College basketball centers, the big men in the middle, take time to develop. For several years, they are bound to be a work in progress.
One thing Ze'Rik Onyema has always given UTEP is time. The longest-tenured person in the program, a bridge between coaching staffs, the third-year sophomore has passed up his chance to jump in the transfer portal because of his loyalty to what he considers his home-town school.
Now the dividend is starting to roll in. Onyema, who lived in El Paso from age 4 to 14 before going to high school in San Antonio, is galloping down the stretch for a UTEP team that opens the Conference USA tournament against Western Kentucky on Wednesday in Frisco.