April 20, 2010
You have to begin the story of the New Mexico Lobos’ magical 2009-10 basketball season the same way you began the wrap of 2008-09. You begin with the championship ring.
But you can’t linger too long on a Mountain West Conference championship ring that marks back-to-back league titles for Steve Alford’s Lobos. There is just so much special carved out by a group of Lobos really not seasoned enough to do so much carving, to do so much good work.
It was an amazing season with a school-record 30 wins (30-5), highlighted by an impossible 14-game MWC win streak that left the Lobos alone atop the league, ranked No. 8 in the nation, and pushed them to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“These guys never seemed to understand that they probably were too young to do some of the things they did,” said Alford. “They were truly amazing.
“This is a team with great resolve that handled everything that was thrown at them and kept finding ways to win. I believe so much of that comes back to their work ethic, before the season, during the season. These guys understood that to get what they wanted, they had to work harder than anybody else.”
The group of Lobos Alford took into the 2009-10 season had some obvious blemishes. It was one of the youngest teams in the nation returning only one senior (Roman Martinez) and one junior (Dairese Gary) from the previous season.
It was a team with no true center and had to go against the behemoths of Division I ball behind the athleticism and guts provided by two power forwards: 6-8 A.J. Hardeman and 6-8 Will Brown. “A.J. and Will were the biggest question marks and they were unreal,” said Alford.
It was a team with a handful of super sophomores: Gary, Phillip McDonald, Brown, Hardeman, Nate Garth. It was a team with three diaper dandies on the bench in freshmen Jamal Fenton, Chad Adams and Curtis Dennis.
It also was a team that believed in itself. “We knew we had a special team,” said Gary. “We just had to go out and prove it. We knew we had this kind of potential. It was all about how hard we were willing to work, what we were willing to put forward.”
It also was a team blessed by a special transfer named Darington Hobson, who was willing to throw his talented 6-foot-7 frame into a team concept while still leading the Lobos in scoring, rebounding and assists. He was the first Lobo to ever lead the team in all three categories.
“We knew Darington Hobson was special, but we didn’t know he was going to be this good,” said Alford of his junior that roared not only to Mountain West Player of The Year honors, but All-America recognition as well.
Surely, it was a team of special individuals, but it was the team thing that maintained these Lobos through so many hard times and so many severe challenges. It was the team thing the Lobos leaned upon when they roared to a 14-1 non-conference record.
It was the team thing they fell back upon two games into the MWC race. In case you had forgotten, Steve Alford’s Lobos began this MWC journey 0-2 and looking up at everyone. They finished it looking down.
Maybe, arguably, probably, this is the most amazing part of this 30-5 season.
The impossible truth of this run to the ring is this: The Lobos had to string out 14 straight wins, win seven straight league road games, and sweep BYU and Utah in order to win the outright MWC title.
Yeah, like that was going to happen! A season earlier Alford’s Lobos had to throw out an impossible five-game MWC streak in order to win the title. But the 14-game MWC run somehow happened. It happened because of teamwork, work ethic, defense, and a talented bunch of Lobos led by one of the nation’s top coaches.
“This is as good a chemistry team as I’ve ever had,” said Alford. “These guys were all about winning.”
The MWC title run ended in The Pit with a 73-66 win over TCU. The Pit was still packed for the post-game celebration. It was a Pit party climaxed with Lobos cutting down nets and Martinez telling The Pit that any future MWC championship wannabes have to come through New Mexico to be Kings.
“These kids have taken us on a journey that’s not going to sink in for a while,” said Alford, the MWC Coach of The Year and a finalist in several national Coach of The Year races. “Those things (14-game run) don’t happen very often. It was amazing.
“This program has won back-to-back titles and that’s very, very difficult to do. It was a great season with great experiences.”
We return again to the ring because this back-to-back thing is special, especially when you add a historical note. Prior to 2009, the New Mexico men’s basketball team had not earned a championship ring in 15 years by winning a league title. Now, Alford’s young Lobos have two in a row.
Here are a few of the more dazzling:
A school record 30-win season
Back-to-back MWC titles
A No. 8 national ranking
An MWC-record 14-game league win streak
MWC Coach & Player of The Year
10 road wins; seven MWC road wins
The on-the-court season stuff is over now. The Lobos advanced to the NCAA East Region as the No. 3 seed. They beat a solid Montana team and lost to a veteran Washington team that lost to West Virginia, a Final Four team.
“Washington just looked more comfortable there than we did,” said Alford of the loss in San Jose, Calif.
The Lobos’ comfort zone surely will be wider in 2010-11. The Lobos graduate only Martinez. There is more talent on the way, including more muscle in the paint.
The recognition that comes to a 30-5 league champion that raced into the Top 10 also continues to come to these deserving Lobos. Martinez was invited to The Final Four to participate in a 3-point shooting contest.
Hobson has received All-America honors from The Associated Press, FOX Sports.com, Basketball Times and Sporting News. He was a finalist for the Wooden Award. Alford was a finalist for AP and Naismith Coach of The Year. Martinez was named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American — the first Lobo to earn that distinction since 1975. Martinez also won the Chip Hilton Award, a national honor based on character, leadership and on-court accomplishments.
Gary joined Hobson on the All-MWC First Team and the powerful, junior point guard was named to the MWC All-Defense Team. McDonald was All-MWC Honorable Mention.
Not bad for a team that was picked to finish fifth in the 2009-10 MWC race and was expected to slip into the NIT bracket when it was all over.
A season wrap of this team really has to include a glimpse into the future. The renovated Pit will be a high-tech welcoming mat next season for the young Lobos and their special fans.
“It’s unbelievable what we did this year and so much of what we did is because of our fans,” said Martinez, the lone senior. “We don’t just play for championships. We play for the state of New Mexico. I think that’s what separates us from a lot of teams.”
Said Alford: “I’m excited to get into the new Pit and continue to work to take this program to another level. We’ve made some impressive strides, but we’re not through yet.”
The tease here is an obvious one: Come back next year, Lobo fans. See the new Pit. See if the young Lobos will be even better.