Former UTEP women's greats Jareica Hughes, Lulu McKinney join Keitha Adams' staff

Days after coming back home to take the reins of the UTEP women's basketball program, Keitha Adams promised her first staff would be one to excite the fans.

She delivered on that promise.

Joining her long-time right hand Ewa Lakowska will be two former point guard Miner greats, UTEP Hall of Famer Jareica Hughes (2006-10) and three-time team captain Lulu McKinney (2015-17).

McKinney was an assistant at Southern Illinois last season while Hughes was the interim head coach at Colby Community College in Kansas, but UTEP fans will remember them as stalwarts of a golden age.

"It's a very, very huge opportunity for myself, not only to be coming back to my alma mater, to coach where I played, to be at the Division I level, it tops it off to be able to do it with the coaches who gave me an opportunity when I was 17-years-old, trying to find a home," said Hughes, who was Conference USA's freshman of the year in 2006-07 and the league's player of the year the following two seasons.

"It's one of those full-circle moments," Hughes added. "If you've seen Keitha's tweet, she said 'The band is getting back together.' We most definitely are. We most definitely are."

Hughes is the program leader in career assists (599), steals (277), and minutes played (3,777) and left as the program's leading scorer. Her 1,555 points currently ranks second behind Kayla Thornton, now with the New York Liberty of the WNBA.

Hughes was the C-USA player of the year as a sophomore when she was on a team with WNBA draft picks Natasha Lacy and Izabella Piekarska that went 28-4 and won an NCAA tournament game. She won that award again the following year.

Before Colby Community College, Hughes was a high school assistant for five years and also coached an AAU team.

"The first time I watched Jareica play I knew she was special,” Adams said. “She was a difference maker and an impact player right away. Jay played a huge part in our first championship in program history. She’s coached high school, AAU, and junior college. Her love for UTEP and El Paso is very real."

That goes for McKinney as well, a starter from the moment she arrived and through her three years for Adams. After Adams left for Wichita State, McKinney transferred to the top-10 program at Texas A&M for her final year of eligibility, where her father was an assistant football coach.

She helped the Miners win the 2016 C-USA regular-season championship and advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. She led the team in assists per game in two of her three years and ranks seventh all-time at UTEP in assists with 308.

Before McKinney's one year at Southern Illinois she was on the staff for three years at Texas Southern and at East Mississippi Community College for a year before that.

"It's going to be like coming home, like old times," McKinney said. "My old stomping grounds. I'm grateful for it, I miss the community, I miss the love I used get in the community. I'm definitely ready for that again.

"I'm super grateful to be in this position. It's back home. I was a little surprised, I'd been running into coach on the road when I was recruiting for the other team I worked for. For her to see me working hard, then giving me the opportunity, it's amazing."

Said Adams: "She and I worked together as point guard and coach at UTEP, and we won a championship. She is very competitive and knowledgeable about the game. She will play a big role in recruiting future Miners to our program. She loves UTEP, El Paso, and Texas.

"Her passion for the program will be felt and hear by our recruits and our players."

UTEP also announced the addition of Chelsie Johnson as director of basketball operations. She held that position at Wichita State under Adams the previous four seasons.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former UTEP women's greats Jareica Hughes, Lulu McKinney coming home