- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 399,164
- Reaction score
- 43
Mar. 30—Eric Olen will be the next coach of the University of New Mexico Lobo men's basketball team, the Journal learned Sunday morning.
UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo confirmed the hire and made a public announcement of it by 11 a.m.
The 44-year-old coach who led UC San Diego to 30 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth in its first season of eligibility as a Division I member this past season will take over the position vacated Tuesday night when Richard Pitino left to coach at Xavier University.
"I am honored to be the next Head Coach of New Mexico men's basketball," Olen said in a statement released by UNM. "I want to thank President (Garnett) Stokes, Fernando Lovo, and the UNM leadership team for this opportunity. This is one of the most special programs in college basketball, and my family and I are thrilled to be a part of Lobo Nation! I can't wait to get to work and write the next great chapter in New Mexico basketball history."
Added Lovo in the school's prepared statement: "Eric is a proven winner with an incredible track record. Beyond the accolades and success on the court, he is a values-driven leader who puts student-athletes first. We're confident he'll bring tremendous energy and vision to our program. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Eric, his wife Lauren, and their daughters Avery and Madeline — we're excited to have them join the Lobo family here in Albuquerque."
Olen, originally from Mobile, Alabama, played NAIA college basketball at Springhill College in Mobile (it has since transitioned to Division II).
In 2004, his coach asked him if he wanted to move to California to be an assistant coach. He's been at UC San Diego since and took over as head coach in 2013. It was a Division II school until the 2020-21 season, when it began to transition to D-I status.
Olen led the Tritons to four consecutive D-II NCAA Tournaments from 2016-2019 and it would have been five had COVID not led to the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.
Since the Division I transition, he has led UCSD to the postseason the past two seasons — a CBI Tournament appearance last season and a Big West regular season and tournament title this season, a 30-5 record and an appearance in the Big Dance. Among the Tritons' wins this season was beating Mountain West member Utah State in Logan in December.
He has a career record of 240-119 at UCSD and is the back-to-back winner of Big West Coach of the Year.
With this past season's success, his stock as being considered one of the game's rising stars skyrocketed.
Olen's team had a high NCAA NET ranking of 34 this season and a high KenPom ranking of 35, both higher than any Mountain West team despite the Mountain West being ranked the sixth best (of 31) conferences and the Big West ranking 12th. UNM's highs this season were 36 in NET and also 35 in KenPom.
Both his offensive and defensive schemes — a five-man out offense and a unique matchup zone defense — have gained praise over the past season as innovative. This past season, those schemes led to 30 wins while the Tritons started four Division II transfers and no starter taller than 6-foot-8.
Lovo ran a national search that narrowed in recent days.
Albuquerque native and NBA assistant James Borrego withdrew from consideration on Friday and the search focused Saturday on Olen and veteran UAB coach Andy Kennedy.
Sunday morning, Lovo posted on social media a smoke stack releasing cherry and silver colored smoke. The news was confirmed moments later.
This story will be updated.
Continue reading...
UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo confirmed the hire and made a public announcement of it by 11 a.m.
The 44-year-old coach who led UC San Diego to 30 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth in its first season of eligibility as a Division I member this past season will take over the position vacated Tuesday night when Richard Pitino left to coach at Xavier University.
"I am honored to be the next Head Coach of New Mexico men's basketball," Olen said in a statement released by UNM. "I want to thank President (Garnett) Stokes, Fernando Lovo, and the UNM leadership team for this opportunity. This is one of the most special programs in college basketball, and my family and I are thrilled to be a part of Lobo Nation! I can't wait to get to work and write the next great chapter in New Mexico basketball history."
Added Lovo in the school's prepared statement: "Eric is a proven winner with an incredible track record. Beyond the accolades and success on the court, he is a values-driven leader who puts student-athletes first. We're confident he'll bring tremendous energy and vision to our program. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Eric, his wife Lauren, and their daughters Avery and Madeline — we're excited to have them join the Lobo family here in Albuquerque."
Olen, originally from Mobile, Alabama, played NAIA college basketball at Springhill College in Mobile (it has since transitioned to Division II).
In 2004, his coach asked him if he wanted to move to California to be an assistant coach. He's been at UC San Diego since and took over as head coach in 2013. It was a Division II school until the 2020-21 season, when it began to transition to D-I status.
Olen led the Tritons to four consecutive D-II NCAA Tournaments from 2016-2019 and it would have been five had COVID not led to the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.
Since the Division I transition, he has led UCSD to the postseason the past two seasons — a CBI Tournament appearance last season and a Big West regular season and tournament title this season, a 30-5 record and an appearance in the Big Dance. Among the Tritons' wins this season was beating Mountain West member Utah State in Logan in December.
He has a career record of 240-119 at UCSD and is the back-to-back winner of Big West Coach of the Year.
With this past season's success, his stock as being considered one of the game's rising stars skyrocketed.
Olen's team had a high NCAA NET ranking of 34 this season and a high KenPom ranking of 35, both higher than any Mountain West team despite the Mountain West being ranked the sixth best (of 31) conferences and the Big West ranking 12th. UNM's highs this season were 36 in NET and also 35 in KenPom.
Both his offensive and defensive schemes — a five-man out offense and a unique matchup zone defense — have gained praise over the past season as innovative. This past season, those schemes led to 30 wins while the Tritons started four Division II transfers and no starter taller than 6-foot-8.
Lovo ran a national search that narrowed in recent days.
Albuquerque native and NBA assistant James Borrego withdrew from consideration on Friday and the search focused Saturday on Olen and veteran UAB coach Andy Kennedy.
Sunday morning, Lovo posted on social media a smoke stack releasing cherry and silver colored smoke. The news was confirmed moments later.
This story will be updated.
Continue reading...
