Can UTEP's 6th year guard take a much-needed jump this year?

Article by UTEPZay

   Tae Hardy graduated high school in 2017. We are entering the 2023-2024 college basketball season. The productive 6-3 guard will be a 6th-year senior, and his journey to UTEP has been filled with many ups and downs, but he is ready to settle down with the Miners for his final collegiate year. Let's take a dive into Hardy's career.

   The Ellenwood, Georgia, native graduated from Miller Grove High School in 2017, where he scored 19.5 points per game in his senior year. His electric play in his senior year led him to be named both the 2016-17 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class 5A and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Dekalb County Player-of-the-Year. The year before that, Hardy and the Wolverine won the Georgia 5A state championship. Hardy hit the go-ahead layup in the state title game. Despite Hardy's outstanding high school play, he would decide to go the prep school route, landing at Believe Sports Academy in Tennessee. 

   After one year at the prep school, Hardy would end up at East Carolina, where he would appear in 23 games as a true freshman, starting in 9. Despite only averaging 2.3 points per game, he showed flashes of his scoring ability, putting up double-digits in 2 of the first 3 games of his season. 

   He would spend one season at ECU before taking the JUCO route, landing at Pearl River CC, a JUCO in Mississippi. In his lone season with the Wildcats, Hardy started in all 27 games he played in that season, averaging 16.6 PPG and shooting over 50% from the field. Hardy would stay in Mississippi to play at Southern Miss following his stint at Pearl River. 

   Injuries played a big role in his time at USM, but he was healthy in his first year with the Golden Eagles. He started in all but one of the 23 games he played in, and put up double-figures in 15 of those games. He had a career-high 32 points at the end of the season against FAU, and ended the season on a high note. 

   Hardy took his momentum into the new season, dropping 30 points in the season opener against William Carey, and he averaged 21 PPG in the first five games of the season before a nagging injury would slow him down. After only playing 3 games, in which he averaged 9.5 MPG, Hardy would be sidelined for the rest of the season. If he had stayed healthy, he may have been an All-Conference player for the Golden Eagles. Hardy would enter the transfer portal following the season, ending his Southern Miss career. 

   Hardy's first season with the Miners was filled with a lot of ups and downs. You could tell that he was still recovering from his injury and getting back into the game. UTEP relied on Hardy, and at times, he couldn't carry the load himself. His scoring ability was probably the best on the team, but at the same time, he was about the only scorer on the team. We saw flashes of Hardy's scoring ability in certain games, such as the NMSU game, where he put up 24 points. In my opinion, there was a stretch where I believed Hardy was by far the best player on the team.  He ended the season averaging 12.8 PPG and will return for his 6th collegiate season. 

   If UTEP wants to be a contender in the new C-USA, they're going to need a huge season from Hardy. He showed flashes of potential despite recovering from a season-ending injury. Hardy will have a chance to thrive in this new role, not being relied upon as much and keyed in on by other defenses. With the additions of scorers like Zid Powell and Corey Camper, Hardy has more freedom in his game. This is it for Hardy, his final collegiate season. After a long journey, filled with trials and tribulations, can Hardy shock the world once again?