New Mexico hires Craig Neal as men's basketball coach
New Mexico hired Craig Neal on Tuesday as its next men's basketball coach, the school announced.
Neal replaces Steve Alford who left the program earlier this week to become the head coach at UCLA. Neal, 48, spent the last six seasons as the Lobos Associate Head Coach under Alford.
Neal is the school's 20th men's basketball coach and will be introduced tomorrow at a 3 p.m. press conference.
Neal's resume includes stops at Iowa and spending eight seasons in various positions with the NBA's Toronto Raptors from 1996-2004.
Neal served as an assistant coach with the Raptors from 2000-03 and was involved in scouting and player development in 2003-04. He was also a Toronto scout for four seasons before becoming an assistant coach in 2000.Neal was a scout in North America and Europe for one year before joining the Iowa staff, scouting high school, junior college, college and European players for the NBA Draft and for trade possibilities. He was also involved with development of current roster players, recruiting of free agents and selecting players for summer league and training camps
