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Eighty-one hours after men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford announced he was leaving UNM for UCLA, the Lobos found their new man.
Turns out he was sitting one chair to the left all along.
The University officially introduced associate head coach Craig Neal as its 20th head coach during a ceremony and press conference at the club level of The Pit on Wednesday. He replaces Alford after the two spent nine straight years coaching together, the last six of which were at UNM.
“This is probably one of the happiest days of my life, after the days my two sons were born,” said Neal, who fought back tears during the conference.
Neal is nicknamed “Noodles” because of the lanky build he had during his playing days in high school and at his alma mater Georgia Tech.
According to Athletics, Neal, 49, received a five-year contract plus other compensation. The deal includes incentives for Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, NCAA tournament runs, coach-of-the-year honors, academic marks reached by the teams and wins over top-25 teams.
It is Neal’s first head-coaching job after 13 years as an assistant coach in college and the NBA. Athletics Director Paul Krebs said on Wednesday that there were no other official interviews for the head coach vacancy. On Saturday, he did not reveal any other candidates’ name but Neal’s.
“Every search takes on its own life,” Krebs said. “Once we got into it — which really started Saturday, Sunday and beyond — it picked up speed and momentum. The more we researched it and the more calls we made and the more information we gathered, it seemed like the right choice.”
Players and fans expressed strong support for Neal following Alford’s abrupt departure. Junior forward Cameron Bairstow and sophomore center Alex Kirk both said Saturday, moments after Alford announced his decision, that Neal provides the best plan moving forward.
“I have one smart, ferocious wolf right in my backyard,” UNM President Robert Frank said of Neal.
Even Alford expressed his endorsement for Neal.
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“Coach Neal is ready,” Alford said Sunday.
In turn, Neal thanked his close friend Alford for bringing him to New Mexico six years ago. Neal said he was surprised how quickly UNM made its decision and named him head coach.
At UNM, Neal has been on the sidelines for 155 wins, four Mountain West regular-season championships and two MWC tournament titles. In nine years as a collegiate assistant coach at Iowa and UNM, Neal averaged 24.2 wins per year.
This past season, the Lobos went 29-6 and earned a No. 3 seed at the NCAA tournament, but then fell to No. 14 seed Harvard during their first game of the tournament. UNM has never reached the Sweet 16, which many fans set as the next benchmark the Lobos must reach.
“We know we have to get better in that tournament. We’re going to strive to do that,” Neal said. “I don’t think you can set your eyes on the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, winning a game. Once we get to the tournament, we have to learn to improve and get better and win as many games as we can.”
Neal also served as an assistant coach for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors from 2000-03. Before that, he played at the collegiate level at Georgia Tech and professionally for Portland, Miami and Denver. He has 16 years of professional basketball experience.
On March 20, UNM agreed to a 10-year deal with Alford with a $240,000 increase in base salary. With incentives and other compensation, Alford could have received up to $2 million annually. Now he will make $2.6 million per year for seven years at UCLA, one of the five most tradition-rich institutions in collegiate basketball.
Under the UNM deal, Alford agreed to a $1 million buyout if he left the University before April 1, 2015. Had Alford stayed, the deal would have taken effect Monday, which leaves the question open as to whether Alford still has to pay $1 million. Krebs told the Daily Lobo he is still uncertain of the buyout clause in Alford’s contract and it is an issue UNM lawyers are examining.
Krebs previously said UNM ticket and concession prices were likely to go up with Alford’s renewed contract. With Neal’s contract, he isn’t certain how those prices will be affected, but Athletics is looking into the matter with the rest of its budget.
“If there is a price increase, it will be more along the nominal, every two- or three-year increase,” he said. “You may raise prices because the cost of business in general goes up.”
