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Apr. 16—Eric Olen got a little defensive on Wednesday.
The new Lobo men's basketball coach announced the hiring of assistant coaches Michael Wilder, a former player and 11-year assistant at UC Irvine, and Mike Roberts — yes, same name as the legendary "Voice of the Lobos", but far less radio experience — a former Indiana Hoosier player who has had several stops on the bench, including at Indiana, Cincinnati and, most recently at UTEP this past season.
Both are well respected for their defensive knowledge and experience, and complete Olen's five-man coaching staff, joining Tom Tankelewicz, Sam Stapleton and Mikey Howell, who followed Olen from UC San Diego.
"Mike Roberts brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program," Olen said in a UNM statement. "He's a defensive minded coach with a track record of developing players. I'm thrilled to welcome Mike to the Lobo family and I'm confident our players will see the benefit of working with him."
Roberts played four seasons over five years at Indiana from 2000-2005, serving as a team captain his senior season. He earned his degree from IU and a graduate degree from Texas Tech, where he was a graduate assistant under Bobby Knight. He spent nine seasons alongside Wes Miller — seven and UNC Greensboro and two at Cincinnati and also had stints at Rice, Cal and UTEP.
Wilder, who instantly takes hold of the best hair on any bench in the Mountain West (with apologies to Wyoming's Sundance Wicks), played four seasons for the UC Irvine Anteaters (2009-13) and has been on staff there the past 11 seasons, including the past nine as an assistant under Russell Turner.
"Lobo Nation should be excited about the addition of Mike Wilder to our coaching staff," Olen said. "He's coming from one of the best defensive programs in the country and will help us be efficient on that side of the ball. Mike's work ethic and ability to connect with players will allow him to make an immediate impact across the program."
Under Turner and with Wilder on staff, the Anteaters have had eight 20-win seasons in the past decade, including two 30-win seasons.
This past season, it was UC Irvine and Olen's UC San Diego Tritons battling out for Big West supremacy, and Olen expressed great respect for the program. UCI handed UCSD one of its two losses during a remarkable stretch of 28-2 over 30 games played from Nov. 21 through the March 15 Big West Championship, a 75-61 UCSD win over UCI.
Yes, they're in the portal...
Some Lobo fans tracking the NCAA transfer portal news being shared aplenty on social media this month have noticed two unique entries from this past seasons' Lobos squad.
Seniors Mustapha Amzil and C.J. Noland have each placed their names in the portal — an NCAA tool allowing players who are seeking to transfer and play for another school next season to formally announce their availability.
The issue with both Amzil, who has played 155 games in a five-year college career that included one extra season granted for playing in the COVID season of 2021 (he played three seasons at Dayton and two at UNM), and Noland, who has played 122 games in a four-year college career (two seasons at Oklahoma, one at North Texas and one at UNM), is that neither have any eligibility remaining per current NCAA bylaws.
The key phrase there is "current NCAA bylaws."
With the seemingly constantly changing rules in recent years for eligibility, several players, even those without eligibility, are entering the portal (you're allowed to enter your name if you played this season but don't actually have eligibility for the next) with sort of a "just in case" mentality, hopeful that if another drastic ruling allows for another year of eligibility (i.e. Albuquerque's own Diego Pavia suing the NCAA after playing five college football seasons, but getting another year of eligibility granted because two of those seasons were played at the junior college level).
The portal closes next week and, if by the end of the semester there happens to be anything wild happen that would allow them to play another season, both stand a good chance of making more in one more season of college basketball in the current NIL landscape than turning pro.
ONE MORE: Meanwhile, former Lobo wing Emmanuel Kuac has entered the portal as he seeks a seventh year of college eligibility. He, unlike Amzil and Noland, meets several hardship criteria for extra years of play.
Kuac, who started with the Lobos in the 2019-20 season then played in the COVID season of 2020-21, which the NCAA ruled didn't count toward a player's eligibility, suffered season ending leg injuries at UNM twice — once in the 2021-22 season after playing minimally in just six games and again in the the 2022-23 season after just one game back on the court.
So, despite being at UNM for four seasons, the NCAA deemed he had actually only used one season of eligibility. He played the past two seasons at Detroit Mercy, starting 19 of the 28 games he played this past season, his sixth in college.
If he is picked up in the transfer portal, next season will be his seventh in college.
