Las Cruces' Saterfield breaking out for UTEP basketball, hometown NMSU Aggies loom

Jorell Saterfield has had many hometowns in the past decade and at the moment the UTEP basketball team's emerging 6-foot-4 swingplayer is a proud and perpetually happy El Pasoan.

Before UTEP was Ranger Junior College and before that was Las Cruces' Mayfield High School, so when his Miners take on New Mexico State on Friday in a rematch of the Battle of I-10, the game will be special for him.

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"It feels good, it feels good, it feels right," said Saterfield, who estimated at least 20 friends and family will be in the Don Haskins Center on Friday to see him face his former hometown university. "Everyone I went to school with will be out there to support."

What also feels right is the way he's starting to play. Saterfield, a sophomore, has gone through the normal transition from being a junior college superstar to Division I, initially in a role-playing capacity, and that's beginning to pay off.

In an extended sixth-man capacity in UTEP's last game against Florida A&M, Saterfield scored 14 points on 4-of-9 3-point shooting while grabbing five rebounds in 31 minutes. That came 11 days after not leaving the bench in his return to Las Cruces, showing the kind of progress he's making.

"He's getting better and better every day," coach Joe Golding said. "He's starting to trust things more. He's a typical JUCO player, it takes time, it doesn't happen over night. But he had a really good night the other night scoring the basketball and more importantly he's getting better on the defensive end.

"It's a transition from junior college basketball to Division I. With some people it takes a month, some it takes a semester, some it takes a year. He's headed in the right direction, that's the good thing. He's a coachable kid, he's taking coaching, he plays hard, he's a winner. He's got the right intangibles, he's just got to figure it out."

Saterfield has experience with this. He began his high school career at Oñate (now Organ Mountain) in Las Cruces as a freshman in 2015-16 but moved to Kentucky with his family early that season. The Chicago native later moved to Seattle, then back to Las Cruces for his senior year at Mayfield. The moves were largely related to his father's job.

Saterfield initially signed with Southern Miss and coach Doc Sadler, a former UTEP coach, but ended up at Ranger with another former UTEP coach in Billy Gillespie. Gillespie is close with Golding, the current UTEP coach. Two years ago, after Saterfield had a standout freshman campaign at Ranger, Gillespie went to Tarleton State and Larry Brown coached Saterfield for a sophomore year at Ranger.

Through all that Saterfield kept playing at a high level, leading Ranger to a Final 4 last season while averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game.

He became Golding's first Miner recruit and later his second signee (Bonke Maring signed shortly before him).

"Coach looked up to my JUCO coach (Gillespie), they've all got the same philosophy in basketball," Saterfield said. "It's not like learning a new system, it's similar to what I've been taught the last two years.

"Also, I'm familiar with the area. The history behind UTEP is unbelievable, unbelievable."

As for learning a new team, Saterfield said that has become easy.

"It's been great," he said. "We've been together since June, so everything is starting to come along at the right time."

That's made an impression on his teammates.

"He's fitting in amazingly well," guard Christian Agew said. "He's coming in playing a role, he likes ball, just like all of us. He's using his time to his strength. He's a great shooter, he's been knocking down 3s. We love him."

At the moment Saterfield is primarily a guard and Golding said while his 14 points and 3-point shooting in UTEP's last game were notable, he's earning more playing time because of his improvement on the other side of the floor.

"Physically he can shoot the basketball, that's important for our team," Golding said. "We need him to become a better defender and he's doing that, he's getting better on the defensive end of the floor. It's foreign to him, it's new to him but he's starting to trust it a little more.

"I thought he was really good on Wednesday night against Florida A&M on the defensive side."

Saterfield's personal goals are more basic than that.

"Be a great teammate, work for the guys and have fun," said Saterfield, who carries himself like someone who is always having fun. "Play hard on both ends, knock down open shots."

That's all coming together for Saterfield, who is anxious to put that on the line Friday against his old hometown team from New Mexico State.

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

New Mexico State at UTEP

What, when, where: Battle of !-10, a Division I men's basketball game, 6 p.m. Friday, Don Haskins Center

TV, radio: Stadium TV, 600 ESPN El Paso, Zia Country 99.5 FM

Records: New Mexico State is 5-2, UTEP is 4-2. That includes NMSU's 77-71 victory over UTEP on Nov. 13

Tickets: $18-$56

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Las Cruces' Saterfield breaking out for UTEP Miners basketball