Tag Archives: UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame

On Wednesday, Officials with UTEP announced the 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Class.

Joining the scores of enshrined Miners will be David Bishop (golf), Camilla Carrera (softball), Jareica Hughes (women’s basketball), Willie Worsley (men’s basketball) and Barron Wortham (football). 

All were voted in by UTEP’s Athletics Hall of Fame selection committee.

Members of UTEP’s 16th Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Class will be honored in a ceremony at the Larry K. Durham Sports Center on Friday, September 21, as well as at UTEP’s football game versus NM State on Saturday, Sept. 22.

Bishop, who played for the Miners from 1987-91, was a four-time All-American at UTEP (honorable mention 1988 and 1990, second team 1989 and 1991).  He was named the WAC Player of the Year in 1989 and 1991. 

He won four tournaments as a Miner.  He helped UTEP finish second at the NCAA Championships in 1988, and ninth in 1991.  He compiled scoring averages of 73.9 as a freshman, 73.0 as a sophomore, 73.5 as a junior and 72.6 as a senior. 

Bishop later played on the PGA Tour.  He passed away at the age of 48 on April 15, 2017.

A member of the UTEP softball team from 2008-12, Carrera led the nation with 32 home runs as a senior.

 She was a two-time Conference USA Player of the Year (2009 and 2012) and three-time first team All-League (2009, 2010, 2012).

Carrera is the program’s all-time leader in batting average (.401), hits (260), runs (186), doubles (57), home runs (61), RBI (197) and total bases (504).  She led the Miners to the C-USA Championship game in 2009, and a school-record 31 victories in 2010.  

Hughes, who played for the Miners from 2006-09, was the catalyst on the first NCAA Tournament team in UTEP women’s basketball history (2008). 

A two-time C-USA Player of the Year, Hughes owns school records for assists (599), steals (277) and minutes (3,777) while ranking second in scoring (1,555 points) and free throws made (359), and third in field goals made (527). 

She led the Miners to 84 wins in four years, including the 2008 C-USA regular season title.  Hughes is a member of UTEP’s Centennial Women’s Basketball Team.

The final starter from the 1966 Texas Western national championship team to be inducted into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame, Willie Worsley averaged 8.0 points as a sophomore that season.  He lettered for TWC from 1965-68. 

Worsley scored 14 and 12 points respectively in the Miners’ NCAA Tournament wins over Oklahoma City and Utah, and added eight points in the historic victory over Kentucky. 

Worsley appeared in 78 games for the Miners, scoring 877 points (11.2 ppg) with 252 rebounds (3.2 rpg).  He was a member of two NCAA Tournament teams.

Wortham, a UTEP football letterman from 1990-93, joined Raymond Morris as the only players to lead UTEP in tackles four times.  He posted 566 takedowns – the top total in school history.  He is also the Miners’ all-time leader in tackles for losses (45). 

He was named a first team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America his senior year.  He was a three-time All-American in his career.  Wortham was chosen by Houston in the NFL Draft.  He played seven seasons in the league and started for the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. 

He is a member of UTEP’s Centennial Football Team.

Antonio Davis, Seth Joyner, Blessing Okagbare, Cynthia Ruelas-Macias and Paul Stankowski form the 15th induction class into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame.

They will be honored at the induction banquet on Friday, Oct. 27 at the Larry K. Durham Sports Center, as well as at the UTEP football team’s Oct. 28 home game versus UTSA.

Davis was a part of four NCAA Tournament teams and 95 victories as a member of the Miner men’s basketball squad from 1986-90.  He appeared in 122 games, scoring 1,117 points with 744 rebounds, 104 blocks and a .539 field goal percentage.  He was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference honoree.

After leaving UTEP, Davis spent 13 seasons in the NBA with Indiana, Toronto, Chicago and New York, combining to play in 903 games with 9,041 points, 6,755 rebounds and 889 blocks.  He was a 2001 NBA All-Star and, a year later, played for Team USA at the FIBA World Championships.  He is currently an NBA analyst with ESPN.  Davis is also a member of UTEP’s Basketball Centennial Team.

Joyner played football at UTEP from 1982-85.  He arrived on campus as an undersized walk-on before hours in the weight room transformed him into a college standout and, ultimately, one of the NFL’s top linebackers.  His Miner career produced 325 tackles before he was picked by Philadelphia in the 1986 NFL Draft.

Joyner played for the Eagles for eight seasons, where he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and the 1991 Sports Illustrated NFL Player of the Year.  He later played for Arizona, Green Bay and Denver, and was a part of the Broncos’ Super Bowl championship run in his final year as a pro (1998).  Joyner was credited with 52 sacks and 24 interceptions in 195 NFL games.  He is a member of UTEP’s Football Centennial Team.

Okagbare was one of three finalists for The Bowerman Award during her senior year at UTEP – the highest honor given to collegiate track and field student-athletes by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).  Okagbare notched NCAA crowns in the 100 meters and long jump during the 2010 outdoor season, the first athlete in collegiate history to achieve such a feat.  During the 2010 indoor season, she won national titles in the 60 meters and long jump, setting a meet record in the latter event.

Okagbare was an 11-time All-American and a 15-time conference champion at UTEP.  She was a silver medalist in the long jump at the 2008 Olympic Games.  She was a silver medalist in the long jump and a bronze medalist in the 200 meters at the 2013 World Championships.  Okagbare has also captured gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, the All-Africa Games, the African Championships and the IAAF World Relays.

Ruelas-Macias is the initial inductee from the volleyball program into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame.  One of the most dominating middle blockers in school history, she notched 1,181 kills and 636 blocks during her stint with the Miners.  She ranked in the top five nationally in single season blocks in 1997 (fourth) and 1994 (fifth), and ranked in the top 10 in 1993 (ninth) and 1996 (10th).

She is first in school history in blocks, fourth in hitting percentage (.251) and fifth in kills.  Ruelas-Macias left UTEP with 17 separate school records, including every single game, season and career blocking record.

Stankowski becomes the first player from the UTEP men’s golf program to be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame.  He was on the Miner roster from 1987-91.  Stankowski won two tournaments at UTEP (Red River Classic 1990, WAC Championships 1990).  He is the only UTEP male golfer to win the individual WAC title.  He was a three-time honorable mention All-American with the Miners (1988, 1989, 1991).

He helped UTEP finish second at the NCAA Championships in 1988 and ninth in 1991.  Stankowski played on the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour, winning the 1996 Nike Louisiana Open, the 1996 BellSouth Classic and the 1997 United Airlines Hawaiian Open.  His best finish in a major was a tie for fifth place at the 1997 Masters Tournament.

UTEP has been inducting classes into its Athletics Hall of Fame annually since 2002, with the exception of 2014 when the football, men’s and women’s basketball Centennial teams were honored.