UTEP men's basketball coach Tim Floyd said this year's recruits are just part of the best offseason he has had since returning to UTEP. Ruben R. Ramirez/El Paso Times
There have been countless summer sessions, an exhibition tour to Costa Rica, public scrimmages, the grind of October practices, two exhibition games and an official season opener.
But the real deal begins Thursday.
UTEP gets its first test of the 2017-18 basketball season at noon Friday when the Miners face Boise State at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.