Tim Floyd retires as basketball coach at UTEP

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UTEP basketball coach Tim Floyd retired Monday night after the Miners lost at home to the Lamar Cardinals, the El Paso Times reported.

Lamar beat UTEP, 66-52.

“I’m done, this is my last game as a coach,” Floyd said.

The Times said the move came a day after Jim Senter was introduced as the school’s athletic director.

Floyd said later that his decision had nothing to do with Senter’s arrival.

“I’ve coached for 42 years and I love this school,” Floyd told the newspaper. “My father played here. Nobody wants to win here more than I do. I’ve coached at this university for 16 years and I think it’s time for somebody else to have the opportunity to have the joy that I’ve had, the agony that I’ve had, the acclaim that I’ve had and the heartbreak that I’ve had in my career.”

With the loss, UTEP fell to 1-5 on the season.

Floyd was starting his 24th season as a college head coach and his eighth at UTEP when he abruptly stepped down.

He had also worked five seasons as a head coach in the NBA.

With deep roots in El Paso, he started his coaching career at UTEP from 1978-86 as an assistant under the legendary Don Haskins.

As a collegiate head coach, he worked at Idaho, New Orleans, Iowa State, Southern Cal and UTEP, compiling a record of 465-280, according to online records.

He coached eight NCAA tournament teams, including two at New Orleans, three at Iowa State and three at Southern Cal.

After six seasons in the NBA, including parts of four as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Floyd returned to the college game at UTEP in the 2010-11 season.

He led the Miners to three seasons of 22 wins or more but never was able to reach the NCAA tournament.

Floyd took UTEP to the NIT in 2011, to the CBI in 2014 and to the NIT again in 2015.

In seven plus seasons with the Miners, he finished 138-99.

Floyd’s father lettered in basketball, football, swimming and gymnastics at the school from 1939-43.

UTEP has a unique place in college basketball history.

In 1966, the school known then as Texas Western College became the first to win the NCAA championship with an all-black starting lineup.

The Miners remain as the only team in the state to win an NCAA Division I title.