There had to be a Bob King before there could be a Pit.
Mike Roberts, who has announced Lobo games since they first began playing in The Pit, remembers the impact King had on UNM and the Albuquerque community.
"He brought Lobo basketball from almost nothing into prominence, and started Lobo mania," Roberts said. "Before he got here, you could go to Johnson Gym the night of a game during a game and sit right at half court, because the place was so empty."
The former Lobo men's basketball coach, now 81, has been hospitalized since Nov. 16, when he fell in his Albuquerque home and dislocated his shoulder. He was admitted to the hospital just before his temperature spiked, and doctors put him under sedation. King was listed as critical but has been upgraded to serious-but-stable.
Family members have not authorized the release of any more information concerning King's hospitalization.
King was the head coach of the Lobos from 1963-72. Over that stretch, the program experienced unprecedented success. In 1964, he took the team to the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament after posting a 23-6 record and tying Arizona State for its first Western Athletic Conference title. Three years later, he led the Lobos to a 17-0 season start and, ultimately, their first WAC title and first NCAA tournament appearance. That team finished the season ranked sixth in the AP polls.
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With the unexpected success of the program came a sudden surge in the team's popularity.
King spearheaded the move from tiny Johnson Gym into a larger arena. The Pit was born from his success and the program's popularity under his tenure.
"A lot of people in this town thought it was batty to jump from little Johnson Gym to a facility that could seat more than 16,000 people," Roberts said. "They didn't think it would be filled, but obviously, those people were wrong."
Fans did pack The Pit, and Roberts said Lobo games became a hot ticket for Albuquerqueans.
"It wasn't just great basketball, it was a social event," he said. "People would come to games in nice evening dress. Families would go to games to spend time together, and parents and children started living and dying for Lobo basketball."
King was a smashing success as both a recruiter and a game coach. He preached defense to his players, which helped them outlast other squads in the years before a shot clock was introduced.
"They were very tough defensively," Roberts said of King's teams.
Lobo head coach Ritchie McKay, whose late father Joe played under King, said the coach's lessons impacted the lives of he and his father.
"My father really loved playing for coach King, and he appreciated the values that he instilled," he said. "They were life-lasting - work ethic, discipline, perseverance. There were a multitude of values that my father tried to emulate and pass onto his children."
The floor of The Pit has been named for King, as well as the team's yearly award for MVP. McKay said these honors are indicative of the coach's impact on the program.
"It's in recognition of the importance coach King has had on our basketball program, as well and the University and the community," he said. "It's a great honor that he is very worthy of."
