courtside Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 NBC in Iowa is reporting that U of New Mexico Athletic Dept says that Alford has accepted the New Mexico job. Iowa officials are denying the report. If Alford did leave, that would be 3 Midwest vacancies in the Big 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy03 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 This will probably affect the recruit of Peterson if the rumor is true. A previous article mentioned Iowa was high on his list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 This, if true, would be a perfect example of getting out while the getting is good. According to just about every account I've read, Alford has alienated everyone in Iowa City. The fact that he can still get UNM to dump a truckload of money in his driveway is a testament to name recognition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 is close to done. This could be really good news on the Peterson front. It could be bad news for SIU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompeytir Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Talk about a vertical move. Wow, go from the big-10 to MWC, huge drop off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 For some strange reason, the good people of Albuquerque consider the UNM job one of the top jobs in the nation. UNM basketball is the only game in town there. It's much bigger than the football program and it really is a hotbed for basketball interest. The paper devotes most of the sports page to the team. The only problem is that they have a Mountain West budget to go along with their top tier aspirations. I predict disaster for Mr. Alford, but he gets about a two year honeymoon period to try to do something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 They have a nice soccer program, though. Maybe that'll take some of the heat of... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 22, 2007 Author Share Posted March 22, 2007 Multiple things going on here. Alford hasn't been happy at Iowa and Iowa hasn't been happy with him. New Mexico is willing to pay $1 million for a coach. They have been actively soliciting big donors for dollars(including famed New Mexicans the Maloof family). They have a brand new practice facility. The Pit, their Arena drew 14,000 fans a game this year,...their worst showing in 40 years. Fan base is strong. Other programs are getting stronger in the league...BYU, UNLV, Air Force, San Diego St. They are the only show in town, in a city with 300 days of sunshine a year in a nice climate. Whether Alford can or will succeed is unknown, but somebody will succeed there again. Andy Katz used to cover the Lobos, ask him, somebody can and will win there again as long as the school is committed to doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Courtside is right, it has been a great job in the past. It will be a good job for Alford. It is a great area and it has a rapid supportive fan base. The Pit can be the best homecourt advantage in the country. It was also the venue for one of the greatest NCAA finals ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satrap Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Great move for Alford. Situation at NM is just as good, in relative terms, as a position smack in the middle of the Big 10 for the next 10 years. Who wouldn't want to make that move? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Not only was Iowa high on his list, but Alford was a big reason for that from what I read. There was some discussion on at least one Iowa message board about an article in the Des Moines Register(pretty sure that was the paper) concerning Peterson's visit and his recruitment. There was mention to a question from Peterson to Alford concerning how long Alford was going to be at the school. If true, this could take Iowa out of the running for Peterson. With that said, if Peterson does get along well with Alford, it could potentially make New Mexico a player as well. Let's just hope that things go so well with Peterson's visit to SLU this weekend that none of the rest of it matters. He really seems like a solid point guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompeytir Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 There is no way that going to New Mexico is on the same level of the University of Iowa and Big 10 basketball. It may be the only game in town but the level of competition, the conference, the media coverage and the school income is not anywhere near the U of Iowa. Win 20+ games in Iowa your probably going to the NCAA tournament, win 20+ games at New Mexico and nobody outside of New Mexico cares-and you probably still have to win the MWC tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satrap Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 >There is no way that going to New Mexico is on the same >level of the University of Iowa and Big 10 basketball. It >may be the only game in town but the level of competition, >the conference, the media coverage and the school income is >not anywhere near the U of Iowa. Win 20+ games in Iowa your >probably going to the NCAA tournament, win 20+ games at New >Mexico and nobody outside of New Mexico cares-and you >probably still have to win the MWC tournament. True on your overall point, but I think that you could build a good niche program at NM easier than at IA. Think of what Dana Altman has done at Creighton - no way that program should have more success than IA over the last decade but I'm sure if you check the numbers it does. I just think that IA is in a tough, tough situation in their conference. Not impossible of course, but I would bet that over the next decade the champions will all be in the group of MSU, Purdue, IL, OSU, IN. IA won't get a sniff no matter who their coach is..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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