Stull talks about Twitter controversy, state of UTEP men’s team under Floyd, and more

UTEP Director of Athletics Bob Stull appeared on Sportstalk on 600 AM ESPN El Paso Wednesday afternoon where he discussed the Twitter controversy, the NCAA tournament, and the future of sophomore Vince Hunter.

After UTEP’s 81-66 loss to Murray State in the NIT Tuesday night, Jeff Darby, UTEP Senior Associate Athletic Director used the official UTEP Athletics Twitter account to tweet, “Talked to the 13 NBA scouts here and the consensus is Vince Hunter lacks the perimeter game to play at the next level. #minerstrong”

The tweet was not signed by Darby but late Tuesday night Darby took to the Official UTEP Athletics Twitter account to take responsibility for tweeting the since-deleted tweet and apologized for it.

“If anybody knows (UTEP Senior Associate Athletic Director) Jeff Darby, Jeff has been there 15 years. He’s excellent as far as sports information. ESPN loves him. You guys have worked with me. Whatever you need he gets to you. He’s very professional. He runs the whole (UTEP Athletics) website. He’s very professional. He’s known for that,” Stull said on Sportstalk.

“But why he tweeted it, why he decided to do that last night? I don’t know,” Stull said. “It just was not a good decision by him. He realizes that, I mean, he’s basically going to pay the price for it. And he said, ‘I don’t know – it was so unlike what I usually do and I don’t know why I did it.'”

Stull said it unfortunate that in the past a mistake could be made and then forgotten, but that in this day and age, anything that you say or do lives on in the media forever.

“It was really a poor decision on his part,” Stull said. “It was unprofessional and he shouldn’t have done that. And certainly he’s paying the price for it as far as the exposure of what happened.”

Stull went on to say, “And the amazing thing is Jeff usually trains student athletes about what they should and shouldn’t do as far as interviews and media etc. So for him to make this kind of mistake is, you know, is really ridiculous, quite frankly.”

Whether or not Darby will continue to work with the UTEP men’s basketball team has yet to be determined.

“What has to happen, one way or another, can that relationship be repaired?” Stull said. “That’s the key because it’s kind of a trust issue between Tim (Floyd) and the coaches and the players and that trust has been violated. We have to see, as far as that’s concerned. “

Stull said that Hunter’s feelings were likely hurt by the tweet but he thinks Hunter made up his mind before the tweet if he is going to return to UTEP next season or turn pro. Stull does not think Hunter would transfer because he would have to sit out a year and sitting out a year would not help Hunter, who wants to play at the next level.

How UTEP basketball program changed under Floyd

“The other thing that people need to realize, the whole criteria now is nothing more than going to the NCAA. But when Tim came in, with Tony he had brought in some junior college transfer guys in. So when he came in, there nine guys had left. And all the visits were done. And all of the signings are in the fall, not in the spring. So when he came in he really had a very poor opportunity to recruit. That first year was lost,” Stull said.

“What he’s tried to do – we had a couple of things – we were on the verge of an APR problem because of the people that were coming and going in the previous classes. And if you don’t get the right APR score then what happens is, you know, you’re not even eligible to go to the tournament, just like what happened to UCONN a year ago. So what Tim has done that’s really good is, what he tried to do is try to get a player in each class – like a tall guy, a big guy. So you start with (Jon) Bohannon. You had Cedric, then you have Hooper (Vint), then you have (Matt) Willms. So you got a guy in each of those classes with that size. And then the same thing with forwards and then same thing for guards. So you wouldn’t just have a big rush class that comes in and maybe goes to the tournament for a game and then the next year you’re starting all over again. He’s tried to do that.”

UTEP kicked three players off the team last year, which had a small domino effect.

“Now what messed us up a little bit is last year when we lost those three guards because, you know, the No. 1 guard was our No. 1 scorer at the time (McKenzie Moore). So that put us back there,” Stull said. “… The teams that we had the hardest time with was in the guard situation. We played Louisiana Tech twice, those two games we had a very difficult time on the matchup. And then (Tuesday night against Murray State) they had a tremendous guard. They had some really athletic quick guys. And that’s where right now, when we lost those guards in the past, our matchups have been the toughest when they have guards like that that we play against.”

Stull’s confidence in Floyd is unwavering

Stull knows the NCAA tournament is what fans care about the most – whether you go for one game or more. He’s confident Floyd will be successful in the tournament.

“I really believe if and when Tim gets to the tournament we’ll do more than one game,” Stull said. “I think everybody that knows Tim still believes in Tim. Everybody’s frustrated. He is more than anybody else. He wants to get there.”

Editor’s Note: 600 AM ESPN El Paso is news partners with ABC-7.