The UTEP Miners are entering their first season in the conference and have a completely revamped roster. There are no returners from last year's squad that missed the Conference USA Tournament. UTEP head coach Joe Golding and his staff have brought in 15 new players and it is a group they are fired up about.
"We are excited," Golding said. "We have spent five months together and we are starting to come together. We have the opportunity to spend a lot of time over the last five months and I like our team."
This roster has put together with the help of elevated financial investment from the athletic program.
"In the last six months our university and community have invested in basketball," Golding said. "We didn't have that six months ago. It has allowed us to go out and recruit guys like Leif Moeller, Augusto Cassia, and a lot of other guys in our locker room."
A major point of emphasis was adding size, length and depth to this team. UTEP’s 2026–27 roster averages 6-foot-7.5 across 15 players. Last year’s roster averaged 6-foot-4.8 across 14 player, which is a jump of 2.7 inches per player.
After finishing 324th in the country scoring only 69.3 points per game, improving offensively is a necessity in 2026.
"We really tried to get better offensively in recruiting," Golding said. "Something we had to get better at is scoring the basketball and we have done that. I think we are going to shoot the ball better and have better skill."
UTEP was picked to finish ninth out of 10 in the preseason poll, largely due to the unknown roster. However, the Miners believe they are ready to surprise the country this season.
"I think our team is pretty versatile," Moeller said. "So I think every player can have a great night and can score 20 points. It doesn't matter if it's the best player or the 12th player on the roster. I think we can be very surprising this year."
The UTEP women also enter the new season full of new faces. The Miners have three returners and 10 newcomers. This squad is compiled of players from four states and six different countries.
"A pick and roll in Africa is a pick and roll in Europe and a pick and roll in the United States," UTEP women's basketball head coach Keitha Adams said. "The game is the game. I think bringing people from all over, actually gives us an opportunity to approach the games from multiple ways."
Adams believes this new crop of talent can unlock a new level for her squad and will be ready to compete right away.
"The biggest difference is that we are lengthier and are extremely athletic," Adams said. "I think we are going to be a team that can really defend, rebound, score in multiple ways, as well as play at a high tempo."
The Mountain West provides a significant step up in competition for both programs. The conference has averaged 3.8 Men's NCAA Tournament bids over the past five years, raising the standard every night on the schedule.
"We want to compete," Golding said. "Competing means being a competitive basketball program in a really, really good league. We're extremely excited and know the challenge ahead of us."
"It's always awesome to be a part of a beginning, a new beginning, a new chapter," Adams said. "So being in the Mountain West is is going to be a great opportunity for us."
Still, there is plenty of familiarity for UTEP in its new conference home. The move reconnects the Miners with several old rivals, sparking memories from the past while building excitement for what comes next.
"UTEP being a little bit of a regional rival is something we're excited about, especially for our fan base," New Mexico head coach Eric Olen said.
"I also got smoked by UTEP back in the day, my freshman year at Penn State," Air Force head coach Joe Crispin said. "I was like, whoa, you know, this is a place that loves basketball. So I'm looking forward there to playing there again."
UNLV head coach Josh Pastner is no stranger to UTEP or the Don Haskins Center. Back in 2011, Pastner was the head coach at Memphis. The Tigers infamously defeated UTEP in the Conference USA Tournament title game to book their tickets to the NCAA Tournament and knocked out the Miners.
"I know how hard of a place it is to win there because of the fan base," Pastner said. "They have great fans. The people love their basketball. We've had great memories there from when I was at Memphis, we played there every year."
The UTEP men will tip off their season on November 2nd against Northern Kentucky at the Field of 68 24-hour Opening Day Marathon. The Miners tip off their first Mountain West game on January 2nd at home against New Mexico.