Page 10 - UTEP Miner Guide
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Also joining the MW in 2026 are Grand Canyon and UC Davis, as well as Northern Illinois which will be a football-only member.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Min- ers’ historic men’s basketball national champion- ship victory over Kentucky. The Miners shocked the heavily favored Wildcats and became the first team to start five black players in the title game led by Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins. Overall UTEP has won 21 NCAA team national champi- onships, including 20 in cross country and track and field.
UTEP’s prominent athletics alumni include Nate Archibald, Jim Barnes, Bob Beamon, Tim Hard- away, Seth Joyner, Don Maynard, Tony Tolbert and current NFL standout Aaron Jones. Women’s basketball alum Kayla Thornton recently won a WNBA championship as a member of the New York Liberty, and currently plays for the Golden State Valkyries.
UTEP RIVALS
UTEP’s main rivals are the Aggies of New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. When the Miners and Aggies meet during football season, the winner receives a pair of travel- ing trophies: The Silver Spade and the Brass Spit- toon. 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 – Jonathan Rogers of El Paso and David Steinberg of Las Cruces – decided to present another travel- ing trophy to the winner of the UTEP-NMSU game. A United Blood Services plaque is also presented
at the halftime to the school with the largest blood drive results. The Miner/Aggie rivalry also crosses over into basketball and other UTEP sports.
MINER GUIDE 2025 - 2026 • THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO