‘All free agents’: Roster uncertainty looms for Lobos
Coach Pitino expresses confidence in retaining stars, or retooling if he can’t
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Three years ago, Richard Pitino took the New Mexico job in a college basketball landscape that was uncertain, to say the least.
COVID was limiting the recruiting process and any “gaming” of the NET — an analytics tool to evaluate teams — certainly wasn’t happening in Albuquerque.
The Lobos had just finished the 2021 season in last place in the Mountain West Conference, lost in the play-in round of the conference tournament and finished ranked 303 in the NET and 294 in KenPom after a season with just four wins over Division I opponents.
Pitino’s recruiting consisted primarily of Zoom calls and text messages with players he and his staff, for the most part, never saw play in person and who could never step foot on campus in a recruiting trip.
Still, he landed Jaelen House — a transfer from Arizona State — and Jamal Mashburn Jr. — a transfer who followed Pitino from Minnesota. The rebuild that started three years ago culminated Friday in a 26-10 season, a Mountain West Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance, albeit a 77-56 loss to Clemson in the first round.
And now, with House’s eligibility exhausted and Mashburn’s decision about his future up in the air (he could return for one more season, but it would seem there’s a decent chance he has played his final game as a Lobo), the college basketball landscape is possibly even more uncertain than when Pitino took over.
The new world of NIL and the transfer portal has left every program, not just struggling ones, in a constant state of roster transition.
While the Lobos have three stud underclassmen — sophomore point guard Donovan Dent, freshman forward JT Toppin and freshman guard Tru Washington — and a couple others seemingly ready to step into more consistent minutes — guards Braeden Appelhans and Quinton Webb, for instance — there are zero guarantees any will be back.
Asked Friday after the Clemson
loss if he anticipates players leaving this offseason, Pitino was quick to answer.
“How could you not? They’re all free agents,” Pitino said. “We’ll have conversations with them next week. I’m sure people are reaching out to them. They’re people. They’ve got all the freedom in the world right now. And if we do lose somebody, the beauty of it is you can go get somebody.
“And it’s just part of the ever-changing landscape. I don’t think anyone likes it. But it is what it is. We’ll go home tonight, visit with some guys throughout the week next week and give a little time off, get back to work. But if somebody leaves, it’s not going to be an indication of what’s wrong with them. It’s happening everywhere. We had an amazing year, and they’ve got the choice to go look elsewhere. Fine, we’ll support them, and we’ll go find a way to replace them.”
Kurt Roth, who heads 505 Sports Venture Foundation, the collective in charge of raising money and paying Lobo athletes for use of their name, image and likeness through things like promotional videos for the company, meet and greets with the foundation’s paying members, and community service events, says he’s confident heading into the offseason.
505SVF, considered around the Mountain West to be at the forefront of the NIL world for men’s basketball, should be able to make competitive offers to retain any player other schools are trying to recruit away from UNM, Roth said.
What does next year look like?
The Lobos who have exhausted their eligibility: Jaelen House, 6-0, guard Jemarl Baker Jr., 6-5, guard Isaac Mushila, 6-5, forward Signed freshman coming in:
Kayde Dotson, 6-2, guard, Beaumont (Texas) United High School
Jovan Milicevic, 6-10, forward, Toronto (playing this season at Dream City Christian High School in Glendale, Arizona) The rest are up in the air. Both Nelly Junior Joseph and Mustapha Amzil can come back for a fifth year of eligibility and both would be likely starters — Junior Joseph at the “5” and Amzil in a move to the “3” spot he had hoped to play when he transferred last offseason from Dayton.
Mashburn has a year left to play in college, but may also pursue opportunities playing professionally overseas or maybe a graduate transfer to another Division I team. He has said he doesn’t have a timeline on such a decision, but he and his dad will talk it over in the offseason.
Dent and Toppin, both of whom are on NBA scouts’ radars, could get offered big money to go elsewhere, but both also could realistically pull in six-figure NIL money by staying at UNM while also having some level of confidence about what their roles will be as not only starters, but the featured players.
There are already plenty of names in the NCAA’s transfer portal, which officially opened this past Monday, including some league players whose familiarity with the Mountain West could be a factor in deciding to transfer to another league team.
While Pitino would take the work, loyalty and drive of 6-foot-0 House and 6-2 Mashburn any day of the week, he is openly trying to increase the physical size of the players on the roster, too.
“They (including the 6-2 Dent) brought us to the NCAA Tournament. We’re not going to be ashamed of that by any means,” Pitino said of that trio of dynamic guards.
“But losing Jaelen, obviously that ‘3’ spot will get significantly bigger. We’ll see what Mash wants to do and go from there. “So it’s not like we’re far off and we need to hit rebuild or reboot by any means. But we certainly know anyone that we bring into the program in the spring has got to be big and strong and provide some length,” he said.