Coach says Lobos mentally sharper after brief home visit
UNM plays at UNLV today; NMSU is still holed up in Phoenix on bye weekend
In a season where home is little more than a mirage, the state’s two major college basketball programs have discovered that even a few days under their own roofs can have a lasting impact.
University of New Mexico coach Paul Weir said his team has experienced a mental boost in the days after three brief trips home since mid-December, while New Mexico State coach Chris Jans said the key to moving forward is not getting too homesick with so much time left in the season.
“Going home to Albuquerque is refreshing for everybody,” said Weir, whose Lobos play at UNLV on Saturday night in the first of two games against the Runnin’ Rebels in Las Vegas, Nev. “I can’t say it’s not.”
The Lobos have been outside the state for all but eight days since Thanksgiving week due to COVID-19 health restrictions on large gatherings in New Mexico, spending their time in the Texas Panhandle in Levelland and Lubbock. They left their temporary home in Lubbock last weekend, spending a two nights in Albuquerque before heading to St. George, Utah, for last Wednesday’s game at Dixie State. They’ll be back in Utah after the UNLV series wraps up early next week, then spend at least another five days on the Dixie State campus before deciding their next step.
As for NMSU, there’s no end in sight to their stay in Phoenix. The Aggies have twice had to shut down operations due to the coronavirus.
“In my mind, I’ve just got my head around the fact that we’re going to be here through the end of the season,” Jans said. “I don’t let my mind wander to think about going back to [Las] Cruces and practicing and playing. Certainly that would be ideal but that would not be a situation where I have any input in the decision whatsoever.”
Cleared to return to normal team activities this week, the Aggies have more time off. This weekend coincides with NMSU’s bye week in Western Athletic Conference games. It comes immediately after the Aggies were supposed to play Chicago State, which shut down its basketball program for the rest of the
season and followed that with a Thursday announcement that the college is leaving the WAC this summer.
“It doesn’t come at a great time,” NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia said. “And I’ll say this: I was under the impression that, hey, there’ll be a lot of teams who are opting out, and then by virtue of that, we’ll have a lot of people that we can just schedule on the fly. That has proven not to be the case.”
Moccia echoed Jans by saying the start-and-stop nature of the coronavirus’s impact on scheduling has had a trickle-down effect on everything else, namely the team’s mental health.
“You’ve got to have a heckuva coaching staff to keep these guys focused and motivated and comforted and everything else,” Moccia said. “I can tell you, we would much rather be sleeping in our beds in Las Cruces than what our current situation is.”
The chance to sleep in their own beds was the boost the Lobos needed, Weir said. With luck, they’ll get more opportunities to go back home before the season is over.
“The first stretch you go out it’s still pretty exciting,” Weir said. “It’s as it goes on, you know, that wear-down effect mentally and physically that we’ve been through a couple of times now, and we’ve got to find a way to make sure we stay fresh, we stay engaged and we work through.”
In more ways than one, Jans said he had his hands full this season. He is the coach and the leader of a perennial NCAA Tournament program, but these days he’s forced to read the mental health of those around him almost as much as he’s had to diagram X’s and O’s.
“Just waiting around, not knowing what’s next, when we’re going to be back, etcetera, it’s taxing,” Jans said. “I’m definitely concerned about it and it’s something that we talk about with everybody on a daily basis and make sure they understand they need to let us know if they’re not in a good place.”
NOTES
Adios to the goose egg: The UNM women’s basketball team’s undefeated run came to an end Friday afternoon in Las Vegas, Nev., with a 78-60 loss to UNLV. The Lobos were one of 14 teams in the country without a loss heading into the weekend. One of the others, coincidentally, is No. 13 Michigan, whose coaching staff includes former UNM head coach Yvonne Sanchez.
UNM was outscored 43-17 in the second half and 21-4 in the fourth quarter.