EL PASO, Texas – With all of the rumors and recruiting information swirling around the Internet, Miner Illustrated has decided to give its fans a one-stop shop to read all about it through the “Scouting Mine.”

In each edition of the Scouting Mine the staff at MI will bring you all of the UTEP information you can handle each week regarding football, basketball and any other sport that has relevant recruiting information.

If we’ve missed something or you’d like to send us a note if you’re a recruit, parent or fan, feel free to contact us at show [at] minerillustrated.com.

We’ll start off with basketball recruiting …

-It has been reported by a KTSM NewsChannel 9 that forward Rashanti Harris has sent his paperwork to the UTEP basketball office (Rivals.com is also reporting the signing). This means Tim Floyd has gotten a 6-foot 9 inch center that is ready to play now. The question remains if he will. Reports have said he did not qualify for Georgia State and he may not have practice with the team which means that he may be able to start for the Miners sooner rather than later.

MI’s Thoughts: We think the Harris LOI, if proven true, is a great get, but we haven’t been able to get confirmation from UTEP officials that he’s signed. So we might as well tout Carlos M. Silva Jr., the newest Miner. It’s a bad joke but you see where we’re going with this.

Along those lines it looks like Floyd is also covering his bases in case Arnett Moultrie or other players decide to pursue other opportunities.

-Michael Haynes is also said to be a Miner according to a small post at Chicago Hoops.com. Haynes is a talented 6-foot 6 inch forward, who we heard from a reliable source, visited UTEP last weekend with Harris. He’s got Duke, Minnesota and Iowa are among some of the teams interested.

MI’s Thoughts: If this is true Floyd could have one of the more talented recruiting classes in recent memory. Thrown on top of the fact that he pieced it together so late in the game and you begin to realize how great of a recruiter he really is.

-It looks like there is some information on California recruit Dewayne Polee Jr. thanks to the NY Post’s Lenn Robbins. New St. John’s head coach and former ESPN analyst Steve Lavin is putting the full-court press for the talented West Coast recruit but he still has the Miners on his list.

MI’s Thoughts: As we’ve mentioned in previous Pete’s Quarry Podcasts, Polee’s father, Polee Sr. is rumored to be added to Floyd’s UTEP coaching staff. We doubt it’s a package deal because Floyd had been recruiting Polee Jr. during his tenure at USC. If anything it would be a sight to see what a 6-foot 7 inch Randy Culpepper would look like on the court. Have you seen his YouTube videos? We’re just saying.

Speaking of the coaching staff …

KTSM NewsChannel 9 has also reported that Tim Floyd will hire Keith Wilkinson as director of basketball operations while Williams Small, the lead recruiter of Harris at Georgia State, may be the lead recruiter at UTEP. The Wilkinson hire was mentioned in a blog a few weeks ago.

MI’s Thoughts: Again, none of this is confirmed and probably won’t be till later next week when Floyd is expected to return from out of town, presumably recruiting. We can tell you that Phil Johnson is the only assistant coach for UTEP and that the previous staff followed Tony Barbee to Auburn.

Enough basketball, time for some football recruiting …

Here are a few recruits, at least that we’re hearing, that are interested in UTEP. At this point we are in the process of contacting the recruits and will bring you more information. Until then, here are their bios and a breakdown.

Again it is early in the process and business should pick up with the start of UTEP’s summer football camps.

A.C. Patterson is a 6-foot 1 inch 285 pound center prospect out of Las Vegas, Nev. If the name sounds familiar, it should, because he’s the son of defensive coordinator Andre Patterson. It should be interesting to follow this recruiting process.

Emil Smith, a solid prospect at 6-foot 2 inch 199 pounds out of Moreno Valley, Calif., was offered early by the Miners according to Rivals.com. We’re attempting to get in contact with him to get his thoughts but there’s no question UTEP needs a weak side defensive end.

As always, keep checking back to www.minerillustrated.com for the latest information regarding basketball, football, the recruiting trail and the rest of UTEP Athletics.

Scouting Mine Disclaimer: While the information we are reporting is gathered from other news sources, blogs and internet message boards in some cases, we always try and confirm information from either the player mentioned or via official statements from the UTEP Athletic Department.