Mike Bradbury

Mike Bradbury enters his ninth season as head coach for The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team. In his previous eight seasons at the helm, Bradbury has guided the Lobos to a 162-89 (.645) and 89-51 (.636) in conference and became just the second coach in UNM history to win 100 games with a win over Grambling on Nov. 30, 2021.

Five times in his tenure (2017-18, 2018-19, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24) the Lobos eclipsed the 20-win mark, with the Lobos tying the program record for most wins in a single season with 26 in 2021-22. Further, the 25 wins in 2017-18 were tied for the second-most wins in program history. The consecutive 20-plus win seasons under Bradbury in 2017-18 and 2018-19 were the first for the program since the 2007-08 – 2008-09 seasons.

Further, the last time the Lobos finished with 20-plus wins in three consecutive seasons was 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Of note, there are only three Mountain West teams that have won 20 games in each of the last three years (UNM, UNLV and CSU), and in the last four years, only two MW teams that have won 10 or more conference games all four years (UNM and UNLV).

The Lobos have sustained success under Bradbury as historically, UNM has finished either first or second in the conference in scoring offense in six of the last seven years (four times first). In Bradbury’s time at UNM, the Lobos have finished with 15 or made three-pointers 11 times and hold the top-five spots in three-pointers per game in program history.

During the most recent season, the Lobos were among the most consistent defensive teams in the country, ranking 14th in defensive rebounds per game and 10th in the fewest fouls per game. On an individual level, the Lobos garnered several awards with five Mountain West Player of the Week selections, the most since the 2018-19 season, as well as earning MW Newcomer of the Year (Nyah Wilson), MW Defensive Player of the Year (Aniyah Augmon), two All-Mountain West Team selections in Augmon and Wilson, an All-Defensive Team selection for Augmon and a MW Coach of the Year selection for Bradbury.

Wilson became the seventh Lobo to earn Newcomer of the Year and the fourth under Bradbury, with the last one back in 2018-19. Augmon became only the second Lobo to win Defensive Player of the Year, joining Porche Torrance who won in 2011-12. The selection marked the first Coach of the Year award for Bradbury and the third for a New Mexico coach.

In his time at UNM, Bradbury has coached 19 All-Mountain West performers, six on the All-Defensive Team and three on the All-Newcomer/Freshman Team.

In terms of major individual awards, Bradbury coached the league’s Newcomer of the Year each of his first three seasons in charge of the Lobos with Richelle van der Keijl earning the award in 2016-17, Tesha Buck in 2017-18 and Aisia Robertson in 2018-19. Additionally, Bradbury has coached the MW Player of the Year in Jaisa Nunn (2018-19) and the Freshman of the Year in Jayla Everett (2018-19) as well as Sixth Person of the Year in LaTascya Duff (2020-21).

Further, a Lobo has been named Mountain West Player of the Week 20 times during his tenure, with four named Freshman of the Week.

In the 2022-23 season, UNM finished 15^th in the NCAA in made three-pointers per game at 8.5 per game, with 12 games with double-digit three-pointers. Of the 12 games, UNM made 18 (against South Carolina State) and three games with 16 (twice against Utah State and at Fresno State).

During the 2021-22 season, the program established several program records. UNM set the program record in made three-pointers (346), a program-best 171 made three-pointers in conference season, as well as a program-record 596 assists on the season and 292 in conference games. In addition, the Lobos made a program-high 523 field goals in conference and scored the most points in conference in program history with 1,413 points. On Jan. 6 at Utah State, the Lobos set the program record and the MW record in made three-pointers in a game with 21, and three games later made 19 three-pointers for the second most in a game in program history. The Lobos also went on a nine-game win streak, the second longest in program history.

New Mexico ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in made three-pointers (third), made three-pointers per game (fifth, 9.6 per game) and in assists (10th). In total, UNM ranked in the top 30 in nine categories, including scoring offense (14th, 76.7 points per game), assists per game (16th, 16.6 per game), assist/turnover ratio (18th, 1.21), field-goal percentage (19th, 45.1 percent), blocked shots (25th, 147) and three-point field-goal percentage (30th, 35.1 percent).

UNM added six postseason Mountain West honors with a conference-high three all-conference players in Antonia Anderson, Shaiquel McGruder and Jaedyn De La Cerda, an honorable mention in LaTora Duff, an all-defensive player in McGruder and an all-freshman in Paula Reus. The Lobos have had 12 conference selections in the last two seasons.

Further, five Lobos finished the 2021-22 season averaging double figures in points per game.

In the 2020-21 season, Bradbury led the Lobos to a Mountain West regular season championship, the first outright in program history and the first regular season title since the 2004-05 season. In addition, the Lobos were selected for the WNIT for the third time in four years.

The Lobos produced one of the most prolific offenses not only in the conference, but in the country, finishing among the top 25 in several categories. Among them, UNM finished fourth in the NCAA in made three-pointers per game (10.2), sixth in assist-turnover ratio (1.40), ninth in scoring offense (81.2 points per game), 14th in fewest turnovers per game (12.0) and assists per game (16.8) and 22nd in scoring margin (12.7). The Lobos led the Mountain West in scoring offense, scoring margin, assists per game, turnover margin, assist-turnover ratio and made three-pointers as well as second in field-goal percentage and steals per game.

UNM set a program record in scoring with 120 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 17, 2020 and in the process, made 17 three-pointers, falling just one short of tying the program record. Further, the Lobos registered 90-plus points in five games and 80-plus points in 11 of the 20 games on the season.

