The road in front of the UTEP women's basketball team is more typical than it would have been five years ago.
The Miners have to replace five departed players, including their top two scorers to transfers, with a roster that includes seven returners and eight newcomers.
Numbers like that aren’t so unusual anymore in NCAA basketball's transfer portal era, nor is UTEP's newcomer breakdown: four Division I transfers including former Miner Sabine Libe; three junior college recruits; and one high schooler.
In other words, a UTEP team that had its “first official practice” Wednesday after more than a month of offseason work is like a lot of women’s college basketball teams in late September as it angles for the Nov.