UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs announced last month that Steve Alford has been named the school’s 19th head men’s basketball coach. Alford spent the past eight seasons as head coach at the University of Iowa. UNM and Alford have agreed on a six-year contract with total annual compensation of $975,000. Complete details of the contract will be available later.
Alford, 42, has a 308-183 (63 percent) career record in 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His teams qualified for postseason play 11 times, produced 13 winning seasons and reached 20 wins on eight occasions.
“We are thrilled to have Steve and his family join our Lobo family,” Krebs said. “He is an outstanding coach and he possesses a proven track record in arguably the toughest men’s basketball conference in the country. In addition to his great basketball pedigree and national name, Steve is an outstanding teacher and recruiter who cares deeply about the student-athlete. Steve’s arrival at the University of New Mexico signals a commitment to re-establishing UNM as a national player in men’s basketball.”
Alford hit the ground running. He’s already out to recruit. “We’re looking to fill in the gaps. We don’t have a lot of size. We’ll be looking for that in the class of ’07,” he said. He was planning to size up potential recruits at tournaments taking place Easter weekend.
UNM finished the 2006-07 season with a 15-17 mark, only the Lobos’ second losing record in the past 24 years, since 1984.
Alford said that he’s been “intrigued” about UNM because of games he’s attended at The Pit. “I love the history of basketball and the history of The Pit,” he said. Alford said that incoming President David Schmidly and Krebs sold him on the potential of UNM’s program.
They share his own passion and commitment in developing student-athletes, he said. “Nothing is more rewarding than taking 18-year-olds and helping them find their potential on the court and in the classroom and then turning them out as 22-year-olds ready to be productive citizens,” he said.
Alford said that greater national visibility of a successful basketball program can bring students in from other sports as well as from academics. “This is one reason why we involve the student body in our program,” he said.
“I appreciate the opportunity UNM has given to me. The Pit and Lobo basketball have a great tradition with NCAA Tournaments. We want the home court advantage to be even better. The fans will have a big part in making that possible.”
In eight seasons at Iowa, Alford compiled a 152-106 record with a school-record seven consecutive winning seasons, and six postseason appearances. The Hawkeyes won two Big Ten Conference tournament titles in 2001 and `06. Iowa was 17-14 in 2006-07. It was 9-7 in the Big Ten, tied with NCAA teams Illinois and Purdue for fourth place.