Santa Fe’s ‘Gentle Giant’ dies at 75
Humble hoops star held prep state scoring mark for decades
SANTA FE — The man who held the New Mexico high school single-season basketball scoring record for a half-century died Sunday afternoon.
Nick “The Stick” Pino, a 1963 graduate of St. Michael’s High, passed away on his 75th birthday from complications of diabetes at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
Pino, who stood 7-feet, 1-inch tall, dominated New Mexico basketball like no one before and few since.
Although Pino was a member of the Horsemen squad that reached the state championship game in the 1961-62 season, it was the following year as a senior that he truly blossomed.
In that magical 1962-63 season, he scored 1,033 points – a mark that stood until 2012-2013 season when Bryce Alford scored 1,050 for La Cueva. Pino, of course, did it long before the 3-point shot was invented. “Nick did the classiest thing I have ever seen in a recognition banquet,” Marty Saiz said of Pino. Like Saiz, Pino was a longtime insurance agent, and two men became friendly through their careers.
“When Bryce Alford (son of former UNM Lobos coach Steve Alford) broke the 50-year record of points in a season with 1,050 points, Nick called me to find a way for him to honor Bryce. ‘I want to congratulate the guy and shake his hand,’” Saiz wrote on Facebook.
“At the (metro basketball banquet, Pino) presented the basketball that was given to him in 1963 when he broke the record, to Bryce. I have
never seen such a special gesture like that.”
Joe Butler, who got to know Pino in his later years as a New Mexico Activities Association official, said that story accurately reflects Pino’s character.
“That’s a great story that speaks volumes of the generosity, spirit and heart of the man,” he said. “That he wanted to reach out and turn something over that was near and dear him. It was a great story to reflect on Nick and who he was as person, and Bryce was overwhelmed with emotion.”
Pino remains prominent in the NMAA’s record book. On Jan. 12, 1963 against El Rito, he became the state’s first player to score 80 points in a game. The mark was eclipsed the next season when George Maes of Santa Cruz scored 81 against Coronado.
Pino’s 35 field goals in the El Rito game are also the second most behind Maes’ 39. And he tops the list for most made foul shots in a game with 26 against Española in February 1963.
Pino went on to play college basketball at Kansas State, and as a senior in 1967-68, he averaged 11.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game to help the Wildcats win the Big 8 championship.
“He was a legend as a basketball player at St. Michael’s,” longtime Horsemen coach Ron Geyer said. “He was such a humble gentleman for all the accolades that he had. He was a lot of fun to talk to and he had lots of great stories and was a great role model for our kids.”
Butler, a fellow St. Mike’s alum several years behind Pino, said his spirit was well known around Santa Fe.
“He had two nicknames. ‘Nick the Stick,’ was the high school moniker that he used up until he finished high school,” Butler said. “But to most people here in Santa Fe, he was known as the ‘Gentle Giant.’ That was his personality. He was one of those guys who would give you the shirt off his back. He was such a physically intimidating person when you saw him, but when you got to know him, he was generous and kind. He had no ego about what he accomplished.”
Pino had been fighting diabetes for several years, and he struggled when asked to attend a recognition ceremony at the Pit during the 2016 basketball state tournament.
“The big issue was how were we were going to get Nick down to the Pit floor,” Butler recalled. “I told him we could get him an overlarge wheelchair but he said, ‘I’m not going down in a wheelchair. I’m walking.’ It took us a while, but he walked under his own power down and back up again. He was not going to let people see him in a wheelchair.”