Giddens’ goal SPORTS >> B1
Former Lobo star says he wants to be head coach at New Mexico one day
J.R. Giddens wrote the second chapter of his college basketball career at the University of New Mexico — transferring from the University of Kansas to become a Lobo star, Mountain West Player of the Year and 2008 first-round NBA draft pick of the Boston Celtics.
Now, the 33-year-old Giddens, who is still excelling as a pro player internationally, has his sights set on writing the next chapter of his post-playing basketball story.
“I want to be the University of New Mexico head basketball coach one day,” Giddens said this week, while back in Albuquerque working at the youth basketball camps hosted by the program’s current head coach, Paul Weir.
“I’m not coming for Paul’s job,” he said. “But if it’s empty one day, that’s what I’m gearing for.”
Lofty goals and confidence in his ability to achieve them has never been an issue for Giddens, who in the past year-plus
has played professionally in the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Mexico.
But first things first. To be a college coach when his playing days are over — he feels he can play at a high level for another three or four years — he needs to get a degree. He left UNM in 2008, just 12 credit hours short of a degree in university studies.
Giddens says a missed exam in a class the spring semester after his final season at UNM while representing the Lobos in a college slam dunk contest — and his forgetting to give his professor the proper form ahead of time indicating he would be gone — meant he wouldn’t graduate on time. So he focused on NBA workouts the rest of that spring, instead.
“I take the blame for it all,” Giddens said. “As an athlete, I missed some classes earlier (in his time at UNM) when I shouldn’t have, but it wasn’t like missed because I just didn’t feel like going to a class. I missed because I was representing the University of New Mexico.”
Since then, completing his degree has taken a back seat to playing. Now, with the help of the current staff and UNM, Giddens is getting enrolled in classes, mostly online, and plans to have his degree by the time his playing career ends.
Not that he’s ready to stop playing just yet.
“Well, 33 was possibly one of my best season’s professionally,” Giddens said. “I say that about the mind, body and soul — not being crazy J.R., not knowing how to lead a team. Now, I know how to lead a team. Along with my physical abilities, I can also be a team leader. Be LeBron-ish.”
This week in Albuquerque, as he helped out at Weir’s camps, he also met with current Lobo players and told them the road ahead is going to be tough. Hard work, he told them, starts now, and a long list of former Lobos making good money around the globe are good examples of that.
“I let some of them know, look, let’s say some of you don’t make the league (NBA),” Giddens said of a talk he had with current Lobos on Sunday. “You’ve got to come to Mexico and you’ve got to go to one of these other leagues and you’ve got to see me. You’ve got to see Darington Hobson. You’ve got to see Drew Gordon. You’ve got to see Alex Kirk. We’re some dogs. You’re going to have to come through us to earn a paycheck every day.”
ON CARLTON BRAGG:
Like Giddens, the Lobos have another former star prep recruit who didn’t have things work out playing at the University of Kansas and has made his way, via an NCAA transfer, to UNM.
“I told Carlton this,” Giddens said, “‘You have a chance to reinvent yourself. You’ve got to make the best of this chance. It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to be frustrated with yourself at times. But this is your chance. You’ve got to make the best of it. I transferred from Kansas after making so many mistakes. And I came out here and made some more, but I got a second lease on life. You’ve got to ride it out. Make the most of the chance you have.’”
UNM has not let the media speak to Bragg yet since he’s been enrolled in January. He is working out with the team and taking summer school classes and is scheduled to be eligible in December.
WELCOME BACK:
Giddens said he likes the direction of the UNM program under Weir and feels welcomed back.
“Just his personality and how he welcomes me back and how he wants me involved in the program,” Giddens said. “I’m not throwing dirt on anybody, but, in the past, it wasn’t like this. We’ll just say that.”