April 28, 2010
Ken DeWeese, Jr. has been hired as Director of Basketball Operations at UTEP, and Keith Wilkinson has been named Assistant Director of Basketball Operations.
DeWeese comes to El Paso from Utah Valley University, where he worked as an assistant coach during the 2009-10 season. He spent the previous four years (2005-09) as an assistant coach at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, working for his father Ken DeWeese Sr. The Cru were 18-9 in 2005-06, 22-6 in 2006-07, 26-4 in 2007-08 and 19-8 in 2008-09 for a four-year mark of 85-27. The Cru advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships in back-to-back years (2008-09) and won the first American Southwest Conference Championship in school history in 2009.
DeWeese was a three-year basketball letterman for the Cru, earning his degree in 2004. He served as a graduate assistant for one year each at Mary Hardin-Baylor and VCU. He earned his graduate degree from VCU in 2009.
Ken DeWeese Sr. was an assistant coach at UTEP from 1976-80 under the legendary Don Haskins.
Wilkinson joins coach Tim Floyd's staff after playing for him at USC for four seasons (2005-09). The 6-10, 225-pound forward appeared in 113 games for the Trojans, making 20 starts, and totaled 234 points (2.1 avg.) and 258 rebounds (2.3 avg.). He helped USC to 85 wins, including a school-record 25 during the 2006-07 season, and three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament (2007-09). Wilkinson received his bachelor's degree in Communications from USC in 2009. He spent some time playing basketball overseas in Ukraine over the last year.
A native of Mission Viejo, Calif., Wilkinson averaged 16 points and eight rebounds as a senior at Capistrano Valley High School. His father, Jerry, is 6-9 and played for the Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.
