Florida Knights (CSS)
7:05 pm: UTEP Miners at Tulsa Golden Hurricane (CBS College Sports)
For more on UTEP"s 2011 recruiting class, check out Miner Rush's Recruiting Big Board.