What a long, strange trip it’s been
A season that began with such promise has deteriorated with run-ins with the law, dismissals, suspensions and injuries. Now, UNM faces unbeaten, fourth-ranked San Diego State
ALBUQUERQUE — On the surface, Paul Weir is the picture of composure.
Not a hair is out of place, his posture remains relaxed and steady, and his baritone voice offers the smooth undulations of a man who’s equally confident in what he’s doing and what he believes. Inside, it’s a whole different story. The third-year head coach of the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team has dealt with one crisis after another this season involving his team, ranging from multiple run-ins with the law to a player defection and a star getting kicked off the team. Toss in a host of injuries, a lawsuit, disciplinary measures both private and public, and the addition of two players not on the opening day roster and it’s safe to say it’s been a year unlike any other.
“Yeah, it’s been unusual to say the least,” Weir said.
Then comes this: On the day his reeling Lobos (16-6 overall, 5-4 Mountain West) are set to host fourth-ranked and undefeated hulking beast San Diego State (21-0, 10-0) in The Pit, he’s faced with another potential disciplinary measure involving the team’s best player.
The fate of senior guard JaQuan Lyle is expected to be announced by the coaching staff in the hours before tipoff against SDSU. Lyle, a 6-foot-5 scoring machine who leads the team with a 17.1-point average, was involved in an off-campus party last weekend in which gunfire broke out and left two people with non-life-threatening injuries.
One of the victims is a female student-athlete at UNM who was shot in the leg, although her identity has not been confirmed or released by the school. The other victim was shot in the ankle and has not been named.
An Albuquerque Police Department spokesman said Tuesday evening that no arrests had been made and the names of both victims have not been verified. Because it is still an active investigation, a police report has not been filed.
“There’s a lot of, you hate to say gossip or rumors, but until I kind of have a police report, documentation of some kind to confirm what may or may not have happened, I don’t want to maybe speculate at
this point,” Weir said.
The party took place the same night the Lobos were in Reno, Nev., for a game against MWC rival Nevada. Lyle remained at home while nursing a knee injury that has forced him to miss the last two games.
UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez said he will not take action on Lyle’s status. He said Tuesday that he’ll leave whatever action is going to be made in Weir’s hands.
Lyle’s status is just the latest in a landslide of negative press for a team that began the season with legitimate NCAA Tournament hopes. The Lobos had a roster built largely from major-college transfers, led by marquee players like Lyle, Vance Jackson and Carlton Bragg.
Four of those five starters are out; one of them permanently, another indefinitely and the other two on day-to-day injury status.
A 6-9 transfer from UConn brought in the same year Lyle arrived from Ohio State, Jackson is not expected to play Wednesday
night as he’s still rehabbing a knee injury suffered Jan. 15 at Colorado State. Bragg is the 6-10 center by way of Kansas who was summarily kicked off the team Jan. 12 after his arrest for aggravated DWI.
That incident came after both he and point guard JJ Caldwell were suspended Dec. 21 for unrelated off-court issues. Caldwell has not played since, and Weir said Monday there is no update to if or when he’ll come back.
What’s left is a mix-and-match lineup that now includes the maybe-maybe not addition of true freshman Bayron Matos-Garcia, a chiseled 6-8 recruit who enrolled for the spring semester and began classes Monday.
Weir said he isn’t sure if Matos-Garcia will play right away or take a redshirt year, leaving the decision up to Matos-Garcia as he weighs his options of playing right away and burning a year of eligibility in what’s left of the current season or sitting out and beginning his freshman campaign in the fall.
“I watched the kid in the summer. I watched the kid at his high school in the fall. I think we’re all excited about what he could be,” Weir said. “What he’s going to be right now given the time of year and him just getting here is really hard for me to predict.”
Add everything together and it’s enough to give anyone a headache.
“I wish I could say something different, but I do think things happen for a reason,” Weir said. “I do believe this is an institution of higher education and there’s a lot of experiences that hopefully we can learn and grow from. In the time, they might be painful, and the time that you’re in that you might be wondering why or questioning different things. But right now the idea is to stay positive, grow, learn, develop, go out, play a game on Wednesday night and just continue to take this team forward.”
As for San Diego State, this marks the second straight season the Lobos have hosted an unbeaten top-five team in The Pit. They demolished then-No. 5 Nevada by 27 points on Jan.
5 of last year, giving hope to a fan base that still believes in the magic of UNM’s cherished arena.
“It’s so cool, to be honest with you, to have a game like that last year, to have a game like that this year,” Weir said. “To get them in back-to-back years is an amazing opportunity for us, for our players, for our fans, for everyone to kind of enjoy a team of undefeated caliber, top five in the country.”
NOTES
Plenty of seats left: The Lobos are on pace for their worst single-season attendance mark in The Pit’s history, averaging 10,680 through the first 13 games. The three worst years in program history have come under Weir’s watch and the four-year span that includes this season are the four lowest since The Pit first opened in 1966.
It doesn’t figure to change much after Wednesday’s game. UNM’s online ticket portal shows large swaths of unpurchased seats still available despite discounts of $10 on some seats. Most vacant spots are in the mid- to upper levels behind each basket and in the corners.
The Lobos have averaged 11,116 fans in 61 home games the last three-plus seasons dating back to former coach Craig Neal’s final season in 2016-17.