New Mexico to give media first peek at all-new men's basketball team

It’s a stark difference from loaded Aztecs roster

New Mexico men's basketball head coach Eric Olen. / Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

The start of the final season of basketball in the current Mountain West configuration is still some five months away, but teams are stirring to life in various ways, and in various extremes.

At San Diego State, fans are stoked about guard Miles Byrd and 7-footer Magoon Gwath, the Mountain West Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, passing up the NBA Draft and returning for another season.

The Aztecs will head into summer workouts knowing that coach Brian Dutcher has once again assembled a loaded roster that will try to keep up with the never-ending expectations at one of the West Coast’s premier programs. 

Not quite 800 miles to the east in Albuquerque, the New Mexico Lobos are starting from scratch, a perfect illustration of what a coaching change, coupled with the transfer portal, can do to a program. 

The New Mexico media is scheduled to get its first peek at the Lobos team on Tuesday when they begin their summer workouts under new coach Eric Olen, who has a working knowledge of the Aztecs after facing them three times in recent seasons while at UC San Diego. They lost all three, but the margin last season was just five points. 

It’s a pretty stark change for a Lobos program that won the regular-season title at 17-3 before losing to fifth-seeded Boise State, 72-69, in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Lobos won their NCAA Tournament opener 75-66 over Marquette before losing 71-63 to Michigan State. 

Coach Richard Pitino, the MW Coach of the Year, left for Xavier after four seasons at The Pit, and took with him his entire staff, plus forwards Jovan Milicevic and Filip Borovicanin. Guard Donovan Dent, the MW Player of the Year, transferred to UCLA and Tru Washington left for Miami.

Lobos fans will definitely need to buy a program this year. As the Santa Fe New Mexican pointed out, every person associated with the program, except sports information director Steve Kirkland, moved on.

The Lobos moved quickly by hiring Olen, who had transformed UCSD into a Division II power before it transitioned to Division I and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Tritons played a thriller against Michigan, rallying from 15 down before losing 68-65.

Olen went 240-119 at UCSD. He brought shooting guard Chris Howell and forward Milos Vicentic with him from UCSD.

The Lobos have 12 players on their roster.

The Lobos and Aztecs have had a lively rivalry dating back to the late 1970s and the days of the Western Athletic Conference. They’ve played four times in the MW tournament championship game since 2012, with the Lobos winning three times. 

After this season, SDSU, Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and Utah State are peeling off for the reconfigured Pac-12. They’ll join Pac-12 holdovers Washington State and Oregon State, as well as national powerhouse Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference. Texas State is reportedly in line to get an invitation, as well.