Continue reading...
The new Lobo men's basketball coach announced the hiring of assistant coaches Michael Wilder, a former player and 11-year assistant at UC Irvine, and Mike Roberts — yes, same name as the legendary "Voice of the Lobos", but far less radio experience — a former Indiana Hoosier player who has had several stops on the bench, including at Indiana, Cincinnati and, most recently at UTEP this past season.
Both are well respected for their defensive knowledge and experience, and complete Olen's five-man coaching staff, joining Tom Tankelewicz, Sam Stapleton and Mikey Howell, who followed Olen from UC San Diego.
"Mike Roberts brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program," Olen said in a UNM statement. "He's a defensive minded coach with a track record of developing players. I'm thrilled to welcome Mike to the Lobo family and I'm confident our players will see the benefit of working with him."
Roberts played four seasons over five years at Indiana from 2000-2005, serving as a team captain his senior season. He earned his degree from IU and a graduate degree from Texas Tech, where he was a graduate assistant under Bobby Knight. He spent nine seasons alongside Wes Miller — seven and UNC Greensboro and two at Cincinnati and also had stints at Rice, Cal and UTEP.
Wilder, who instantly takes hold of the best hair on any bench in the Mountain West (with apologies to Wyoming's Sundance Wicks), played four seasons for the UC Irvine Anteaters (2009-13) and has been on staff there the past 11 seasons, including the past nine as an assistant under Russell Turner.
"Lobo Nation should be excited about the addition of Mike Wilder to our coaching staff," Olen said. "He's coming from one of the best defensive programs in the country and will help us be efficient on that side of the ball. Mike's work ethic and ability to connect with players will allow him to make an immediate impact across the program."
Under Turner and with Wilder on staff, the Anteaters have had eight 20-win seasons in the past decade, including two 30-win seasons.
This past season, it was UC Irvine and Olen's UC San Diego Tritons battling out for Big West supremacy, and Olen expressed great respect for the program. UCI handed UCSD one of its two losses during a remarkable stretch of 28-2 over 30 games played from Nov. 21 through the March 15 Big West Championship, a 75-61 UCSD win over UCI.
Yes, they're in the portal...
Some Lobo fans tracking the NCAA transfer portal news being shared aplenty on social media this month have noticed two unique entries from this past seasons' Lobos squad.
Seniors Mustapha Amzil and C.J. Noland have each placed their names in the portal — an NCAA tool allowing players who are seeking to transfer and play for another school next season to formally announce their availability.
The issue with both Amzil, who has played 155 games in a five-year college career that included one extra season granted for playing in the COVID season of 2021 (he played three seasons at Dayton and two at UNM), and Noland, who has played 122 games in a four-year college career (two seasons at Oklahoma, one at North Texas and one at UNM), is that neither have any eligibility remaining per current NCAA bylaws.
The key phrase there is "current NCAA bylaws."
With the seemingly constantly changing rules in recent years for eligibility, several players, even those without eligibility, are entering the portal (you're allowed to enter your name if you played this season but don't actually have eligibility for the next) with sort of a "just in case" mentality, hopeful that if another drastic ruling allows for another year of eligibility (i.e. Albuquerque's own Diego Pavia suing the NCAA after playing five college football seasons, but getting another year of eligibility granted because two of those seasons were played at the junior college level).
The portal closes next week and, if by the end of the semester there happens to be anything wild happen that would allow them to play another season, both stand a good chance of making more in one more season of college basketball in the current NIL landscape than turning pro.
ONE MORE: Meanwhile, former Lobo wing Emmanuel Kuac has entered the portal as he seeks a seventh year of college eligibility. He, unlike Amzil and Noland, meets several hardship criteria for extra years of play.
Kuac, who started with the Lobos in the 2019-20 season then played in the COVID season of 2020-21, which the NCAA ruled didn't count toward a player's eligibility, suffered season ending leg injuries at UNM twice — once in the 2021-22 season after playing minimally in just six games and again in the the 2022-23 season after just one game back on the court.
So, despite being at UNM for four seasons, the NCAA deemed he had actually only used one season of eligibility. He played the past two seasons at Detroit Mercy, starting 19 of the 28 games he played this past season, his sixth in college.
If he is picked up in the transfer portal, next season will be his seventh in college.
Continue reading...
