Page 10 - The University of Texas at El Paso Miner Guide 2024-2025

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the Miners upset the heavily favored Wildcats, 72-65. The ’66 Miners’ march to the title was depicted in the 2006 motion picture Glory Road. UTEP’s prominent athletics alumni include Nate Archibald, Jim Barnes, Bob Beamon, Tim Hard- away, Seth Joyner, Don Maynard, Tony Tolbert and current Green Bay Packer Aaron Jones.
The 2024-25 athletic year promises to be thrill- ing, as UTEP Football launches a new era with Scotty Walden as head coach. Walden takes the helm of the Miner program after leading Austin Peay to a top-15 FCS ranking in 2023. In just two months, Walden and his staff assembled the top recruiting class in school history – and the best in CUSA. Mark your calendars for the football home opener versus Southern Utah on Sept. 7! Men’s coach Joe Golding and women’s coach Keitha Adams lead the tradition-rich UTEP basketball programs into the new year. The UTEP volleyball program is coming off a banner season, racking up 25 victories and reaching the championship match of the postseason NIVC tournament. The soccer and softball programs are on the rise, while cross country/track and field boasts a history of excel-
lence with 20 NCAA team national championships.
Students can claim one free ticket to all UTEP football and basketball games by visiting www. UTEPMiners.com/studenttickets. They can also purchase up to two guest tickets per game. Come support your Miners in their quest to compete for and win championships!
UTEP RIVALS
UTEP’s main rivals are the Aggies of NM State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. When the Miners and Aggies meet during football season, the winner receives a pair of traveling trophies: The Silver Spade and the Brass Spittoon. The first spade used for this purpose was an old prospector’s shovel dug up from an abandoned mine in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces in 1947. The current Silver Spade was initiated by
the UTEP Student Association – now the Student Government Association – President Don Hender- son in 1955, and each year the score of the game is engraved on the blade. The Brass Spittoon, officially known as the Mayor’s Cup, came into existence in 1982 when the mayors of the cities –
MINER GUIDE 2024 - 2025 • THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO