As first reported by KTSM's Sam Guzman, the UTEP basketball staff will host 6-foot-10 center Jayden Leverett on an official visit this coming weekend. It's a pivotal opportunity for Joe Golding and the Miners to keep one of the Sun City's premier athletes home, as Leverett's stock has steadily increased in recent months.

The Chapin High standout has picked up a laundry list of high-major offers, including Texas, Colorado, TCU, Mississippi State and Oklahoma State. But fortunately for UTEP, Golding was early to the table with an offer to Leverett. Only Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and New Mexico State threw a hat in the ring prior to UTEP's offer in early February.

"I bring length, I bring rim protection, I protect the rim," Leverett told RedRaiderSports' Ben Golan in a February interview. "I don't let people just easily get shots inside the paint. I bring great communication, I bring energy to the team, I try to lead my team. I bring an outside shot. I'm one of those bigs who can go pick and roll, pick and pop, hit the three if I'm open. And I can also work in the post, hook shots, up and unders, all that stuff."

UTEP will be looking to build off the recent momentum accrued via the commitment of point guard De'Erick Barber, who pledged to the Miners in August fresh off his official visit to the 915. If UTEP could keep Leverett home, it would be a seminal recruiting win for Golding, who is entering his fourth year at the helm of a Miner basketball program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2010.

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