The UNM women’s basketball team signed six new players during the recruiting season last year, but that number was trimmed down one on Monday when it was announced that incoming freshman Kirbi Wilson will no longer attend the University.
Citing personal and family reasons, 5-foot,10-inch-tall Wilson will not play basketball for UNM this upcoming season.
“She just had some obvious problems at home,” head coach Don Flanagan said. “She is at a point where she could not live at home. She had too much pressure on her so she decided she did not want to play basketball.”
Wilson was expected to play at the three guard position. She averaged 11.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, Okla. She also was a two-time state long jump champion.
The defection leaves the Lobos a little short at the position, with just two players, junior Chelsea Grear and sophomore Lauren McLeod, playing the wing.
“It puts us in a position where, without injuries, we’re fine,” Flanagan said. “I don’t think we’ll get 10 fouls at the position.”
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However, an injury could leave the Lobos severely depleted at the position. The most likely candidate would be Grear, who battled back and foot injuries most of last season because of her high-flying, diving-into-the-stands kind of hustle.
“Do we have a player to move over if we have a problem? No,” Flanagan said. “But, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”
With the extra scholarship, UNM now has two scholarships for the upcoming fall recruiting season.
With the two available slots, Flanagan said he wants to sign two post players. He also said that because the team was not expecting to lose any of the new players, the coaches are behind on recruiting guards.
“We maybe will try to get a junior college player and another big guard,” he said. “It puts us behind for next year, but not for this year.”
Of the five remaining newcomers, three are coming from high school and two from a junior college.
As for the team, the Lobos began their first workout on Tuesday.
“They ran three miles,” Flanagan said. “They ran OK, but I can’t say they tore up the track.”
The Lobos’ workouts consist of doing skills work four days a week for half-an-hour and doing weightlifting five days a week for one hour.
