Tag: Paul Weir

New Mexico Basketball: Lobos Receive A Five Player Roster Boost Over The Weekend

New Mexico Basketball: Lobos Receive A Five Player roster Boost Over The Weekend The roster is set in Albuquerque as Paul Weir fills all 13th roster spots and then some. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire The Lobos were finally on the receiving …

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New Mexico Basketball: Lobos Receive A Five Player roster Boost Over The Weekend

The roster is set in Albuquerque as Paul Weir fills all 13th roster spots and then some.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

The Lobos were finally on the receiving end of some good news this weekend as plenty of new faces joined the program. 

This offseason has been tough to teams all across the college basketball landscape. With a global pandemic initiating the offseason about a month earlier than normal, along with an unknown NBA Draft early entrant withdrawal date that was unclear most of the summer. You can top it all off with complete uncertainty on how to play college sports this fall and winter.

For now folks looking for updates like myself have to just sit back and be patient, let everyone figure out how to play football games before the flowers bloom come spring and hope May madness doesn’t become a trend. But being uncertain doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always be prepared and adapt to what’s thrown at you, right? 

Well that seems to be just the attitude New Mexico head coach Paul Weir has as he ventures into his fourth season in charge of the Lobos. There has been plenty of roster movement in and out of the program since the team’s season ended in Las Vegas back in March.

But through it all, the coaching staff has managed to fill the roster’s thirteen total scholarship spots this past week while also checking off some other boxes in the process.

Early admission? Yes please

The first bit of news released on Friday was the addition of incoming freshman Isaiah Marin, who was originally slated to spend a year at Juco powerhouse South Plains College in Levelland, TX and join the team as a member of the 2021 class next year.

Well, recent events inside the New Mexico program have produced two unexpected roster openings ahead of the start of the fall semester in Albuquerque. One vacated by senior to be Zane Martin who as of yesterday opted for a return to the east coast and ultimately a return to his previous stomping grounds, Towson.

The other open scholarship was never fulfilled as planned, as 2021 commit JB White who was on track to graduate from high school early and enroll this fall was the victim of gun violence earlier this month in his hometown of Santa Fe, NM. His passing left the coaching staff and community broken, but also through the program into scramble mode to not be left with open roster sports in a pivotal year in Albuquerque. 

They reacted quickly very late in the year to fill their those recently vacated scholarships. Players must be enrolled on the twelfth day of classes to be eligible to play that semester, so there is certainly no time to waste given UNM’s classes began on August 17th. The 6-5 guard from Phoenix, AZ attended the College Prep Academy in Sacramento California and joins a crowded backcourt but with little proven experience at the division-I level, anything can happen. 

Sit-out year? No thank you

The next piece of news came on Saturday morning as sophomore guard Jeremiah Francis was awarded an immediate eligibility waiver by the NCAA. This essentially gave the Lobos a player who will compete for the starting point guard job this season from day-one. 

Francis is a transfer from blue blood program North Carolina, and chose the Lobos over home state program Dayton back in May. The 6-0 210 pound point guard averaged 3.3 PPG, 1.6 APG & 1.3 RPG in just 16 games for the Tarheels last season.  

Paul Weir has highly praised the young floor general who has been fighting to stay on the court the last couple of years due to knee injuries that have plagued him since high school. His ability to play immediately for the Lobos gives him an opportunity to showcase the skills that earned him a spot in Roy William’s rotation in the first place, however short that may have been. 

Frontcourt depth? Check

The next surprise of the weekend for Lobos fans was the “commitment” of Juco big man Valdir Manuel. The 6-10 Angolan big man recently finished his sophomore year at Harcum College in Pennsylvania and is the 11th ranked Juco prospect by 247 sports. Although, at the time of that announcement by reputable college basketball reporter Adam Zagoria, the Albuquerque Journal could not confirm Manuel’s commitment from officials at New Mexico. 

Since, Geoff Grammer of the Journal confirmed the addition of Valdir Manuel via Paul Weir’s virtual press conference Tuesday morning.

Manuel’s arrival in Albuquerque will take some of the pressure off of anxiously awaited freshman Bayron Matos who is expected to make big contributions in his first year on the court since enrolling at New Mexico early back in January. They are both joined in the frontcourt by Juco transfers Rodgerick Brown and Assane Ndiaye as well as local walk-on Jordan Arroyo.

Manuel is certainly a capable player, but New Mexico is the fifth school the big man has committed to since his time at The St. Patrick School back in 2018. For Lobo fans I hope the fifth time is the charm.

Another coaches son? Check

Although we have all known of the impending transfer of newly announced assistant coach Scott Padgett‘s son Logan since last month. The addition of the 6-7 sophomore forward was officially announced by the program on Friday.

