Feb. 6, 2008
UTEP Signee Bios (PDF)
Head Coach Mike Price announced his fifth UTEP football recruiting class on Wednesday, a group top-heavy with defensive players.
"I think there are some kids in this group who will play for us next year, particularly at the defensive back position," Price said. "You see how heavily loaded we are on the defensive side of the ball [with the recruiting class]. We've tried to get our new coaches as much help as possible."
Sixteen of the 26 players signed by the Miners on Wednesday are defenders. UTEP inked 22 high school standouts and four junior college transfers.
Included in the list of incoming freshmen is El Paso native Max Savedra, who was a first team All-District 2-4A tight end as a junior and senior at Del Valle High School.
"We offered him a scholarship early and he stayed with us," Price said. "He's a Miner through and through. He's going to be fighting it out with [fellow signee] Vince Misa-Amituanai at the tight end spot."
The list of junior college imports includes Aaron King, a 6-4, 245-pound defensive lineman from Bakersfield College; Wiston Jeune, a 6-4, 205-pound defensive back from Moorpark Junior College; Tory Robinson, a 6-4, 275-pound defensive lineman from Southwestern College; and Clarence Ward, a 6-1, 185-pound defensive back from Santa Rosa Junior College.
The most decorated of the signees, according to analysts, is quarterback Tim Curry. He is rated the no. 62 signal-caller in the country and a three-star prospect by Scout.com. He is also pegged the no. 29 pro-style quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com. Curry passed for 2,633 yards the last two seasons at Elysian Fields High School.
"Curry was a good get for us at quarterback," Price said. "[OL] Deryck Beveridge, I don't know why more schools didn't take him but he loved it here. He's a project, but he's really big [6-8, 330 pounds]. Jamie Irving is a kid who we were really fortunate to get. He's a really good linebacker. [DE/OLB] Bernard Obi, we worked really hard on. It was a solid recruiting effort. He stayed with us when we had some staff changes. We kind of had to fight through that."
In fact, Price noted that anticipated turnover in his coaching staff didn't hamper the recruiting process. "It didn't hurt us on one player," he said.
Price said he still hopes to add a couple of preferred walk-ons from El Paso to the roster this fall. And he lauded the success of UTEP's summer football camps across Texas.
"Three fourths of these signees were in our camps, so it speaks highly for what we're doing and the evaluations that we're getting," he said.
