Maroon87
03-22-2007, 01:11 AM
I've been a fan of Steve Alford since he was a freshman at Indiana. I hope he finds a place where he can win consistently.
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Iowa's Steve Alford and New Mexico are working out the final details of a contract, and unless there is an unexpected impasse, he will be named the next head coach of the Lobos at a Friday news conference, multiple sources told ESPN.com Wednesday.
New Mexico zeroed in on Alford within the past two weeks while also waiting to talk to Winthrop's Gregg Marshall whose team was playing in the NCAA Tournament. But according to multiple sources, UNM told Marshall on Tuesday that they were going with another candidate.
The courtship of Alford started in large part because new UNM president, David Schmidly, was formerly at Texas Tech, home of Alford's college coach, Bob Knight.
According to sources, the Lobos see landing a Big Ten coach to replace the outgoing Ritchie McKay as a major coup. Alford won two Big Ten tournament titles and took the Hawkeyes to the NCAAs three times -- in 2001, 2005 and '06 -- while also winning the 1987 national title as a player at Indiana.
Alford has been at Iowa for eight seasons after leading Missouri State (then Southwest Missouri State) to the Sweet 16 in 1999.
Alford has a 152-106 record in eight seasons at Iowa, and is under contract through 2011.
Sources close to Alford said he was looking for a new challenge after going through some tense seasons in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes have had some issues off the court, notably Pierre Pierce's legal troubles during Alford's tenure. Once the Hawkeyes' leading scorer, Pierce was charged with assault in 2002 and then in 2005 sentenced to prison for a slew of charges involving an incident with a former girlfriend.
Sources said Alford was looking for a school that is passionate about basketball first and foremost after being at a football-first school. UNM athletic director Paul Krebs has pledged to make the Lobos a national program, bumping up the coach's salary more than $500,000 in an attempt to get it closer to Alford's nearly $1 million deal with Iowa.
Alford coached the Hawkeyes to a 17-14 record this season, and a 9-7 record in the Big Ten, tied with NCAA-bound teams Illinois and Purdue for fourth place. The Hawkeyes, though, weren't invited to the NIT.
The Lobos went to one NCAA Tournament under McKay, losing in the first round in 2005. The Lobos' NCAA history is brief as Dave Bliss took the Lobos to seven appearances from 1991-99. Prior to Bliss, the Lobos made only three other appearances in the Dance in their history. Krebs would be banking on Alford bringing the Lobos back into contention for a bid on a regular basis.
The Lobos are hoping, even though Alford had received negative attention when the Hawkeyes struggled, that Lobos fans will embrace a national name in the sport to lead the program.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Iowa's Steve Alford and New Mexico are working out the final details of a contract, and unless there is an unexpected impasse, he will be named the next head coach of the Lobos at a Friday news conference, multiple sources told ESPN.com Wednesday.
New Mexico zeroed in on Alford within the past two weeks while also waiting to talk to Winthrop's Gregg Marshall whose team was playing in the NCAA Tournament. But according to multiple sources, UNM told Marshall on Tuesday that they were going with another candidate.
The courtship of Alford started in large part because new UNM president, David Schmidly, was formerly at Texas Tech, home of Alford's college coach, Bob Knight.
According to sources, the Lobos see landing a Big Ten coach to replace the outgoing Ritchie McKay as a major coup. Alford won two Big Ten tournament titles and took the Hawkeyes to the NCAAs three times -- in 2001, 2005 and '06 -- while also winning the 1987 national title as a player at Indiana.
Alford has been at Iowa for eight seasons after leading Missouri State (then Southwest Missouri State) to the Sweet 16 in 1999.
Alford has a 152-106 record in eight seasons at Iowa, and is under contract through 2011.
Sources close to Alford said he was looking for a new challenge after going through some tense seasons in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes have had some issues off the court, notably Pierre Pierce's legal troubles during Alford's tenure. Once the Hawkeyes' leading scorer, Pierce was charged with assault in 2002 and then in 2005 sentenced to prison for a slew of charges involving an incident with a former girlfriend.
Sources said Alford was looking for a school that is passionate about basketball first and foremost after being at a football-first school. UNM athletic director Paul Krebs has pledged to make the Lobos a national program, bumping up the coach's salary more than $500,000 in an attempt to get it closer to Alford's nearly $1 million deal with Iowa.
Alford coached the Hawkeyes to a 17-14 record this season, and a 9-7 record in the Big Ten, tied with NCAA-bound teams Illinois and Purdue for fourth place. The Hawkeyes, though, weren't invited to the NIT.
The Lobos went to one NCAA Tournament under McKay, losing in the first round in 2005. The Lobos' NCAA history is brief as Dave Bliss took the Lobos to seven appearances from 1991-99. Prior to Bliss, the Lobos made only three other appearances in the Dance in their history. Krebs would be banking on Alford bringing the Lobos back into contention for a bid on a regular basis.
The Lobos are hoping, even though Alford had received negative attention when the Hawkeyes struggled, that Lobos fans will embrace a national name in the sport to lead the program.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.