UTEP HC Rodney Terry in Critical but Stable Condition After Allergic Reaction
Jan 3, 2020
UTEP head coach Rodney Terry points towards his bench during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Hawaii Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
UTEP head basketball coach Rodney Terry was hospitalized Wednesday in Miami after an allergic reaction.
The school announced Terry remains in critical condition, but he is expected to make a full recovery after going into anaphylactic shock on Jan. 1.
"UTEP Head Coach Rodney Terry was admitted to a Miami area hospital on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 1 due to anaphylactic shock," per UTEP's statement (h/tBret Bloomquistof the El Paso Times). "Medical officials say he is in critical but stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery. There is no timetable for his return to the UTEP bench."
Terry traveled with the team to Miami for Thursday's game when his allergic reaction occurred. Assistant coach Kenton Paulino took Terry's place on the bench for the Miners in their 69-67 loss to Florida International.
"He really wanted to be here," Paulino said in a post-game radio interview (h/t Bloomquist). "He's doing much, much better. They want to hold him a certain period of time, but he's ready to get back."
UTEP will travel to Boca Raton, Florida, for Saturday's game against Florida Atlantic. The team will return to El Paso after that for three straight home contests against Southern Mississippi (Jan. 9), Louisiana Tech (Jan. 11) and UTSA (Jan. 15).
Terry, 51, is in his second season as head coach at UTEP. The Miners' nine wins in 2019-20 have already surpassed their total from all of last season (8-21).
UTEP Assistant Lamont Smith Resigns After Being Named in NCAA Bribery Scandal
Mar 20, 2019
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 03: Head coach Lamont Smith of the San Diego Toreros looks on during a first-round game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Portland Pilots at the Orleans Arena on March 3, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Portland won 60-55. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
UTEP men's basketball assistant coach Lamont Smith, who led the University of San Diego's men's hoops program from 2015 to 2018, has resigned from his post after USD said he was the coach implicated in the wide-ranging college admissions bribery scandal.
Alex Nicolas of Talk Town Sports El Paso provided an official statement from UTEP:
Allison Horn of ABC 10 News of San Diego provided more information:
"The initial indictment, released earlier in March, alleged real estate developer Robert Flaxman paid about $100,000 to get his son in the 'side door' with the help of a USD coach. Federal documents claim an FBI witness and Smith worked to accept Flaxman's son, an Industrial Systems Engineer Major, as an athletic recruit, although he did not play basketball."
Per the Associated Press (h/t Washington Post), USD "said it was able to publicly identify Smith on Wednesday only after the U.S. Department of Justice modified a confidentiality order."
According to Rebecca Halleck of the New York Times, "federal authorities charged 50 people on [Tuesday, March 12] with taking part in a nationwide scheme to game the admissions process at highly competitive schools." The list includes actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Smith resigned from USD after being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, assault with force likely to commit great bodily injury and false imprisonment, per Don Norcross and Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Charges were not filed, but Smith stepped down on March 7.