Four Lobos finished the 2020-21 season averaging double figures in points per game with six players finishing in double figures in scoring in two games (the only times it has been accomplished in program history), five players in five games and four in seven games.

As a result of UNM’s successful season, five players were named to the All-Mountain West Team with LaTascya Duff also earning the superlative of Sixth Person of the Year. Duff was just the second Lobo to win the sixth person award. Making the all-conference team for the first time were Duff, Jaedyn De La Cerda and Antonia Anderson, as well as Shaiquel McGruder earning all-defensive and Ahlise Hurst earning the honorable mention distinction.

In his third year at the helm, Bradbury continued to put his mark on the program while also continuing to bring Lobo women’s basketball back to national prominence. Overall, Bradbury’s 2018-19 team went 24-7 and earned a bid to the WNIT for a second-straight season. It marked the first time since the 2008-09 – 2009-10 seasons that the program made consecutive trips to the postseason.

After dropping a one-possession game to Auburn in the preseason WNIT, the 2018-19 Lobos ripped off 11-straight wins to tie the program record and were on the cusp of cracking the national top-25 rankings as well by receiving votes from the WBCA during that stretch. Bradbury would also receive an individual plaudit from the WBCA last season as he was named as one of 13 finalists for the 2019 United States Marine Corps/WBCA National Coach of the Year Award. Impressively, Bradbury was the only coach from a non-Power 5 conference to be a finalist.

In year two under Bradbury the Lobos had a breakout season, especially offensively as they ended the 2017-18 season averaging 80.4 points per game while also posting an impressive +9.7 scoring margin. Both marks led the Mountain West and the point-per-game total was 16^th-best in NCAA DI last season.

A significant reason for the jump in offensive production was the fact that the Lobos were one of the most potent three-point shooting threats in the country. For the season, the Lobos attempted the eighth-most overall trifectas in DI hoisting 932 long distance shots. Successful 34% of the time, the Lobos made the 11^th most 3’s burying 319.

Prior to coming to Albuquerque, Bradbury built a successful nine year run as a Division-I head coach with stops at Morehead State (Morehead, Ky.) and Wright State (Dayton, Ohio). Most recently with the Raiders, Bradbury led his squad to five 20-win seasons, including each of his final three seasons. During that time, Wright State has amassed a 75-28 record, the best amongst the 13 Division I programs in the state of Ohio.

Overall at Wright State, Bradbury had five winning seasons, all of which were 20-plus win seasons, in six years – a feat made all the more remarkable as Wright State had just one winning season in the previous 22 before his arrival. In the previous 37 seasons of women’s basketball at Wright State, the Raider program had tallied 20 wins just once before Bradbury led the team to 20 wins in five of his six seasons.

His most prominent three-year run at Wright State started in 2013-14, when the Raiders won a school-record 26 games on the way to a 26-9 season and the program’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That season saw the Raiders finish second in the Horizon League and win its first Horizon League Tournament. It also featured the program’s first road win at perennial league power Wisconsin-Green Bay. Kim Demmings was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, and it marked the first time in school history the program had a pair of first team All-Conference selections.

He followed up that by earning Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2014-15 after a 25-9 season that saw his squad lose its Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year less than two minutes into the season opener. The Raiders just missed a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, falling in overtime in the conference championship game. The team did make its first appearance in the Women’s NIT as the league’s automatic qualifier, and in 2015-16, the team made it back-to-back WNIT appearances after a 24-11 season, earning the program’s first at-large bid.

Those three seasons are the three winningest seasons in the history of Wright State women’s basketball.

In his first two seasons at Wright State, he led the team to a 20-13 campaign and a 21-13 mark and berths in the Women’s Basketball Invitational, the first NCAA Division I postseason berths for the program. Overall, Bradbury has coached three Horizon League Players of the Year (all in his last three seasons), six first-team All-Horizon League players, three second-team members and four All-Freshman team members.

Prior to his time at Wright State, Bradbury was the head coach at Morehead State where he led the Division I program to a 50-44 mark in three seasons, including a watershed 22-11 season, which was the second-most wins in Morehead State history and the most wins by the Eagles in the previous 38 years.

At Morehead State he coached one Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, along with one first-team All-OVC pick (two seasons) and three second-team All-OVC picks.

Bradbury also spent time as an assistant coach at Xavier (2002-06), Cincinnati (1996-02), VCU (1995-96), East Tennessee State (1994-95) and Chattanooga (1991-94). In his 30 seasons as an assistant and as a head coach, Bradbury’s teams have finished below .500 only three times.

What They Are Saying About Mike Bradbury
“Mike is one of the top up and coming young coaches in the country. He’s a proven winner with a tremendous work ethic. There is no question in my mind that he will build a championship program at New Mexico.” — Ohio State women’s basketball head coach Kevin McGuff

“Mike has an innate ability to develop chemistry on his teams. Recruiting and strategy are critical to success in every program, but finding the right students that allow for tremendous chemistry on a team make the difference between good and great. The Lobos better be ready to play well into March for the foreseeable future under Mike’s leadership.” – Morehead State Director of Athletics Brian Hutchinson

“New Mexico has made an outstanding hire in Mike Bradbury. Mike is a tireless recruiter with a great reputation, not only for his ability to recruit, but also his ability to develop and coach players. He is going to play an exciting and entertaining style of basketball that will allow them to be successful and their fans will love. I have no doubt that Mike will work extremely hard, not only coaching his players, but in the community of Albuquerque, as they have one of the best fan bases in all of women’s basketball.” – Louisville women’s basketball head coach Jeff Walz