Inside UTEP's 2009 Recruiting Class

QUICK LINK: Jump straight to the list of signees

INSTANT CONTRIBUTORS: This category was never going to be big for UTEP -- coach Mike Price has said more than once the Miners only have a limited number of scholarships available this time around, so UTEP didn't have the opportunity to offer a high number of kids at a variety of positions. The best bet to see the field early on would be College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) LB Justin Hickman; he was just a redshirt freshman in 2008, so he'll have three years of eligibility remaining when he arrives in El Paso. Heavily recruited by mid-major programs and low-end BCS schools (like Mississippi State) when he graduated from Hubbard (Chicago, Ill.) high school in 2007, Hickman signed with New Mexico but eventually landed at DuPage. He'll immediately have a chance to replace starters Adam Vincent (also a transfer to El Paso) or Nuuese Punimata, both of whom graduate in May. ... Though junior TE Jonny Moore (SA Marshall) will get first crack at replacing graduated Jamar Hunt (31-367, 2 TDs), Flower Mound TE Craig Wenrick is an absolute specimen: 6-foot-5, 230 pounds with a 380-pound bench max, 32-inch vertical and 4.75 40-yard dash time. If his tangibles halfway live up to their potential, Wenrick could push for playing time immediately.