UTEP Men’s Basketball Receives First Late Signee with Roman Silva
When UTEP men's basketball head coach Tim Floyd was asked about his team's needs following the 2015-16 season, he said that the Miners would pursue players "with hair on their chest." Following the departures of Christian Romine Lee Moore, the team signed their first player of the late period in California big man Roman Silva.
The seven-foot one post player was a late bloomer and had only received two scholarship offers to play Division 1 college basketball. However, UTEP did not hesitate to lock up another potential starting center. At Diamond Ranch High School, Silva averaged 18.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks.
"We’re really excited about Roman and the potential that he brings to our program," coach Tim Floyd said in the official school release announcing the signing. "At seven-foot-one, he has a knack for putting the ball in the basket and he has great hands. We really believe he’s a fine player and he’s only going to get better. He has a 4.2 grade point average and wants to major in engineering at UTEP. We look forward to watching him progress both academically and athletically. Adding Roman gives us some insurance with Matt Willms’ foot injury, and the development of Kelvin Jones will allow us to play two bigs at one time."
There is a big UTEP connection with Silva. His high school coach is C.J. Cooper's uncle and the former Miner guard has had an opportunity to work with the big man. C.J. believes that as soon as Silva adds some more weight and strength to his 7-1, 230-pound frame, the sky is the limit.
Silva's addition will fill the spot vacated by Romine. The Miners hosted junior college guard Kris Clyburn this past weekend. The 6-6 player excelled last season under former UTEP head coach Billy Gillispie at Ranger Junior College. Clyburn was a big part of the Wranglers team that went to the semifinals at the NJCAA National Tournament. He is scheduled to visit the University of Houston next weekend.
One other interesting recruiting note is that former UNLV signee Carlos Johnson has reopened his recruitment. The 6-4 undersized but super athletic forward made the announcement on his Twitter feed, and at one time UTEP was among the teams in the recruiting battle for Johnson. No word yet on whether or not the Miners will pursue him again.
According to MinerRush, Coach Floyd will have an in-home visit with Dallas prospect Adrean Johnson later tonight. The 6'9 power forward is rated a 3-star prospect on Rivals and MinerRush mentioned that Johnson has received offers from CUSA's Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas, as well as Tulsa from the American Athletic Conference.