At long last, here is the second part of our look at the state of the various UNM Athletics programs. Previously, we looked at the programs that have been struggling recently and whose immediate goals are to be in the conversation for a conference title. This time, we’ll look at the programs that are already there and whose goals are to be relevant on a national scale. In the final installment, which we swear will happen at some point, we’ll take a look at the programs who are already competing for national titles.
Nationally/Regionally Relevant Programs
This group consists of programs that are expected to be at the top of the conference and to make the occasional run in their sport’s national tournament.
Volleyball:
The Lobos have become a very solid program in a sport where there are clear limitations for them. College volleyball is a sport that is dominated by a couple of conference, mostly due to location and academics. While the University of New Mexico does have good academics, it is difficult to lure the top talent away from California and other states that have great prep volleyball programs. I believe that Coach Nelson is a good coach for this program, but I don’t have a sense for what the ceiling is because of the limitations. This is a program where development of players and keeping the best local talent home is very important. The Lobos won’t be able to get the top players so they have to do an exceptional job of identifying and developing the right players for this program. Competing for conference titles is doable and being a team that reaches the NCAA Tournament should be the expectation in most years. I believe that there need to be a few improvements to Johnson Gym in order to make it a great atmosphere for college volleyball and this in turn will help with recruiting, making it easier for the coaches to get top notch talent. I think this program has a chance to be a great program that can compete with the top teams in the region with a chance to make a run in an NCAA Tournament every once in a while.
Baseball:
The Lobos baseball program was recently named a top 50 program by D1Baseball.com and mentioned as one of the programs that has done the most with the resources they have. Coach Birmingham is a Hall of Fame level coach that has made this program into a team that is dangerous in post-season play. Fans will complain about the Lobos returning back to Lobo Field after a hand full of seasons at Isotopes Park, but while the field at Lobo Field is nowhere close to as nice as Isotopes Park, it is their home field and home game are now actual home games. While there are still improvements that need to be made at Lobo Field in order for it to host Regionals, the atmosphere at Lobo Field is much improved.
Recruiting has picked up in recent years, but sometimes that can be a bad thing, as this year the Lobos lost two recruits that were drafted and signed to professional contracts, foregoing their college careers. New Mexico high school baseball continues to improve, but it will be difficult to keep the top players around, as national powerhouse programs will recruit them and/or they are going to be very high draft picks. New Mexico has done a great job of recruiting in Colorado, which has a lot of talent and only two Division 1 programs, so continuing to mine that region should keep paying dividends for the team. It is important for New Mexico to find the players that fit their program and find success in recruiting the nearby region, including California, Arizona, Colorado and Texas, to allow this program to take that next step.
College baseball is a unique sport because of the format of the NCAA tournament. It basically gives any top 25 team a chance to make a run to the College World Series, which allows those teams a chance to win the National Title. I think the realistic expectations for the Lobo Baseball Program is to compete for the conference title year in and year out, make the NCAA Tournament most years, and make a Super Regional a couple times every ten years. Coach Birmingham has won a National Title at New Mexico Junior College and knows what it takes to win at the highest level, so I am very intrigued to see where this program will be in a couple of years, when the improvements to Lobo Field are complete.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field:
The track & field and cross country program as a whole is one of if not the most exciting program at UNM. I will separate the track & field and cross country programs here to focus on track & field and then talk about cross country in the next post. That’s mainly because track & field has some limitations that cross country doesn’t have, namely the number of athletes that you need to have a national power program. This is no knock on the track & field program, which is still very good. I do think that the strength of the cross country team, combined with how good the track & field program already is, will allow the track & field program the chance to become even better and eventually be a nationally relevant program.
I am excited to watch and see where this program will go and the things it will do on a national level. To me, the realistic expectations for this program is to compete and win conference titles, have multiple All-Americans, and make some noise on the national level. So I encourage Lobo fans to jump on board, go watch and support this fantastic program. I really do think this is a program that will be in the next category in the next five to ten years.
Men’s Basketball:
This is the Lobo program that the expectations very from fan to fan the most, ranging from strangely pessimistic to unrealistically optimistic. At this point, and I’m sorry to break the news to some Lobo Fans, the UNM men’s basketball program is not a national power program, meaning that they are not really in the hunt for a national title each year. That doesn’t mean that New Mexico is not a top 30 program, because I believe that they are. Instead, to me, there are only a handful of national power programs in basketball that are consistently in the running for a national title.
That all said, I think that right now New Mexico is the third best job in the Mountain West right now behind UNLV (history, location, similar facilities) and SDSU (location, location, location), but all three jobs are very comparable. To get a sense of where the program stands now and where it could stand in the future, let’s look at some limitations and advantages that the program possesses.
Limitations for the Program:
Location:
As much as we all love Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico, it is not a hot bed for recruiting program-changing players. In the last 20 years, there have only been a handful of highly-recruited basketball players from our state. Recently, New Mexico has done a better job of keeping these players in state, keeping Alex Kirk in-state, for example. Because of that, the Lobos have to look at the surrounding states for their talent. Arizona is going to be a very important state for the Lobos to recruit at a high level, since most west coast programs have been focusing most of their attention to California and the Lobos have made great inroads with some of the top AAU programs in the state. The Lobos also need to recruit Texas, as there are several players that have a chance to be great college players that the Lobos could convince to come out west.
Recruiting:
On a national level, it is basically impossible for the Lobos to have a top 20 recruiting class. The Lobos need to identify the players with a lot of potential early to get on the ground floor to convince them to come to New Mexico. With shoe companies and AAU programs that have connections with all the top college teams dictating where most of the top players are going, the Lobos aren’t going to be just handed a top 20 player.
Advantages for the Program:
Facilities:
New Mexico Basketball has top-notch facilities that are comparable, if not better, than some of the national powers. The Pit is one of the best arenas and atmospheres in the country, and a huge selling point in recruiting, because who wouldn’t want to play in the Pit? The Davalos Practice Facility is also top notch and the upgrades to the locker rooms and other areas of the basketball facilities provide a professional atmosphere that helps the coaches and players to compete at the highest level.
Coaches:
The Lobo fans have been spoiled since the Alford/Neal era began, especially when we look back to what came before. We are very lucky to have Coach Neal and his coaching staff here for all sorts of reasons. I like how these coaches scout and develop talent. The best example of this is probably from the 2010 recruiting class, where the two least thought of recruits become NBA draft picks and players. They have also improved the team’s academic standings, making sure that the team is always exceeding the compliance expectations for the NCAA. Finally, Coach Neal has been great in the community, acting as an ambassador for the school, city, and the state. I hope that we can place trust Coach Neal and allow him and his coaching staff to recruit and develop talented Lobos for us fans to cheer on for years to come.
Fans:
This is a huge advantage that the program has, with fan support averaging over 14,000 fans a game, and the thousands of Lobo fans that head to Pit West every March for the conference tournament. Lobo fan support is one of the best in the country and is something the Coaches use to help them in recruiting the best players they can get. One visit to a home game gives recruits a sense of how great it is to play in front of such a rabid fan base.
Expectations:
Realistic expectations for this program are to compete for conference titles each year, make the NCAA Tournament most years, and make a run in the tournament once every few years. We need to remember that the NCAA Tournament is a one game elimination tournament that are full of strange match-ups, big upsets, and other things you can’t control. I hope for a deep run in the next few years (maybe even this year!), but enjoy the seasons and let the results of the tournament be icing on the cake.