April 27, 2010

Michael Haynes, a high-scoring forward from Heat Academy in Martinsville, Va., has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at UTEP beginning with the 2010-11 season.

The 6-6, 225-pound Haynes averaged 19 points and eight rebounds last year at Heat Academy, which finished 36-4 and ranked fourth in the country by USPrepBasketball.com.

Haynes is rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

He also starred at Washington High School in Chicago, and was rated the no. 11 player in the state of Illinois by ChicagoHoops.com following his junior season. Haynes played for two years at Washington High School, leading the team to back-to-back appearances in the city championship game. He averaged 12 points and 17 rebounds in his first season and 17 points and 22 rebounds in his second.

The addition of Haynes reinstates the pipeline to the Windy City that brought standouts Ralph Davis, Antoine Gillespie, Tim Hardaway and Johnny Melvin to El Paso in the `80s and `90s. Gillespie is UTEP's no. 3 all-time scorer, while Hardaway ranks fifth, Davis 10th and Melvin 21st.