EL PASO, TX — UTEP will spend the week of Thanksgiving in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, while competing in the 2014 Hardwood Tournament of Hope from Nov. 25-27.
UTEP basketball teammates Stacie Telles and Daeshi McCants grew up in the shadow of Mexico. But, it's always been a place seen and not heard.
"I went to Juárez when I was little, I haven't been recently," said El Pasoan Telles, a Burges High School graduate.
"One time," said McCants, a Mayfield High School graduate from Las Cruces. "I was a lot younger."
Those two and their teammates will get a look at a place much different from Juárez this Thanksgiving as they head to the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta for the 2014 Hardwood Tournament Of Hope. Puerto Vallarta is 760 miles virtually straight south of El Paso.
UTEP opens with Kansas State today, faces LSU on Wednesday and then plays Santa Clara on Thanksgiving Day.
"I'm excited to see that part of Mexico, I'm excited to play big teams," Telles said. "We're going to grow as a team and hopefully come back with three wins."
"This will be a great experience," coach Keitha Adams said. "It will be a great time for us to spend more time together as a team, with one another, and eat a Thanksgiving turkey while we're down there. It's fun and business."
While star forward Chrishauna Parker and guard Anete Kirsteine will make the trip, neither will play. Parker is suffering lingering effects from a concussion sustained in team's first game, while Kirsteine has a sprained MCL. Both are expected back by conference play in January.
In playing three games in three days without those two, the Miners will get a broad range of experience.
Kansas State is 3-0 under new coach Jeff Mittie, who takes over after a miserable 11-19 campaign last year, foreshadowed after a decisive loss to UTEP at the Don Haskins Center, 84-39. Mittie comes to Kansas State from TCU.
"We beat them by a pretty good margin last year, I'm sure they want to pay us back this year," Telles said.
The Wildcats are led by 6-foot-5 sophomore center Breanna Lewis, who averages 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
"They push the ball up and down the floor, they shoot the 3, they are playing pretty good basketball," Adams said.
Louisiana State is the marquee team in the tournament. The Tigers opened at No. 24 in the coaches' poll, but they are now 2-3 and unranked after losing to Tulane and No. 22 Rutgers last week. They were picked sixth in the SEC preseason poll.
Santa Clara's most famous alums are basketball player Steve Nash and women's soccer player Brandi Chastain. The West Coast Conference school is 2-1 this year after going 10-20 last year.
UTEP's focus is on rebounding, as the Miners are still smarting from a minus-19 differential last week in a loss to SMU that has them 2-1 on the season.
"We're going to accomplish rebounding," McCants said. "That's what this whole week has been about, rebounding and boxing out."
The days ahead are going to be about that, but also about having some fun in the sun and taking some pictures that will be sent to recruits.
"I want to see the beach," McCants said.
That's something that will definitely be accomplished.
Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6359.
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