The Miners have received their fourth defensive line commitment and fifth overall commitment this week.  We should expect additional commitments over the next two or three weeks since Coach Price and his staff have now completed their camp evaluations and are set to send additional offers by August 1^st.

MI’s Angel Luna and Josh Puga report the Miners’ fifth overall commitment in defensive lineman, Devontae Richardson from Sequin High School in Arlington, Texas. A Dave Campbell Texas Top 300 selection, the 6-foot 2-inch, 292-pound Richardson brings good size and strength to the Miners. Scout ranks him as a three-star recruit and the 58th ranked defensive tackle prospect. Richardson has strength, uses his hands well and is tough against the run. At the next level, Richardson will need to work on his pass rush technique and quickness.  This is a good pick-up for the Miners and should pay big dividends down the road. Other schools showing interest in Richardson include Baylor, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU and Texas A&M.

With the loss of Marlon McClure, the Miners have been looking for someone with his play-making ability. A player, who has similar potential, has cropped up on the Miners’ look list as of late. James Burch III (5-feet 7-inches, 165 pounds) is a wide receiver from Cy Ridge, Texas, with big play ability. A little bit bigger and much stronger than McClure, Burch has outstanding speed; he reportedly ran a 4.2 at the Texas Tech camp. Surprisingly, Burch runs hard for his size and can break tackles. Last year, he recorded 40 receptions and four touchdowns. Burch also rushed for 116 yards. His weight room work for his size is impressive, reporting a 315-pound press and a 405-pound squat. In addition to the Miners, schools currently showing interest include Wyoming, Texas Tech, North Texas, Rice, Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi.

Another player who has popped up on the Miner radar screen is Toby Obumseli, a nice looking linebacker prospect from Plano East High School in Plano, Texas.  Obumseli has the size (6-feet 2-inches, 222 pounds) and speed (4.6) the Miners like to see in their linebackers. Last year, Obumseli had 61 tackles. His weight room work is excellent with a 345-pound bench and 500-pound press. Obumseli is a nice prospect with a nice combination of size and speed and an above average upside. New Mexico and Texas State have offered while Baylor, SMU and Colorado are showing interest.

In other football recruiting news . . .

Last month we reported Herbert Gonzales III would not able to practice before August 22^nd. Gonzalez is now scheduled to be at Camp Socorro with his teammates. Gonzales has been working extensively this summer and is in great shape going into Camp Socorro.

On the basketball front . . .

With the July live recruiting period just closing up a couple days ago, Coach Tim Floyd and his staff have been all over the country looking at potential future Miners.  Even with two verbal commitments for the 2012 class (Anthony January and Dwayne Benjamin), UTEP is still in the mix for next year’s class.

First, the Miners have a power forward prospect, Winston Shepard from Henderson, Nevada. Shepard (6-feet 8-inches, 220 pounds) is a big-time prospect that has superstar written all over him. Shepard is a high-motor athlete that excels in transition and can finish strong in the paint. He uses his length well on the defense and is a great rebounder on both ends of the court. Shepard plays primarily as a power forward, but as he continues to work on his shooting and ball handling, he could move out to the wing. The four-star prospect (Rivals and ESPN) is looking at 11 different schools (Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Memphis, New Mexico, San Diego State, UCLA, UNLV, UTEP, Kentucky and Missouri) and hopes to pare down his list to five this month before scheduling his official visits.

Another 2012 prospect is shooting guard, Tyler Ott (6-feet 5 inches, 185 pounds) from St. George, Utah. Ott is a versatile player that can play at the 2 or 3 spot with excellent range out to the three-point line.  Ott has good handles and can find the open man with an above average basketball IQ.  Like most prospects, he needs to hit the weight room, but nonetheless, Ott is an intriguing prospect with a lot of potential.  Aside from UTEP, Ott has offers from Utah State, Weber State, Southern Utah and Dixie State. Other schools showing interest are Utah, BYU, Arizona State, Boston College, and Colorado.

UTEP66, Angel Luna and Josh Puga can be reached at show@minerillustrated.com.