University Of Texas At El Paso

Don Haskins, basketball coach at Texas El Paso, is suffering from a severe case of laryngitis that will probably sideline him for the rest of the season.

Before the question could be asked, Don Haskins had his answer: "I've never." Not in 27 seasons of coaching basketball, all of them at Texas El Paso, has he ever had a team so depleted as this one. It's down to eight players now.

Swingman Archie Williams of Reseda High said Tuesday that he has orally committed to play basketball next season at Texas El Paso. Williams is the third player from the region to commit to play for an NCAA Division I school, joining Alex Lopez of Campbell Hall and Jason Hartman of Thousand Oaks, who both will play at Washington. For many observers, the likely reaction to Williams' commitment is, "Who?"

Norm Ellenberger, former New Mexico head basketball head coach who was fired in the midst of a transcript-fixing scandal in 1979, has been hired by Texas El Paso as an assistant coach. UTEP Coach Don Haskins will decide later whether Ellenberger will be allowed to recruit beginning Sept. 1, when Ellenberger's hiring becomes effective. Ellenberger, 56, was an unpaid, part-time assistant at UTEP for two seasons. He coached the team during some practices this season when Haskins had the flu.

An NCAA investigation of Texas El Paso's basketball program turned up 13 violations, including allegations of a lack of institutional control of the program, according to a televised report Monday. Television station KVIA reported it had contacted people who have read the NCAA report that administration officials plan to reveal this afternoon at a news conference.

Nigeria's Olapade Adeniken of Texas El Paso ran the fastest 100 meters in the Texas Relays' 65-year history with a legal clocking of 9.97 seconds, fastest in the world this year.