Howell decries ‘selfish environment’
Program needs better leaders, says 8-game Lobo
Former New Mexico Lobo women’s basketball player Najala Howell, who left the team last December, said a “selfish environment” was pervasive around last season’s Lobos. She declined to give specifics but felt UNM’s coaching staff should have done more to resolve things.
“We didn’t have a presence to control the environment,” Howell said this past week. “The staff needs better leadership. Teams that win championships feel like a family. Our team didn’t feel that way.”
It was Howell’s first comments to the Journal about her departure. Coach Mike Bradbury said he does not agree with Howell’s assessment but cited student privacy laws that prevent him from further comment. Bradbury and Lobo Athletics administration repeatedly cited student privacy laws as the reasons for not commenting on
the circumstances behind three players leaving during a 2019-20 season in which UNM was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Conference. Instead the Lobos went 15-17, 6-12 in league play.
Howell and Bride Kennedy-Hopoate unexpectedly left the Lobos in December, and neither UNM officials nor the players offered any explanation. Starter and former MWC freshman of the year Jayla Everett departed in January for “personal reasons” and later transferred to Pittsburgh. Kennedy-Hopoate has not responded to previous requests for comment.
As of midday Friday, none of the statistics for the three players who left the team were on the UNM Athletics website page listing the 2019-20 numbers. When the Journal asked about it, UNM said it was a glitch in use of the stats software once the players went inactive and sent an updated stats sheet with their numbers.
Howell (8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds per game) and Kennedy-Hopoate (4.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) both played in eight games, with Howell starting each. Everett averaged 11.5 points and 3.4 assists per game over 19.
Howell said she initially put her name in the NCAA’s transfer portal but has since decided to pursue a different path. Making public comments now, she said, is part of that decision.
“I’m going into ministry work,” Howell said. “I have no hard feelings toward the players, the coaches or anyone at UNM. It’s time to move forward.”