Don’t panic
Neal says Lobos will reload with recruits
Coach Neal says the Lobos’ lofty goals won’t change despite pite personnel losses
When the University of New Mexico basketball team walked off the court in San Jose, Calif., in 2010, a season ended. So too had the careers of Roman Martinez and Darington Hobson, among other Lobos, and a sense of worry began to set in for fans.
What would the future bring without the lifeblood of the program in Martinez and Hobson, who was coming off a Mountain West Player of the Year season?
Sure, Dairese Gary would be returning as the steady senior point guard. But looking at that year’s roster, there was no way to expect much depth in the coming season, and nobody knew what really would become of that year’s recruiting class.
All the Lobos did over the next four seasons was win two Mountain West Conference titles, three league tournament titles, play in three NCAA Tournaments and one NIT, while compiling an overall record of 106-33 (76.3 percent) and a league record of 46-18 (71.9 percent).
Fast forward four years and the Lobo fan base is in a familiar state of worry. The losses of stars Kendall Williams and Cameron Bairstow, who have exhausted their eligibility, preceded Alex Kirk’s announcement Friday that he will forgo his senior season to enter the NBA draft. Reserves Nick Banyard, a sophomore, and Tim Myles, a freshman, have been released from their scholarships and intend to transfer.
But head coach Craig Neal doesn’t see the sky falling.
“We’re not worried about the future,” Neal told the Journal on Saturday. “We’ve been through this. It is similar to 2010, and the recruits coming in will have to be very similar over the years to what the 2010 (recruiting class) was. But
we’re excited about the future. We’re excited about the chance to continue to strive toward winning championships and developing players, which is what we did since that 2010 team.”
It’s true the Lobos have proven capable of competing for league titles and developing players beyond what most anticipated. (See Tony Snell getting drafted in the first round of last year’s NBA draft; Kirk’s improvement since his back surgery; or the meteoric rise to the national stage in the past two seasons for Bairstow as examples.)
But the reality is it would be naive not to anticipate a tough road ahead for the program with the Big Three moving on to pursue professional careers.
The program looks to replace 67.8 percent of its scoring, 53.2 percent of its rebounding and 82.6 percent of its blocked shots.
On the immediate horizon is a coaching staff hitting the recruiting trail to fill three open scholarships to join incoming freshmen Xavier Adams, a 6-foot-4 guard from Texas, and Joe Furstinger, a 6-9 forward from California. Both are expected to play as true freshmen for the Lobos, although a decision to redshirt either doesn’t really need to be made until the 2014-15 season starts in November.
While prohibited from talking about recruits before they sign, UNM coaches are recruiting, among others:
Austin Etherington, a 6-foot-6 shooting wing and graduate transfer from the Indiana Hoosiers who would be eligible immediately as he will earn his degree this semester and still has two years of eligibility remaining;
Jordan Goodman, a 6-9 junior college All-American from Harcum (Pa.) College who averaged 18.1 points and 6.6 rebounds this season; and
J. J. Nganga, a 6-10, 260-pound junior college power forward from Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa.
UNM will also get Cochise (Ariz.) College transfer Tim Jacobs, a 6-2 point guard who starred on Oñate High School’s 2011 New Mexico 5A state title team, to walk on the team this summer after averaging 14.3 points and 3.6 assists this past season.
The signees will join expected starters Hugh Greenwood, who like Gary will be a fouryear starting point guard; sophomore-to-be Cullen Neal, UNM’s leading returning scorer; and senior wing Deshawn Delaney, who played his best basketball of the season down the stretch. Cleveland “Pancake” Thomas, a guard who started 12 games for UNM this past season, 7-1 Obij Aget and 6-6 Arthur Edwards should also all play key roles next season.
As many anticipated heading into the 2013-14 season, UNM will now move to a more uptempo, fast-paced offense with Bairstow and Kirk out of the picture.
And while fans may have reason to be concerned heading into next season, Greenwood said in the moments after UNM’s loss to Stanford last month in the NCAA Tournament that he hopes fans continue to support the team.
“I know things will look different,,” Greenwood said in St. Louis, “but fans should still expect us to be competing for championships and getting back here (to the NCAA Tournament).”
And while he’s leaving the program, Kirk told the Journal on Saturday he has no doubt the future for the Lobos remains bright as he moves forward in his career.
“I’ll be a Lobo until the day I die,” Kirk said. “I know that work in the practice gym, and on the weekends and all summer long are huge, but there is no substitute for what game experience can do for a player, and there is some opportunity for that for some of these guys just like Kendall and I had as freshmen.
“You can’t tell me Obij isn’t going to get a ton better next year when he starts to get more of that game experience and have some games where he blocks five or more shots. It’s going to happen. It was game experience that got Cam, Kendall and me to this level.”