Pilipovich aims to lend helping hand
UNM assistant provides experience for 5-9 Lobos
Kelly Pilipovich figured her husband’s debit card had been hacked.
When the wife of Dave Pilipovich, the longtime Air Force head coach who this season has spent the past couple months living out of hotels as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach for the UNM Lobo men’s basketball team, saw last month’s statement, she called her husband and had a question.
“What are all these charges for $2 or $1.50 to a company in New Jersey?” recalled Dave Pilipovich of the recent phone call. “I said, ‘Kelly, $1.50 for the wash and $2 for the dryer. I’m washing clothes pretty much every night or every other night. … Our like fifth hotel we were in this year finally took a debit card. (Before), I’d have to go to the front desk and get change — get quarters. I felt like I was in college again.”
After eight seasons as the head coach of fellow Mountain West member Air Force, Pilipovich still has a knack for storytelling and helping put context to larger issues — like a season he and his colleagues never envisioned would entail so much time away from families and home. That includes personalized anecdotes like doing his laundry in hotels as the Lobos bounced around the southwest the past two months trying to find gyms to practice and play games in.
He shared some of those thoughts, and how he’s hoping to lend his experience and perspective to the Lobos coaching staff this
season, in the latest episode of the Talking Grammer Podcast, available now where podcasts can be downloaded, or at ABQJournal.com/Sports.
And he’s loving all he’s been learning and seeing about this unique season from a different seat on the bench.
“You know, I’m seeing a lot of thought that goes into some final decisions,” Pilipovich said. “Maybe myself, in the past, I was quick to buy, quick to sell and quick to add or delete, you know? Our running joke in our family is I bought two houses in five minutes and one house I didn’t even go inside to look at it. … So, I think maybe taking a little more time to think about (things).”
Pilipovich and the Lobos are back in Albuquerque after last week’s state decision to ease the public health order restrictions that had prohibited college teams from practicing or playing in New Mexico this season. While games still can’t be played, practices are a go. And for Pilipovich, that means he’s on call for a part of the game he’s been loving being involved with again: Player development.
“I said, ‘Hey, I’m available 24-7,’ ” Pilipovich
said of what he’s told Lobo players and coaches with other responsibilities since he’s been on staff. “I don’t have any young children at home, my wife’s not here. If somebody wants to work out at 3 in the morning, I’m there. You just call. … I’m available, let’s get on the court, do whatever we can and be able to break down some film with some guys, whatever (they need). It’s been great.”
POLL POSITION: No Mountain West teams were ranked this week in the Associated Press Top 25, but the Boise State Broncos (13-1, 9-0 MWC) are the top team in “others receiving votes” with 108 points — nine behind No. 25 Louisville. The Broncos appeared on 44 of 64 AP ballots with a high ranking of 19 from Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wyoming freshman Marcus Williams was named on Monday MWC Player of the Week after averaging 20.5 points and 4 assists in leading the Cowboys to a home sweep of Nevada in Laramie on Friday and Sunday to pull to 4-4 on the season and into a tie with the Wolf Pack for fifth place in the league standings. He was also 18-of-21 at the free-throw line in the series.
In Sunday’s win, the 6-foot-2 freshman guard from Dickinson, Texas, scored 28 points (20 in the second half). His 16.9 points per game this season is fifth best in the league.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY: Santa Clara County in California on Monday announced new public health order protocols that again allow for professional and college sports to take place in the county.
That includes Mountain West member San Jose State. The UNM men split their series with the Spartans last week in St. George, Utah.
SJSU has been relocated since Dec. 17 to the same Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix where the NMSU Aggies had been staying since November — until last week when New Mexico relaxed its health order to allow for college practices to resume in state (games are still prohibited here, unlike in California).
The SJSU women’s basketball team, picked No. 2 in the league before the season, announced on Jan. 17 it would opt out of playing the rest of the season due to the relocation and concerns about COVID-19. The UNM women’s team was originally scheduled to play SJSU in the Bay Area this past weekend.