EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A new era of UTEP men’s basketball is underway.

After finishing 11-20 and missing the Conference USA Tournament in their final season in the league, the Miners are turning the page as they prepare for their first season in the Mountain West Conference. UTEP officially joins the Mountain West on July 1 , 2026.

Head coach Joe Golding and his staff spent the offseason aggressively rebuilding the roster, and the result is a team that looks completely different from the one that took the floor a year ago.

The Miners gathered this week for another pickup session ahead of the start of summer workouts, which begin Tuesday.

UTEP’s current roster sits at 12 players, and not a single one was on last season’s team.

Eight of the Miners’ newcomers arrived through the transfer portal.

Among the headliners is Leif Moeller, a 6-foot-7 guard from Germany who transferred from Evansville after averaging 11 points, four rebounds and four assists per game last season.

The Miners also added Cam McDaniels, a dynamic scorer who averaged 18 points per game at John A. Logan College, and Augusto Cassia, a 6-foot-8 forward who transferred in from Ole Miss.

UTEP’s offseason additions weren’t limited to the transfer portal.

The Miners also signed four high school recruits, including San Antonio Brennan standouts Delano Tarpley, Donovan Criss and Isaiah Ward.

With a completely revamped roster and a move to a new conference on the horizon, optimism is high around the program as summer workouts begin.

Now, the challenge for Golding and his staff will be turning a group of talented newcomers into a team capable of competing in the Mountain West.

“I do think we have some talent in that room, but we got to make sure the pieces fit right. I think that’s the biggest challenge, especially when you turnover a complete roster is just not to get talent, you have to make sure these pieces fit with each other,” UTEP men’s basketball head coach Joe Golding said on Monday, June 8.

“We are a completely new team, so what happened last year doesn’t matter. There are certain expectations, but we’re just going to go day by day and we’re going to work on our ass off just to get better in the summer. And then, yeah, we’re going to see in a season how good we can be, but for me, the sky’s the limit nowadays.” UTEP men’s basketball sophomore guard Leif Moeller said Monday.

Here’s a look at the current UTEP men’s basketball 2026-27 roster.

Transfers

Reese Miller (William & Mary)

Cam McDaniels (John A. Logan College)

Leif Moeller (Evansville)

Janusz Ratowski (Stetson)

Augusto Cassia (Ole Miss)

Ryan Jackson Jr. (William & Mary)

Jace Whiting (Weber State)

Reid Cason (East Carolina)

Freshmen (High School)

Donovan Criss (Brennan HS)

Delano Tarpley (Brennan HS)

Kaleb Jackson (Kingdom Collegiate Academy)

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