UTEP Basketball: Tim Floyd talks about 2015-16 season, and the future

Tim Floyd put a lid on the 2015-16 season with his final radio show earlier in the week.

Here are the highlighted quotes.

On Matt Willms' timeline

"We're looking at September for the cast to come off," Floyd said.  "He'll go through two months of physical therapy.  So this will be his third summer since he's been here without any basketball whatsoever, which is just absolutely murder on this young man.

"He wants to be out there trying to get better.  Big guys need to be in the gym working on their low post game and their skill level.  It's really a shame, but at least we'll have him in some form next year we hope.  Of all the basketball injuries that a guy can take on, his is the most challenging without a doubt.  We're just going to keep our fingers crossed all summer."

On any roster movement

"I don't know exactly where we are going into next year just yet," Floyd said.  "We are going to let the fellas exhale here for about three or four days.  We'll get together and address who they were this year and who they were not, so that they can work on trying to improve their games over the course of the offseason."

If Matt Willms, and Lee Moore will be eligible for an extra year of eligibility

"I feel like both of them are entitled to [the year back]," Floyd said.  "Certainly Matt Willms with the injury redshirt.  I think that one's a no-brainer."

On UTEP's high scoring offense, and defensive issues

"All the goals going in, making all those shots ... all I can say is I'm really glad you all enjoyed watching all that, but I really didn't.  "We're going to try to get to where we can guard and score next year."

"I do think just having a link on the back line would've changed a lot," Floyd said.  "Just having Matt Willms back there to block a shot or change a shot ... hopefully he'll get healthy, and we've got another young big guy, Kelvin Jones, sitting out."

On Lee Moore

"He really had a great ability to get north south and take it to the rim and make plays," Floyd said.  "We've got a lot of confidence in his three-point shot.  I think he's just terrific, absolutely terrific."

On Terry Winn

"He redshirted [in 2014-15] and we really didn't know what to expect, but I was really proud of him and I was proud of his emotional intelligence on the floor for the most part," Floyd said.  "He became our best film room guy, our best guy asking questions, game planning and worrying about how we were going to guard different actions that the other team was running, which shocked me.  I didn't see that at all a year ago.

"He was physically mature enough to play as a freshman.  I thought he played hard every single night and was our most consistent defender all year long, which is a real compliment to a freshman.  It probably would've been ideal for him to play with another couple of big guys.  I think he's got a chance to improve and put up the kind of production that Vince [Hunter] put up for us a year ago, ultimately.  We might be able to get that out of him game in and game out."

Floyd also mentions Trey Touchet is ready for his offseason workouts

"He is a really conscientious young man," Floyd said.  "He called me [after the season ended] and wanted us to pull out video of every one of his missed shots and missed free throws, so he could go back and watch film and study himself.  He is aware that now is the time that players get better, in the offseason.  He's just a freshman.  He is going to grow and get better, but I think he served his role well.  He was a guy we could trust off the bench for Dominic Artis this year."

On Brodricks Jones, Paul Thomas, and Christian Romine

"We wouldn't have redshirted all three of them, but we probably would've redshirted two of them with a healthy Matt Willms and Josh McSwiggan," Floyd said.

"You saw flashes from these guys but they weren't physically strong enough, and mature enough physically, to go in there and really bang around."  "These kids will get bigger and better and I think they have futures."

On Josh McSwiggan

"I don't like him, I love him," Floyd said.  "I think he's going to be terrific.  Whoever beats him out better bring a sack lunch, because it's going to be a full day's work.  He's a talent.  He can shoot it, he can run and jump, he's an athlete and he can pass it."

On Kelvin Jones who is on campus as a Prop 48 prospect

"He's 6-11, 245 [pounds], and he came in about 210," Floyd said.  "He has lifted on a continual basis.  He has worked on his low post game on his own, because we can't work with him.  I think he's got a tremendously high ceiling."

On 2016 signee Deon Barrett

"Deon is the kind of guy that I've always liked having on a team, although we haven't had one on this team since we've been here," Floyd said.  "It's really the role that I think Jacques Streeter [2011-13] should've played, the guy that comes off the bench with a great burst, great energy, great quickness, great speed, can rise up and make a shot and makes every pass with two hands.  He's a little guy [5-10], but he's the kind of guy that a player has a hard time staying between him and the basket.  He's going to be fun for our fans.  I think they're going to enjoy watching him."

On 2016 signee Tim Cameron

"Tim is a 6-3 ½, 6-4 perimeter guy who is a better athlete than our perimeter guys, who I think are very, very good athletes.  But he is a guy that I'm hoping will be a shutdown stopper defensively, which we desperately need, and a guy that I think is going to dunk everything around the rim.  He shoots it well and he's a high character kid.  I think we've got a keeper there as well."

Is the 2016 recruiting class wrapped up, and what are the current needs?

"We need a guy with hair on his chest," Floyd said.  "We'll try to find somebody with toughness.  We need somebody with length, somebody that can block a shot for us.  We need somebody that's not afraid to throw their body in the mix."