New basketball coach not much of an improvement

Editor,

After suffering the past five seasons under former head coach Ritchie McKay, I cannot believe that UNM has decided to bring in Steve Alford as the new men's basketball head coach. Let's do a quick comparison to see if we are in fact getting someone better. McKay recruited a bunch of players with past criminal histories or players who earned them while here in Albuquerque. Alford may be best known for the events that took place with his star player Pierre Pierce at Iowa, who is now on probation after spending a year in jail. Alford comes to us with a losing record in the Big Ten and three trips to the NCAA, where his teams only won one game.

Sorry, I don't know more about Alford, which is another concern, considering we will be paying a nobody almost $1 million a year. But I didn't really know who McKay was, either, and look how that turned out.

Finally, I have heard that Alford's ego is bigger than The Pit, something that didn't sit well with Iowa fans. Well, let this be a warning - that will not sit well with New Mexico fans, either,regardless of how many games he wins.

I realize this is a done deal. As Fran Fraschilla and McKay both know, if you don't win - and especially if you don't care for our fans - we will kick you out of town, and we will not hesitate to send an athletics director with you. We've already lost the best track coaches UNM will ever have and hired an offensive coordinator for football that left after one season and did nothing for us. I just hope the athletic department does not make another fatal mistake.

Aaron Salas

UNM student