UTEP Men's Basketball's "Dream Team": Centers

As the Ultimate Miners Bracket winds down and Olympic "Dream Team" Fever in the air, we've had a few Twitter followers suggest we create our own men's basketball UTEP Miner Dream Team. And so we thought, "What an awesome idea."

Here's how it'll work...

Every week I'll feature a different position. I'll list 10-15 candidates for that position and their career stats. There will be a poll attached to the post where you, the Miner fans, will be able to vote for who you think should represent the Miner Dream Team at that position. The top vote getter for each position will be named a starter on the Miner Dream Team. The writing staff here at the Rush will fill in the rest of the roster and the entire 13-player squad will be named after the starters have been voted on by the readers.

*A FEW NOTES: I'm well aware that some players played multiple positions. I've done my best to put Miner candidates in the right polls, but a few positions have way more great players than others. Also, it's inevitable that some great UTEP players will not be listed as candidates for the Dream Team. If you think any of the omissions are too egregious, feel free to let us know about it in the comments section.

So let's get this thing started with the first starting spot on the Miner Dream Team up for grabs: Center. Here are the candidates:

NOTE: There was some conflict as to which player should represent the mid-60's team in the center position, Lattin or Nevil Shed. But even though Shed was the taller player (6 foot 8), Lattin is listed as the center and Shed as a forward in every stat sheet I've encountered.

David Lattin, 6-7
1965-1967, 56 games played

Gary Brewster, 6-8
1972-1976, 100 games played

Dave Feitl, 6-11
1982-1986, 125 games played

Wayne Campbell, 6-7
1982-1988, 124 games played

Mike Richmond, 6-9
1985-1987, 64 games played

Greg Foster, 7-0
1988-1990, 58 games played

David Van Dyke, 6-10
1988-1992, 127 games played

John Tofi, 6-8
2002-2006, 117 games played

Derrick Caracter, 6-9
2009-2010, 27 games played

RAW STATS

NOTE: Assist, Block, and Steal stats were not kept in David Lattin's or Gary Brewster's era.

TOTAL FIELD GOALS MADE
1. Dave Feitl	543
2. John Tofi	482
3. Gary Brewster	481
4. David Van Dyke	385
5. Wayne Campbell	313
6. David Lattin	291
7. Mike Richmond	287
8. Greg Foster	250
9. Derrick Caracter	148

TOTAL REBOUNDS
1. John Tofi	774
2. Dave Feitl	726
3. Gary Brewster	673
4. Wayne Campbell	614
5. David Van Dyke	600
6. David Lattin	521
7. Greg Foster	387
8. Mike Richmond	338
9. Derrick Caracter	281

TOTAL ASSISTS
1. John Tofi	137
2. Dave Feitl	129
3. Wayne Campbell	87
4. David Van Dyke	76
5. Greg Foster	49
6. Derrick Caracter	30
7. Mike Richmond	23

TOTAL BLOCKS
1. David Van Dyke	336
2. Dave Feitl	137
3. John Tofi	110
4. Wayne Campbell	61
5. Greg Foster	58
6. Mike Richmond	47
7. Derrick Caracter	23

TOTAL STEALS
1. Wayne Campbell	121
1. David Van Dyke	121
3. John Tofi	78
4. Dave Feilt	38
5. Mike Richmond	31
6. Derrick Caracter	26
7. Greg Foster	19

TOTAL POINTS
1. Dave Feitl	1442
2. John Tofi	1247
3. Gary Brewster	1213
4. David Van Dyke	1077
5. David Lattin	816
6. Wayne Campbell	812
7. Mike Richmond	672
8. Greg Foster	627
9. Derrick Caracter	380

PER GAME AVERAGE RANKINGS

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
1. Derrick Caracter	56.7%
2. Mike Richmond	56.3%
3. Wayne Campbell	55.1%
4. John Tofi	51.7%
5. Gary Brewster	50.4%
6. Dave Feitl	50.1%
7. David Lattin	48.4%
8. David Van Dyke	47.6%
9. Greg Foster	47.3%

REBOUNDS PER GAME
1. David Lattin	9.3
2. Derrick Caracter	8.0
3. Gary Brewster	6.7
3. Greg Foster	6.7
5. John Tofi	6.6
6. Dave Feitl	5.8
7. Mike Richmond	5.3
8. Wayne Campbell	4.9
9. David Van Dyke	4.7

ASSISTS PER GAME
1. John Tofi	1.2
2. Derrick Caracter	1.1
3. Dave Feitl	1.0
4. Greg Foster	0.8
5. Wayne Campbell	0.7
6. David Van Dyke	0.6
7. Mike Richmond	0.4

BLOCKS PER GAME
1. David Van Dyke	2.6
2. Dave Feilt	1.1
3. Greg Foster	1.0
4. John Tofi	0.9
5. Derrick Caracter	0.8
6. Mike Richmond	0.7
7. Wayne Campbell	0.5

POINTS PER GAME
1. David Lattin	14.6
2. Derrick Caracter	14.1
3. Gary Brewster	12.1
4. Dave Feitl	11.5
5. Greg Foster	10.8
6. John Tofi	10.6
7. Mike Richmond	10.5
8. David Van Dyke	8.5
9. Wayne Campbell	6.5

These stats should be seen as merely one tool in thinking about these great Miner players. Obviously, the intangibles and your memory of their greatness is what really matters when deciding the Miner Dream Team. What memory sticks out in your mind from any of these Miner centers?

One last note, some centers also played power forward, and so they will be listed in next week's pool of candidates (Antonio Davis, Dick Gibbs, Nevil Shed, etc)