Ellenberger Hired as Assistant Coach at UTEP

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.

University of New Mexico President William E. Davis fired Ellenberger in December, 1979, after the coach was accused of tampering with a recruit’s junior college transcript. The National Collegiate Athletic Assn. put New Mexico on three years’ probation in December 1980, banning the university from postseason play and from appearing on national or regional TV broadcasts. Seven players on the team were declared ineligible.