Alford welcomed back to MWC with open arms
Nevada coach was successful as UNM boss for six years
HENDERSON, Nev. — Over six seasons from 2007 through 2013 — the era Steve Alford was roaming the sidelines of Bob King Court as head coach of the UNM Lobos — the Mountain West Conference was a two-team league.
At the time plenty of league teams were punching tickets to the NCAA Tournament. In fact, in 2013 more than half (five) of the team’s nine members qualified.
But while multiple league programs were enjoying the spoils of playing in the Big Dance, the rising tide raising all those Mountain West ships was undoubtedly thanks to Alford’s Lobos and Steve Fisher’s San Diego State Aztecs. Those two programs combined to share or win the conference outright in five of the six seasons and win the MWC tournament title in four of those six seasons.
“It was incredible,” said San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher on Tuesday at the Mountain West media conference when asked about Alford’s return to the conference as Nevada’s head coach.
Dutcher was the longtime assistant to Fisher who is now entering his third season as the Aztecs head coach and recalls vividly the growth of the UNM/SDSU rivalry in that era.
“I mean, those games were incredible. It’s great to have him back in the league. What he did at New Mexico, he had them winning titles. I mean,
us and them were splitting titles every other year. So to have him back in the league is going to help all of us.”
The talk around the league’s media conference Tuesday was not only the usual buzz about the preseason poll and how bad the rankings certainly will be, the usual media conference chatter, but also about the return of Alford after his 5½-season stint as UCLA’s head coach before he was fired in December.
For his part, Alford wasn’t shy about his excitement not only about being back in the league, but back in a community and at a university that he feels prioritizes basketball in the same ways Albuquerque and UNM did when he was coaching the Lobos.
“What I like about Reno, and the University of Nevada, is people care about basketball,” Alford said. “You play in front of sellouts. There’s a vibe in the city. They talk about it. I haven’t heard basketball talked about in the summer since I left New Mexico. In New Mexico, they’re doing articles in the paper about summer camps.
“At UCLA, it’s a different deal. They don’t worry about it in the summer. The Dodgers are playing. The Angels are playing. It’s fun being back where basketball is being talked about year-round.”
And part of that offseason basketball chatter in Albuquerque since April when Alford was hired at Nevada has been about his imminent return Feb. 18 to Dreamstyle Arena - the Pit, a place Alford says remains as special as any place he’s ever played or coached in.
“I like going back to the Pit, but I know what it’s like as a visitor to go into the Pit,” Alford said. “It’s one of the most special buildings I’ve ever been in as a player or a coach . ... As I say, I’ve got some body guards with me. I’ve got coach (Craig) Neal who was a Lobo. I’ve got Roman Martinez who was a Lobo. I’ve got Kory Alford, who was a Lobo. Nate Strong has been a Lobo (manager). We’ve got a lot of Lobos we’re bringing back.”
Not that he expects that to make his reception as an opposing coach an easy one.
“The Pit shouldn’t change for anything,” said Alford. “That’s what makes the Pit special. But we’ll bring (Lobo superfan) Snake a jersey. We’ll do some things to try to soften the blows.”
As for the return of Alford to the league, current Lobos coach Paul Weir, who spent a season on Alford’s staff at Iowa, said he was asked “several” times about the return to the league of Alford and the February game in the Pit.
“I’m not going to say anything that might make some people more excited about the game,” said Weir. “Steve meant a lot to me at a very critical point of my career and my life. Made a big impact on me. I wish him all the best. Me as a coach, part of him is in there.”