The more Steve Alford talked, the more apparent it was how inane the sensational speculation is about his possible departure to fill a coaching vacancy elsewhere.
“I couldn’t imagine passing the new Pit off to someone else,” Alford said. “This time of year, with coaches, it’s crazy. You’re either talked about or not talked about. When you get talked about that means you’re probably doing a pretty good job. But I’ve said all along I’m a Lobo. I love it here.”
Of course, that could change. But, if you take Alford at his word — and there’s no reason not to — he’s locked here for the long haul.
“One of the things I’ve learned is you have to have the support of your administration,” Alford said.
He learned it the hard way.
Just look to the not-so-distant past, when Alford was coaching at Iowa, a university intent on competing with the glory hounds in the Big Ten yet on a parsimonious budget, something Alford, to this day, hints at if you’re astute enough to pick up on it.
“Here at UNM, I have the support of my administration, and they know what they’re doing,” Alford said.
The undertone, of course, being the Iowa brass did not. It didn’t help that Alford was entangled in a sordid affair involving one of his players, Pierre Pierce, who was accused of sexual assault.
Throughout the ordeal, Alford resolutely backed Pierce, a decision which was harshly criticized and didn’t bode well with the people in Iowa. Eventually, Pierce was booted off the team in 2005.
As Alford attested to at Tuesday’s post-season, wrap-up news conference, he’s learned from his past situations, referring to himself as a “vet” when it comes to the business behind college basketball.
And at UNM, suffice it to say Alford is in the black. His three-season total of 76 wins is the second-best, three-year total in school history, trumped only by UNM’s 77-21 start from 1996-98.
Even better, the big-enough-yet-not-too-small Albuquerque market is suitable for Alford. He enjoys the quality of life here.
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“If it was just money, I’d be actively pursuing everything,” Alford said.
And, as can’t be overstated, Albuquerque basketball-crazed fans are more easily satisfied than their Big Ten counterparts.
Hard to image, but, yes, throw in the avant-garde thinking of Athletics Director Paul Krebs and University President David Schmidly, investing in a $60 million reconstructive surgery for The Pit, adding to the grandeur of one of the nation’s turn-key college arenas.
Don’t be fooled for a second.
Let’s not pretend that the University is invested only in hosting first-and-second round games in the men’s NCAA Tournament. The cosmetic construction is as much about keeping Alford tethered to the flagship University’s flagpole as it is about generating revenue by attracting large, prominent events.
“When I was hired, there was no talk of Pit expansion and Pit renovations. This has all just come about,” Alford said.
Sure it has.
Just like the speculation about whether Alford will dart to another school. Oregon was brought up.
As he has done in the past, Alford rebuked the notion that he will leave Loboland.
“As long as I know that Dr. Schmidly and Paul Krebs are locked in here,” Alford said, “that’s the most important thing to me. If I didn’t have the right pieces put together from an administration standpoint, it’d be a lot more enticing to look.”
And listen to offers pour in is what Alford graciously will do, though he hedges that statement by distinguishing between taking note of something and actually paying attention to its veracity.
“You always listen,” he said. “You listen to everything. But I’m listening to my heart and to my stomach more than anything else. That is, ‘I’m a Lobo.’ Listening and actually hearing things are a little bit different.”
