The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American student population after the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." The university's School of Engineering is the nation's top producer of Hispanic engineers with M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
Donald Lee Haskins, nicknamed "The Bear", was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for three years under coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M. He was the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso from 1961 to 1999. In 1966 his team won the NCAA tournament over the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp. The watershed game highlighted the end of racial segregation in college basketball.
Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.
The Don Haskins Center, formerly known as the Special Events Center, is the home of UTEP Miners men's and women's basketball. The venue is located in the heart of El Paso, Texas. In addition to hosting sporting events, the Don Haskins Center is also used by many area schools, such as El Paso Community College, for graduation and commencement ceremonies. Due to its large seating capacity, the center is also the city's premier entertainment venue and has hosted big-name acts such as pop star Shakira's Tour of the Mongoose, Oral Fixation Tour and The Sun Comes Out World Tour, Britney Spears during her Circus Tour, comedian George Lopez and rock band KISS.
Tiffany Jackson-Jones was an American basketball player and coach. She played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, earning All-American honors. Jackson played professionally in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for the New York Liberty, Tulsa Shock, and Los Angeles Sparks. She also played in the Israeli Premier League for Maccabi Ashdod. She later returned to Texas as an assistant coach for the Longhorns.
Kisha Ford is a former WNBA player for the New York Liberty, Orlando Miracle, and the Miami Sol. She attended Bryn Mawr School and played college basketball at Georgia Tech, where she was the all-time leading scorer in team history. She competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1995 Jones Cup Team that won the Bronze in Taipei. She was selected in the fourth round of the 1997 WNBA Draft at 27th overall by the New York Liberty. Over her WNBA career, she scored 442 points, grabbed 218 rebounds, and had 90 assists, and 111 steals.
Natasha Lacy is an American professional basketball player who last played for the New York Liberty in the WNBA. Lacy was born in El Paso, Texas, and is the daughter of Austin and Pauline Lacy. She has four older siblings, Curtis, Keota Maryuen, Marcus and Austin. She attended Montwood High School, where she earned three varsity letters. Lacy was rated the ninth best guard and the 23rd best player by All-Star Girls Report. She averaged a triple-double in her senior season with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals, and four blocks per game. She was named the El Paso MVP and the district's MVP, and also earned varsity letters in track and field, attending the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in the 400m.
Sydney Justine Colson is an American basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Texas A&M University, where she helped the Aggies win the 2011 NCAA title. She has previously played for the New York Liberty, San Antonio Stars, Minnesota Lynx, and the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, and overseas in Poland and Israel. Colson is a two-time WNBA champion, winning back-to-back titles with the Aces in 2022 and 2023.
The 2014 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 19 and ended on April 5. All games were played on the campus sites of participating schools. The Tournament was won by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights who defeated the UTEP Miners, 56–54, in the championship game before a sellout crowd of 12,222 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
Kayla Renae McBride is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League (KBSL), EuroLeague Women. She was drafted third overall by the San Antonio Stars in the 2014 WNBA draft. McBride played shooting guard for Notre Dame, where she led the Fighting Irish to four consecutive Final Fours and three NCAA championship appearances.
Natasha Howard is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Women's Basketball Super League EuroLeague Women. Howard was the 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She was drafted in 2014 by the Indiana Fever. Born in Toledo, Ohio, she played college basketball for Florida State University, where she finished sixth in the NCAA for field goal percentage.
Tiffany Christine Bias is an American-Thai professional basketball player who last played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected in the second round of the 2014 WNBA draft, 17th overall.
Kayla Janine Alexander is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Tango Bourges Basket of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball. She played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange. After a successful career with the Orange, Alexander was drafted with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars.
Reshanda Gray is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year as a senior in 2015. She was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2015 WNBA draft.
The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg Bibb is president and CEO. Brad Hilsabeck joined the Dallas Wings ownership group in March 2019 with the acquisition of Mark Yancey’s interest in the Wings.
Jonquel Orthea Jones is a Bahamian-Bosnian professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. Since May 2019, she also holds the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing her to play for the national team.
Asia (AD) Durr is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). They played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.
Erica Wheeler is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wheeler was undrafted out of Rutgers, but eventually made her way into the WNBA in 2015.
Megan Kayla Walker is an American professional basketball player. She played college basketball for the UConn Huskies. Walker was selected to the first team All-American by the Associated Press (AP) and by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) in 2020.
Sparkle Taylor is an American professional basketball player whois a free agent in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at UTEP. Taylor went undrafted during the 2017 WNBA draft. She appeared in the league in 2022 with the Chicago Sky.
