He shoots, he scores
The Lobos’ new men’s basketball coach makes a winning first impression
First impressions matter, and Paul Weir certainly made a memorable one when he was introduced last week as the new Lobo head basketball coach.
Meticulously dressed, well-spoken — he even quoted the Greek philosopher Atticus — and surprisingly humble for a guy who just landed the plumb coaching job in the state, Weir graciously stepped into what is likely to be the toughest coaching job he’s ever had.
For starters, Weir comes to Loboland from Aggieville, UNM’s big-time downstate rival in all things athletic. That “defection” will no doubt play out vociferously when the Lobos take on New Mexico State University Nov. 17 in Las Cruces’ Pan Am Center.
And Weir is stepping over to a 17 win, 14 loss team that has been hemorrhaging players. On Thursday junior guard/forward Xavier Adams became the fifth Lobo since season’s end to ask for and be granted his release. Adams joins junior Elijah Brown, junior Sam Logwood, sophomore Anthony Mathis and freshman Jalen Harris out the door.
Meanwhile, UNM’s athletic department is hemorrhaging money, posting a $1.54 million deficit last fiscal year, and owing the man Weir replaces, Craig Neal, a $1 million buyout. Men’s basketball ticket sales were down from projections by a combined $1 million for the past two seasons, and the department has put a deficit on the board seven of the last nine years.
To his credit, Weir didn’t let the circus atmosphere of UNM’s 11-day search for a new coach dissuade him from taking on the job. Media outlets reported on-again, off-again talks with Albuquerque native and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach James Borrego. Other rumored candidates included Joe Dooley of Florida Gulf Coast, Steve Forbes of Eastern Tennessee State and Scott Cross of UT-Arlington. UNM never said publicly who it interviewed or whether Weir was the first choice. UNM’s bumbling search definitely attracted attention — but not in a good way.
To lure Weir to UNM, athletics director Paul Krebs offered the new coach an unusual six-year deal with a beginning salary of $625,000 — more than double what he was making at NMSU — that will grow to $825,000 by 2022-23. Still, from Krebs’ point of view, that’s a bargain compared to Neal’s annual base salary and compensation of $950,000 a season.
But the 37-year-old Toronto native, who had been the Aggies’ assistant coach for nine years and head coach for only one, has some impressive credentials.
This past season, Weir’s Aggies beat UNM in Las Cruces for the first time in eight years and won a true road game at a Power 5 school (at Pac-12’s Arizona State) for the first time in more than 20 seasons while stringing together a 20-game win streak.
The Aggies finished second in the Western Athletic Conference and won the league tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament, where they suffered a first-round loss to the No. 3 Baylor Bears, 91-73, after leading at halftime. Weir joined Lou Henson, his longtime mentor, as the only NMSU rookie head coach to take the Aggies to the Big Dance. Overall, Weir’s Aggies went 28-6 last season.
On Monday, the Aggies announced Weir’s replacement, Chris Jans, assistant head coach at Wichita State Univerity. But back to first impressions. Traditionally, when a new Lobo coach is introduced, he’s given, and dons, a cherry red blazer that not only reflects half of the teams’ cherry and silver colors, but has become iconic sidelines attire.
But when Krebs handed Weir the celebratory coat, the new coach declined to put it on.
“I told them I hadn’t earned it yet,” Weir explained. “That’s for me to do now. I’ve got to find a way to win some games.”
It was a classy move, totally lacking the hollow bravado so many coaches insist on demonstrating at every opportunity.
Welcome to Loboland, Coach Weir.