by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
After quitting and rejoining the UNM men's basketball team twice, Joel Box has decided to leave for good.
The junior college transfer said this time he does not intend on coming back to the Lobos because he wasn't comfortable playing in head coach Ritchie McKay's system.
"I think coach McKay was a good guy," Box said. "Some people fit in with a coach, and some people don't. I just couldn't figure out what coach wanted. Going through that whole stuff with my playing time - I even did start the last nine games - I just wasn't ever excited to play for coach McKay."
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Box quit the team for the first time Dec. 27 citing a lack of playing time as the reason for the departure. He rejoined the team two weeks later with the help of athletics director Rudy Davalos, who talked McKay into taking him back onto the team.
He played in the next three games, but then quit again because he said teammates were pointing fingers at him for the Lobos' 77-70 loss at Wyoming on Jan. 14. He came back a day later and was suspended for three games by McKay.
Box said his main reason for the permanent departure this time is to be closer to his family in Rockford, Ill.
"My main reason for leaving was this is going to be my last year," he said. "I really want my parents and stuff to see me in my last year. They've always come to all my games, so I want them to be able to do that."
Box denied McKay had an agenda to get him out of the program, and that there was a single incident that helped him make up his mind to quit.
"It was nothing he (McKay) ever did," Box said. "He never tried to drive me out of the program. I just really didn't enjoy it."
Box said he has talked to the school his girlfriend attends, Division I Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill., about transferring. If he transfers to another Division I college, he will have to sit out a year because of NCAA transfer rules.
Box averaged about 15 minutes per game and appeared in 24 of UNM's 30 games. He came to the Lobos from John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill., where he was a Junior College All-American.
Box, who will finish the semester at UNM, said despite his tumultuous time as a Lobo, he's still close with his ex-teammates.
"I still talk with the guys all the time," he said. "They call me on the phone, and I call them. Yeah, we're all still pretty cool."
McKay could not be reached for comment Sunday.