Padgett played his freshman year under his father in the elder Padgett’s final year in charge at Samford University this past season. There he averaged 2.4 PPG & 3.3 RPG in 33 appearances with 8 starts.

The younger Padgett is expected to join the team as a walk-on and should be expected to take a redshirt year given his status as a division-I transfer, barring any sort of waiver from the NCAA.

Yearly local walk-on addition? Check

Head coach Paul Weir understands the draw of watching local players take the court inside the Pit for folks in Albuquerque. The Lobos have always had a program that recruited locals and played locals. But that longstanding history has been a bit inconsistent over the last five or six years.

Aside from junior post-Jordan Arroyo from nearby Atrisco Heritage Academy averaging around 6.7 MPG over 26 games in his young two year career, there hasn’t been the major impact of say an Alex Kirk (Los Alamos), Daniel Faris (Eldorado) or Chad Toppert (Albuquerque Academy) in almost six seasons.

You would have to look back to the 2015-2016 season to find any other significant minutes given to key role player Tim Jacobs (Las Cruces/Onate HS) with about 9.7 MPG while having a larger role in 2014-2015’s squad at 20.8 MPG.

Though each year we can only hope that locals are given an opportunity to dawn the cherry and silver for longer than a minute or two following some sort of exhibition blowout.

This year’s addition, Eloy Medina of Albuquerque’s West Mesa high school is set to join the program.

Medina averaged 20.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 1.5 APG during his senior year at West Mesa. Coach Weir praised the 6-3 guards shooting ability in Tuesday’s presser, calling Medina an “Elite Shooter” and that he will “help on the court”. Medina joins fellow former local prep standouts Arroyo and Clay Patterson (Rio Rancho) along with Daniel Headdings (Wasilla, AK) and Logan Padgett (Homewood, AL) as walk-ons for the 2020-2021 season.

Thirteen Scholarship players and some walk-ons for good measure? Check

After the rough 30 days, those inside this program have had, it was indeed a breath of fresh air to begin to receive some positive news again regarding the Lobos. Barring any more transfers going forward, coach Weir’s roster is now full at thirteen players.

With a little more clarity in regards to player personnel, Lobo fans can now sit back and anxiously take a part in the waiting game we are all involved in at the moment surrounding the 2020-2021 season. Stay Tuned. 

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Mountain West Basketball: We’ve Got A Good Old Fashion Recruiting Standoff On Our Hands With Frank Anselem

Will the Aztecs or Lobos earn a commitment from center Frank Anselem?

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MW Basketball: We’ve Got A Good Old Fashion Recruiting Standoff On Our Hands

Four-Star Center set to make his decision on Wednesday June 3rd, the Aztecs and Lobos both land in his final-four.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Both teams make the final-four list of coveted center, Wednesday’s commitment will be reminiscent of past recruiting battles between these conference foes.

The recruitment of Frank Anselem has been full of surprises, to say the least, but at the onset of June, the highly sought after center looks towards the future. As he announced a scheduled commitment on Wednesday, June 3rd along with a final-four list of schools that includes Mountain West members New Mexico and San Diego State.

The 6-foot-10, 220 pound Center from Suwanee, GA opted to play his junior season at Prolific Prep in Napa, CA alongside and against some of the top players from around the country. His recruitment has been a bit all over the place in the last couple of months, as a previous commitment to LSU as a member of the 2021 recruiting class gave way to Anselem reclassifying to the 2020 class and was followed by his decommitment from the Tigers.

Then, while he began to reel in interest from dozens of programs nationwide, he announced a top-3 list that included Alabama, LSU and Georgia in mid-April. That seemed to be it for many programs recruiting the Nigerian big man until he announced a new final-six list a couple of weeks later that included Arkansas, Kentucky, San Diego State, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Western Kentucky.

As Aztec faithful prepared to do battle with some of the sports biggest programs, an elite recruiter at Western Kentucky in Rick Stansbury and the former Mountain West transfer whisperer himself Eric Musselman, things took another turn. More than a month later we have another group of finalists as Anselem announced a scheduled commitment date of Wednesday June 3rd while also announcing the four schools he will decide between.

The final-4 include Georgia who was included in his initial top-3, Syracuse and San Diego state who were both mentioned in the top-6 that followed and lastly New Mexico who seemingly came out of nowhere at the last minute to get folks out in Albuquerque excited for a possible mid-week four-star commitment.

