Guard Miguel Ayala has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at UTEP, Miner head coach Doc Sadler announced on Tuesday.

Ayala will have two years of eligibility at UTEP beginning with the 2004-05 season.

The 6-7, 195-pound Ayala averaged 14 points and 6.7 rebounds last year at Fullerton College. He shot 42 percent from three-point range and 87 percent from the line.

"You're looking for the perfect fit every time in recruiting," said Sadler. "The loss of Chris Craig and the opportunity for Miguel to play in El Paso is as close to a perfect fit as you can get.

"Miguel's strength is his three-point shooting," Sadler added. "He has shot 89 percent from the line over the last two years, which tells you he's an awfully good shooter. But he also brings us some size and rebounding at the off guard spot. Rebounding and perimeter shooting were two areas we needed to address during this recruiting period, and I believe we've done that by adding Miguel."

"The reason everybody recruited him is that he has an unbelievable stroke," said Fullerton College head coach Dieter Horton. "He's such a tough kid, he's kind of a throwback attitude-wise. He will shoot the heck out of it, rebound like heck and he knows how to win. UTEP needed a shooter and got one."

Ayala played center for an undersized Fullerton College team last season. He earned All-League honors and was tabbed to the All-Tournament Team at the Orange County Classic. He was a preseason fifth team All-American.

The native of Tepic, Mexico played at Riverside Community College as a freshman. He averaged 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds for a 28-9 squad, with a single-game high of 30 points. Ayala shot 42.4 percent from three-point land and 91.5 percent from the charity stripe. He shot 49.3 percent from beyond the arc in conference games.

Ayala was coached by his father, Antonio, in high school. His brothers, Alberto and Antonio Jr., play professional basketball in Mexico.