Lobo basketball players MacDougall, Simmons to transfer
Coach Weir grants releases from Lobos
New Mexico men’s basketball players Connor MacDougall, a senior, and junior Jachai Simmons will transfer prior to next season, the program announced Tuesday. The players have been granted releases by coach Paul Weir.
MacDougall sat out this past season after suffering an ankle and foot injury in the Lobos’ exhibition game against BYU on Oct. 27. He ultimately decided to take a redshirt season instead of playing a partial season by returning late to the team.
MacDougall will receive a degree at the end of the semester and can play elsewhere next season as a graduate transfer.
“We wish nothing but the best in the next chapter of Connor’s journey,” Weir said in a statement provided by the school. “His graduation from (UNM) is an amazing accomplishment and I hope it is just the beginning of a terrific future ahead.”
MacDougall, 6-foot-9 and from Tempe, Ariz., competed for the Lobos in just one season, 2016-17. He appeared in 27 games averaging 4.0 points and 1.9 rebounds
per game.
Simmons, 6-7 and from Plainfield, N.J., had come from Midland (Texas) College. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Simmons appeared in 25 games this past season, starting in 10, and averaged 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. His father passed away in February, and Simmons sat out the final six games of the season.
“Jachai has had a challenging past few months,” Weir said in the UNM statement. “We both agreed a fresh start would be in his best interests and we will support him every which way we can in that endeavor.”
UNM is not saying how the departure of those two will impact the program’s scholarship numbers. But Tuesday’s announcement means five players are leaving and are vacating scholarships, and those five scholarships are spoken for — three players have signed, one is committed but unsigned (6-10 Isaiah Maurice, formerly of Kansas State), and one (Kansas transfer Carlton Bragg) is enrolled but not yet on scholarship.