San Diego State and New Mexico both being in the running for the same top recruit is reminiscent of years past when recruiting battles between these two conference rivals took place annually and only provided an added element to an already competitive rivalry. With San Diego State securing the commitments of top-ranked high school players like Zylan Cheatham, Winston Shepard & Trey Kell over New Mexico. While the Lobos secured transfers like Elijah Brown and Tim Williams over the Aztecs.

Now, a commitment from Anselem may mean two very different things for these two teams. San Diego State is coming off of one of their most successful seasons in school history, but lose most of their size from this past season. They secured the commitment of Big Ten transfer Joshua Tomaic this past month, in hopes of producing the same impact SEC transfer Yanni Wetzell had in 2019-2020.

Though aside from Tomaic there hasn’t been many additions to the Aztec frontcourt this off-season. Anselem would be one of three scholarship players standing above 6-7, and while possibly returning Swiss army knife Matt Mitchell can certainly defend some opposing big men if needed, you have to prepare for scenarios that could deplete your depth, like injuries, transfers, etc.

NCAA Basketball: New Mexico at San Diego State

While if he were to choose New Mexico he would join a similar situation where the Lobos only have three clear big men on their roster but possibly have a little more wiggle room for quality minutes down low.

Paul Weir and company return only two returning starters (Zane Martin & Makuach Maluch) and only one player (Keith McGee) who saw double-digit minutes last season, none should see any minutes in the post come fall. So the Lobos have the ability to offer quality playing time right away compared to the Aztecs, who field Matt Mitchell and two probable starters in Tomaic and Nathan Mensah.

Either way you look at it, a commitment to either Mountain West team should mean playing time for Anselem. Now whether he plans to spend that time on the court in Albuquerque, which seems very probable or possibly battling for minutes on a conference front runner next season in San Diego seems to be the big question.

But you also shouldn’t forget that these two teams only have a 25% chance to land his services next season, they have to contend with two power-five powerhouses who have just as equal of a shot.

24/7 Sports Scouting report on Anselem: Athletic center with outstanding frame. Good size, wide shoulders and very long arms. Strong kid but not maxed out. Still raw on offense but physical tools give him very high upside. Has budding elbow jumper and hook shot but footwork and post moves can improve. Has a chance to be a high-level rebounder and rim protector given size, length, and athleticism. Still inconsistent but the upside is very high. Projects as high major starter with professional upside dependent on the development of skill.

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Bulldogs Host Shorthanded Lobos at Save Mart Center

Mountain West basketball resumes this weekend, as Fresno State hosts conference rivals New Mexico at the Save Mart Center on Saturday.

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New Mexico at Fresno State: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More

Fresno State could inch closer to Lobos with a win

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Lobos desperate to stop the bleeding as suspensions, injuries take toll on Paul Weir’s roster

GAME DETAILS

WHO: New Mexico (16-7, 5-5 MWC) at Fresno State (7-14, 3-7 MWC)

WHEN: Saturday, February 1 — 2:00 P.M. PT / 3:00 P.M. MT

WHERE: Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif.

WATCH: AT&T Sports Net/Mountain West Network

LISTEN: TuneIn

ALL-TIME: New Mexico leads the series, 17-14

ODDS: Fresno State -2, per KenPom

GAME PREVIEW

A short-handed New Mexico squad heads to the Save Mart Center on Saturday to face Fresno State, as the Lobos try to stop a skid that has seen them drop four of the past five games. The Bulldogs haven’t fared much better over the same stretch, but they did manage to score a tough road victory on Tuesday against Air Force. The game tips at 2:00 PM Pacific.

New Mexico will continue to play without Carlton Bragg, JaQuan Lyle, and JJ Caldwell. Bragg was dismissed from the team after multiple off-the-court incidents, while Lyle and Caldwell have been suspended for their own transgressions. Compounding those absences is the health of Vance Jackson, who will also likely sit with a knee injury that has kept the junior out since January 15.

While many have raised questions about the lack of foresight with respect to Paul Weir’s roster construction, not all of his decisions have backfired. Towson transfer Zane Martin is well-equipped to step into a starting role in the backcourt, and teammates Corey Manigault and Makuach Maluach have developed well in their latest season under Weir’s administration. Vante Hendrix has also provided a good bit of scoring after sitting out the first semester as part of his transfer from Utah.

Still, the New Mexico team that began the season 15-3 seems a distant memory.

The Lobos have tumbled down the Mountain West leaderboard in recent weeks. Considering the somewhat unexpected success of Colorado State and UNLV, the Lobos no longer project as a top-half finisher in the conference. The Mountain West Tournament grants first-round byes to the top five schools, but New Mexico will likely have to play an extra game in their pursuit of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

One of their possible opponents in that first round could be Fresno State, a team that has limped out to a 3-7 start in league play.

