Head coach Paul Weir has officially added former Lobo assistant coach Craig Snow back to the UNM staff, the program announced Tuesday. Snow comes from New Mexico Highlands University where he spent five years, most recently as the director of athletics, following three years with the Lobos. He will join Weir’s staff as the special assistant to the head coach effective in July.
“Craig’s previous successes with the Lobo basketball program and his passion for the university and state provided an amazing opportunity for our program,” Weir said. “I am incredibly thankful to Craig for joining us and continuing the journey of taking this program back to some of the great heights that he himself has enjoyed here.”
Prior to his time at NMHU, Snow spent three seasons on the UNM men’s basketball staff. In 2013-14 as an assistant coach, Snow helped guide the Lobos to a 27-7 record, a Mountain West Tournament Championship and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. New Mexico was ranked as high as 17th nationally in the 2013-14 season.
“I am very excited to return to UNM under the leadership of coach Paul Weir,” Snow said. “He has a tremendous vision for Lobo basketball and I am looking forward to being a part of the program’s future success.”
Snow returns to the Lobos after serving as the head men’s basketball coach and interim director of athletics for the Cowboys during the past two seasons. Snow guided Cowboy basketball for a total of five seasons before becoming the full-time athletic director.
In his final season coaching at Highlands, Snow led his squad to a program-record 22 wins, the Cowboys’ first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament title and second NCAA Tournament appearance. He coached the Cowboys to 14 RMAC wins twice, tied for second-most wins in single-season program history.
During Snow’s time as a coach at NMHU, he coached six All-RMAC players, three all-region players and recruited well both in-state (nine of the 17 players on the Cowboy roster during the 2018-19 season were from New Mexico) and internationally (three of his rotation players from his final season were from outside the United States). The Cowboys in 2018-19 finished the season ranked 14th in the country in scoring (87.2 points per game) and 18th in 3-pointers made.
In Snow’s three seasons with the Lobos prior to his time at NMHU, UNM went a combined 84-20 with three Mountain West Tournament titles and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Snow spent his final season with UNM as an assistant coach after serving as the director of basketball operations in 2012-13 and the video administrator in 2011-12. As Snow moved from video administrator to director of basketball operations, he was replaced by current assistant coach Brandon Mason and the two served on the same Lobo staff together in 2012-13.
A four-year collegiate player for the University of Evansville, Snow ended his career with 1,530 points (10th all-time) and is 10th on the school’s all-time list for 3-pointers made with 176. He hit 39.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and 76.4 percent from the charity stripe. In four years with the Aces, Snow averaged 12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He was a captain his junior and senior seasons and named All-Missouri Valley Conference in both 1999-2000 and 2000-01 while also making the All-Tournament MVC Team in 1999. Snow started every game for the Purple Aces in 1999 when they finished as the regular-season MVC Champions.
After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Evansville in 2001, he went on to play professionally overseas in both Luxembourg and Austria. While in Luxembourg in 2001-02, he averaged more than 30 points per game and was voted to the all-star team.
After his stint overseas, Snow made his way to the Land of Enchantment for the first time to be the head boys’ basketball coach at Bosque in Albuquerque from 2004-11, also serving as athletic director from 2005-11. At Bosque, Snow led the Bobcats to a 125-69 record, five state tournament appearances, three district championships and a state semifinal appearance.
Snow is married to Dr. Jessica Snow, who received her Ph. D. from The University of New Mexico in 2009, and they have two children: Adelynn and Beckett.
