“There are a lot of people out there that say Joe Golding is a program builder and maybe I’m labelled that way, but I believe every institution and every program can be built a different way,” Golding said. “I did not come to UTEP to spend 10 years building this program. This program has already been built.
“My job at UTEP is to win in year one. The first thing I’m going to do is these guys sitting right here (the current players), they are the most important thing right now. If they want to stay here and be Miners we’ll make it the best opportunity for them. If they don’t want to be Miners we’ll help them get to the opportunity they want.
“From that point moving forward we are going to recruit. This is a different model than Abilene Christian, we are going to use every resource we have out there to recruit the best players to El Paso and this university.”
Included in that group of UTEP players on hand was defensive star Tydus Verhoeven, who has entered the transfer portal but presumably now has the option to return. The university did now allow UTEP players to speak to the media.
Golding actually began his remarks by saying a few words about the late Alvin Jones, Sr., the father of UTEP football legend Aaron Jones who passed away last week due to complications from COVID, and former basketball player Daryl Edwards, who was hit by a drunk driver earlier this week and is recovering from his injuries.
Then Golding, who grew up in Midland, explained what drew him to El Paso.
“There is no secret why these banners (in the rafters) were hung,” Golding said. “This place used to be packed and nobody wanted to come to El Paso to play in the Don. They wanted no part of this place. We have to work hard to get butts back in these seats and get this place rocking.
“Growing up in Midland, I’m a West Texas boy, in this process I was thrilled when I saw the 915 area code popping up. I felt like I was back at home. I was born and raised in West Texas, this is home to me, this fit is really good.
“In elementary and junior high I grew up when coach Haskins was coaching the Miners, I knew what he was about, I watched Glory Road a hundred times. I got my picture taken today in front of the national championship trophy, I got goose bumps and I almost cried.”
As for why he played collegiate for Abilene Christian, “I’d turn on the TV and see this place packed, I wanted to be a UTEP Miner from time to time, I just wasn’t any good,” he said. “True story. I averaged four points and three assists. When you do that you live in six or seven cities and nine different houses.”
Golding pointed out, with his wife Amanda and junior high sons Cason and Chase sitting in front of him, that he would start looking for his 10th house to buy and a high school for Cason to start his high school basketball career.
The job in front of Golding, at least in the short term, will be challenging as he inherits a 12-12 team that could lose at least two starters, pending the vagaries of the transfer portal.
While Golding didn’t avail himself to the transfer portal frequently at Abilene Christian, he acknowledged UTEP could be different.
“We have to do it quicker,” he said. “That was the fit for Abilene Christian and through the transition (to Division I), those were the guys we could get and we knew it would take some time.
“I definitely think at UTEP it’s a different model and we’re going to try to do this a lot quicker. The transfer portal helps, junior college, with COVID there are great high school players available. There is a limited amount of spots and so many kids available because of the way recruiting has gone.
“We have to figure out this roster first and how many kids we’re going to need, then we get recruiting.”
As for how his team would play, Golding said the first priority was to recruit the best available players and then build a system that fits them. At ACU his teams were known as among the best in the nation defensively (Texas turned the ball over 22 times against them while scoring 52 points) and that may not change no matter what.
“We want to win and we’ll run whatever system we need to run to win basketball games,” he said. “We found a niche at Abilene Christian that worked for us and we recruited to that model, we played to that model. UTEP is a different deal.
“The way we played defense is something we’ve been doing for a long time, that’s not going to change and that’s going to fit this community and fits the school. You have to defend to win games.”
The process of finding players to do that has already begun for UTEP’s 20th head men’s basketball coach.