The Bulldogs enter Saturday’s game in high spirits after escaping Clune Arena with a victory that pulled them even with the Falcons in the standings. Fresno State’s season has been a major drop-off from last year’s 23-win campaign, but the performance of freshmen such as Orlando Robinson and Jarred Hyder provide a glimmer of hope for Justin Hutson’s program. Young players such as Aguir Agau, Niven Hart, and Jordan Campbell could also develop into important building blocks for the future.

As for Fresno State’s more seasoned veterans, Nate Grimes has also delivered another stellar season for the Bulldogs, averaging nearly a double-double on his way to a probable All-Mountain West nod. Guards New Williams and Noah Blackwell have also improved on their early-season struggles. Unfortunately for this trio of seniors, their final season in Fresno will almost assuredly end without a postseason appearance, barring an improbable run through the Mountain West Tournament.

Securing this road victory would be an important turning of the tide for Weir at this crucial point in the season. If his team can find a way to embrace their new-look lineups, they may yet be able to stop the bleeding and could re-enter the conversation for one of those first-round byes.

On the other hand, if the home side prevails, the Lobos will drop below .500 in conference play, creating a clear division between the top and bottom halves of the Mountain West. The win would also bring Fresno State within one game of New Mexico in the league standings.

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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Lobos host Air Force with eyes on staying in second place

New Mexico vs. Air Force: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More Lobos trying to keep share of 2nd place in the MW Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire New Mexico will look to tame the Falcons after Air Force’s big win earlier this …

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New Mexico vs. Air Force: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More

Lobos trying to keep share of 2nd place in the MW

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

New Mexico will look to tame the Falcons after Air Force’s big win earlier this week

GAME DETAILS

WHO: Air Force (8-8, 2-2 MWC) at New Mexico (14-3, 3-1 MWC)

WHEN: Saturday, January 11 — 4:00 P.M. MT / 3:00 P.M. PT

WHERE: DreamStyle Arena, Albuquerque, New Mexico

WATCH: Stadium/Facebook

LISTEN: 96.3 KKOB; Listen Live

ALL-TIME: New Mexico leads the series, 60-23

ODDS: New Mexico -9, per KenPom

GAME PREVIEW

New Mexico will look to keep at least a share of second place in the Mountain West, as the Falcons of Air Force descend upon The Pit on Saturday.

The Lobos are 3-1 in league play so far, trailing only undefeated San Diego State and currently tied with Nevada and UNLV in the standings. Aside from the Aztecs, Paul Weir’s crew has the best overall record in the MW at 14-3, with their loss to San Jose State last week serving as the only defeat since their November 25 tilt with unbeaten Auburn.

New Mexico was back to their winning ways earlier this week, dispatching Fresno State with ease, 78-64. JaQuan Lyle has continued to look like a clear All-Mountain West talent, registering a double-double with 14 points and ten assists.

Even more encouraging for the Lobos is the recent explosion of Vance Jackson. He scored 29 points against the Bulldogs after posting 25 in the loss to the Spartans. Jackson has finished in double figures in five straight games after completing the feat just twice in the team’s first 11 contests.

Adding that extra scoring punch has come at a perfect time as Carlton Bragg makes his way back into the offense. The senior forward was averaging a double-double on the season before his suspension last month. After missing three games, Bragg returned against Fresno State but was ineffective, scoring just two points in 22 minutes on the floor.

But if Weir can get all of his pieces working at the same time, the Lobos may have an outside shot at sneaking into the Big Dance.

Air Force, meanwhile, has finally risen back to .500 after wiping the floor with Utah State on Tuesday. On the back of its stout offense, this Falcons team has started to turn things around after a disappointing 2-5 start to the year. Until the game against the Aggies, though, it wasn’t clear whether this team should be considered much of a threat in the Mountain West.

But Dave Pilipovich and the Falcons made their point.

Ryan Swan had a night to remember against Utah State, scoring a season-high 31 points and adding 11 rebounds. He has overtaken fellow senior Lavelle Scottie as the Falcons’ leading scorer on the season, with sophomore guard AJ Walker not far behind. The trio averages a combined 40 points per night, and both Swan and Walker are shooting over 50% on the year.

As a team, the Falcons have shot at one of the best clips in the country, posting an effective field goal percentage that ranks among the nation’s five best. That number is especially impressive when Scottie’s shooting woes are taken into account. The 6’7” senior was one of the league’s best shooters a year ago, but has struggled to the tune of 47% on two-pointers and 44% overall from the floor.

If he can get hot – and stay that way – Air Force could be a dangerous matchup for just about anyone in the Mountain West.

They’ll test that theory against the Lobos on Saturday.

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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