EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – One day after Keitha Adams returned to coach the UTEP women’s basketball program, the Miners lost their best player from the 2022-23 season.
Elina Arike, who led UTEP with 11.9 points per game last winter to go along with nearly six rebounds per game, entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Thursday, she announced on social media.
Arike’s departure means that all three of UTEP’s top scorers from a 20-win campaign that ended with a WNIT berth have entered the Portal. N’Yah Boyd and Jazion Jackson went into the Portal on Tuesday, the same day Adams’ re-hiring was announced.
Arike was at Adams’ re-introduction press conference and it’s possible that she could still stay on campus if Adams can re-recruit her.
However, the native of Finland figures to have plenty of Power Five suitors coming her way after a fantastic sophomore season for the Miners.
If she does indeed leave El Paso, Adams will be fighting an uphill battle to recruit a quality roster for her first year back in the Sun City.
