Shortly after the conclusion of the 2016-17 Lobo men's basketball season, a mass exodus of players began. Despite a coaching change that saw some players have a change of heart, the team still lost six players who had played significant minutes.
Former Lobo point guard Jordan Hunter was the last and most recent of the six to find a new home. Hunter announced that he will be sitting out a year and intends to play out his eligibility at Lamar via Twitter.
With all six former players finding new landing spots, some might argue that the UNM team last year had plenty of talent and the ability to be much better than its 17-14 overall record.
But other than former shooting guard Elijah Brown, no player came close to averaging double figures. Regardless of whether the players, the coaches, injuries (or a combination of all three) deserve the blame, none of them seemed to play up to their potential.
New Mexico has since added six new players under new head coach Paul Weir, who honored the transfer requests.
Here is the break down of who the Lobos lost and who it has picked up so far:
Departures
Xavier Adams – 6-foot-4 guard (averaged 3.9 points in 12.4 minutes) to Pittsburg State
Elijah Brown – 6-foot-4 shooting guard (led team with 18.8 points) to Oregon
Jalen Harris – 6-foot-2 point guard (averaged 4.5 points in 20.6 minutes) to Arkansas
Jordan Hunter – 5-foot-11 point guard (averaged 5.6 points in 19.8 minutes) to Lamar
Damien Jefferson – 6-foot-5 guard/forward (averaged 5.3 points in 15.1 minutes) to Creighton
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Arrivals
Antino Jackson – 5-foot-11 guard from Akron
Vance Jackson – 6-foot-8 forward from UConn
Makuach Maluach – 6-foot-5 wing player from Australia
Chris McNeal – 6-foot-1 guard from Western Kentucky
Jachai Simmons – 6-foot-7 junior college transfer
Troy Simons – 6-foot-1 guard from Pittsburgh
The Lobos still have two more scholarships to offer in order to round out the roster. The team will likely need to go after some size to replace some of the other key losses.
UNM also lost senior forward Tim Williams, who was the team’s second leading scorer despite him being sidelined at times during the season with injuries, as well as fellow senior Obij Aget, who started 28 of his 31 games played last season.
Holt Shelley also left the program, though he did not play in any games for Lobos last season.
Anthony Mathis and Sam Logwood appeared to be on their way out as well after announcing their intention to transfer, but apparently had a change of heart after former head coach Craig Neal’s departure and will remain on the team.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.