Not at Hooters: Speak Up! claim was a ‘lie,’ Neal says
UNM men’s basketball coach blasts assertion on radio show
University of New Mexico men’s basketball coach Craig Neal on Monday night repudiated as “a lie” a Sports Speak Up! item published in that day’s Journal suggesting he was eating with players and recruits at Hooters.
On his weekly coaches radio show broadcast Monday night on 770 AM, Neal said, “For our paper to print that is not fair.”
The Speak Up! writer, identified as “Jay,” said also he had seen UNM football coach Bob Davie dining out with players and recruits on a separate occasion and place; the point seemed to be that Davie and the other football coaches were having more fun, and that’s why their program is “building a personality and is creating an identify(sic).”
The writer did not give specific dates as to when he saw the dinners taking place. Depending on the dates, had either coach been treating a recruit to dinner, it could have been an NCAA violation for either program.
After reiterating the allegation wasn’t true, Neal said during the radio program that he is tired of such critical comments being published, adding, “They did it to my son and I’m not going to let them do it to me.”
Cullen Neal, the Eldorado High graduate who was on the Lobos’ roster for three seasons, transferred to the University of Mississippi this past offseason. Craig Neal made it clear the fan harassment around Albuquerque, both through social and traditional media outlets, grew to be too much for him to continue playing at UNM.
Later, when program host Robert Portnoy asked for listeners to call in with comments on the team or to offer “words of encouragement,” Neal stopped him and said that wasn’t what he was seeking.
“I don’t need a pity party,” Craig Neal said, adding he just wasn’t going to be quiet about lies being published, especially from anonymous sources.
Craig Neal did not mention the issue during a 20-minute news conference on Monday afternoon or at the team’s practice to a Journal reporter afterward.
The Journal has published Sports Speak Up! as an opinion forum for many years, similar to the Speak Up! Section that has been featured in the other sections of the newspaper. Submissions must come from a verifiable email address and are limited to 100 words.