Open Announce

Hoops Charity Exhibition Donates Over $21,000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team, along with the BYU basketball program, came together on Friday, Oct. 27 for a special exhibition matchup at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit aimed at raising donations for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

The Lobos are excited to announce that the teams and the community came together to donate $21,147.60 to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund.

All net proceeds from Friday’s night’s game will be donated to the relief fund. Funds were raised through ticket purchases, parking fees and other donation opportunities. 

“We are all thankful to Coach Rose and BYU for agreeing to the game, and especially the fans who came to contribute to such an amazing cause,” UNM head coach Paul Weir said. “I don’t know what the future holds for exhibition games like this but I think it is terrific we were able to put this together.”

Coach Weir and BYU head coach Dave Rose came together to plan the match after such games were approved by the NCAA through the Legislative Relief Process. The Legislative Relief Process allows for schools to compete in an additional exhibition game given that the net proceeds are donated to a disaster relief charity.

“We’re grateful to New Mexico for hosting the game and giving us a chance to help those in need.” BYU head coach Rose said. “While it was devastating to see my hometown, Houston go through what it did with Hurricane Harvey, it has also been inspiring to see how the people there have come together to lift each other and to rebuild. It’s going to be a long process and we hope the money raised from our game will in some way help in the recovery process.”

The Lobos are set to officially open the 2017-18 season on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit at 7 p.m. against Northern New Mexico.