UTEP’s Souley Boum leaving Miners to enter NBA Draft & NCAA transfer portal
EL PASO, Texas - Things have just gone from bad to worse for the UTEP Miners in the early part of the off season.
The transfer portal was always going to be a factor, but in just the last few days, UTEP has lost 9 players from their roster.
The biggest hit coming on Wednesday, when Souley Boum announced via Twitter that's he's entering his name in the NBA Draft and will enter the transfer portal to keep his NCAA eligibility intact.
Boum was UTEP's leading scorer the past two seasons.
He also led Conference USA in scoring during the 2021-2022 season in which he averaged 19.9 points a game.
In Boum's statement on Twitter, he thanked the coaching staff at UTEP as well as the city of El Paso.
Boum said, "All the memories UTEP his brought me will be cherished in my heart forever, and I am forever blessed to wear UTEP across my chest."
Boum wasn't the only Miner to enter the portal on Wednesday.
News via Verbal Commits, reported that UTEP guard Cam Clardy is also entering the transfer portal.
Clardy was a walk-on and played in 14 games for the Miners.
The total number of players leaving UTEP stands at nine.
Only one of those players was due to graduation, and that was Alfred Hollins.
The other eight will be seeking opportunities elsewhere.
They include: Boum, Clardy, as well as Jamal Bieniemy (who is going pro), Tydus Verhoeven (declared for NBA draft & transfer portal), Emmanuel White (transfer portal), Bonke Maring (transfer portal), Jorell Saterfield (transfer portal), and Christian Agnew (transfer portal).
UTEP head coach Joe Golding will have a lot of work to do on the recruiting trail to build back his roster.
Golding will be entering his second season with the Miners.
Another blow to the program came when news broke that UTEP is also losing assistant coach Butch Pierre.
According to a report from Jon Rothstein, Pierre will be joining the coaching staff at Wichita State.
Pierre is regarded as a terrific recruiter, and now Golding will be tasked with finding his replacement.
