Giddens gets his first gig as coach
Ex-Lobo to guide NNMC women
Former New Mexico men’s basketball star and NBA player J.R. Giddens is the new head coach for the women’s basketball program at NAIA Northern New Mexico College in Española.
It will be Giddens’ first college coaching gig.
It comes shortly after he retired from a playing career that took him across the globe.
“I’ve been professional training and coaching kids in Albuquerque for years,” he said. “I have a great passion for basketball. I loved working with kids and coaches and developing a lot of young kids out of the Albuquerque area.”
Eagles athletic director and men’s basketball coach Ryan Cordova said he’s thrilled to bring in someone of Giddens’ caliber for the position that came open last week when coach Mario Caetano accepted a position as an assistant with Adams State of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
“J.R. has so many fans that are still Lobos fans in Albuquerque and all over the country,” Cordova said. “He’s a quality basketball player and has played for some great coaches. I expect him to apply what he’s
learned and keep going with what Mario built last year.”
He’ll have a one-year contract and earn $45,000 base, plus benefits, with the potential to earn in ways that are still being defined, Cordova said.
“With his experience and the coaches he’s played for, he’s going to bring a lot to Northern New Mexico College. Not just women’s basketball, but the athletics program as whole. Coaches can really change things for universities and colleges, and I think this is a step in the right direction.”
Giddens, 35, said he reached out to Cordova several weeks ago to see if there were any positions available just so he could get his foot in the college door.
“When coach Mario resigned, I was a person he (Cordova) considered for the job,” he said. “Basketball is basketball . ... I’ve very blessed to have the opportunity. These are the people who decided to give me my first chance, so I’m very grateful and thankful for the this opportunity.”
Giddens said he’s already been watching film on the team that went 7-19 last season after returning no players from the season prior.
“We’re going to be a defensive team,” he said. “That’s going to be our ID. All the girls are going to be really tough, and defense is a way to be successful in the league. Offensively, we’re going to have to really work on that. We’ll have to try and figure out our ID offensively, but we’ll use our defense to transition to offense.”
Giddens was an ultra-athletic, highly recruited high school player out of Oklahoma and eventually signed with Roy Williams at Kansas just before Williams moved onto North Carolina. Giddens stayed, however, and had a strong freshman season under new coach Bill Self.
An incident at a local nightclub during which he was stabbed and severely injured, however, led to Giddens to transfer after his sophomore season, when he ended up at New Mexico.
In his senior season under Steve Alford, Giddens averaged 16.3 points with 8.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game to earn a Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Year honor.
He was selected by Boston as the 30th overall pick of the 2008 NBA draft and played two seasons in the league before heading overseas. His career included stops in Poland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Israel, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Now he wants to help other players realize the dream he’s been able to enjoy.
“I used basketball to take me all over the world,” Giddens said. “Basketball saved my life. Now I’m coaching players that have the same vision and same thing in mind of my journey, and I’d like to help to them along that basketball journey.”