Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs has announced that Craig Neal has been relieved of his duties as men’s basketball coach for the University of New Mexico. Krebs stated that a national search for UNM’s next head coach, the 21st in program history, will begin immediately.
“The University of New Mexico is grateful for the service and dedication that Coach Neal gave to Lobo Basketball,” said Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “He led us to a Mountain West Tournament championship as head coach and his guidance and leadership of student-athletes off the court should be highlighted. Lobo basketball set records for GPA, graduating players, and Coach Neal ran a program that the community can be proud of. He’s a good man and a winning coach, but the time has come to move Lobo Basketball in a new direction. We will begin a search for a new coach immediately and look forward to building on the winning tradition of Lobo Basketball.”
“With the challenges facing UNM, every decision we make must reflect the best interests of the UNM community, and in this particular case, the men’s basketball program, as well as student-athletes and Lobo fans,” said Acting President Chaouki Abdallah. “The decision made late tonight comes after lengthy consideration in light of recent developments that cannot be ignored. We understand the frustration being voiced by Lobo fans and hope they will see us through this time of transition and continue to support UNM athletics.”
Neal spent 10 years with New Mexico, the first six as the associate head coach under former coach Steve Alford, and the last four as the head coach. Neal finishes his Lobo career with a record of 76-52 overall, a .594 winning percentage, and a 42-30 Mountain West record, a .583 percentage. His overall winning percentage is eighth in school history and his win total is ninth.
In his first season, Neal became the first Lobo head coach to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament, going 27-7 and winning the Mountain West Tournament after going 15-3 in conference play to finish second in the league. He was also a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award as the nation’s top rookie coach and the Jim Phelan Award as the nation’s top coach. However, in the last three seasons, UNM had a 49-45 overall record (.521) and a 27-27 record in the Mountain West (.500) with three straight opening game losses in the conference tournament.
Prior to UNM, Neal spent three seasons as the associate head coach at the University of Iowa after spending four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors. That coaching stint came on the heels of four years as a scout for the Raptors.
http://www.golobos.com/news/2017/4/1/craig-neal-relieved-of-duties-as-mens-basketball-coach.aspx
