DAILY LOBO new mexico
Cone of shame see Page 15
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
thursday March 21, 2013
Steve Alford gets 10-year contract, $240k raise by J.R. Oppenheim
Faculty praise Alford but notice they didn’t get a raise
assistantsports@dailylobo.com @JROppenheim UNM and Steve Alford have reached an agreement for a new 10-year contract that will keep the men’s basketball coach at the school through 2023, the University announced Wednesday. With incentives and bonuses, Alford could make up to $2 million per year, nearly double what he made a year ago. Barring an early departure from UNM, he will become the longest-tenured coach in team history by the contract’s end. Alford has been winning conference championships and putting the team in the national spotlight since the University hired him to coach the Lobos six years ago. UNM begins play in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championships tonight in Salt Lake City. As the No. 3 seed, the Lobos play No. 14 Harvard. “This is a commitment that I wanted to make more than anything else, because I found an institution, I found an area of the country that I really, really like,” Alford said. “We’re extremely successful, and we think we can be even more successful in the future. I think that was more of the reason than anything else.” According to the contract terms the University released, the
Harvard and UNM sports reporters talk NCAA game
by John Tyczkowski news@dailylobo.com
Juan Labreche/ @LabrecheMode / Daily Lobo A UNM fan holds up cutout of men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev. UNM announced Wednesday that Alford had been given a 10-year contract to continue to coach the Lobos and a $240,000 salary raise to come from basketball revenue. renewed contract begins April 1. After that date, Alford will receive a $240,000 increase in base salary. The UNM salary book lists Alford’s current base salary at $324,200, which would bring his yearly total to $564,200. That total could increase with
$405,000 in new incentives. Alford would be paid extra if the Lobos win a Mountain West Conference regular-season or tournament championship, advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 or beyond, or defeat a top-25 team (capped at three per year and based on the
by J.R. Oppenheim
try to take a run just like everybody else is.” Already a Lobo-crazy community, Albuquerque reached a fever pitch of excitement since UNM won last week’s Mountain West basketball championship and received its No. 3 seed in the West Region, which was announced during Sunday’s selection show. Harvard holds a No. 14 as the Ivy League champion. While not common, No. 14 seeds beating No. 3 seeds is not unprecedented. In the last 27 years, it’s happened 16 times. Most recently, No. 14 seed Ohio pulled it off in 2010 when the Bobcats toppled No. 3 seed Georgetown. If New Mexico (29-5) wins tonight, it will take on either No. 6 seed Arizona or No. 11 seed Belmont, who also play today. Half of the 64 teams play today at locations nationwide and the other half follows Friday. The round of 32 is Saturday and Sunday. The Lobos have been named a Final Four favorite by some college basketball experts. Both CBS sports analyst Doug Gottlieb and Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis picked UNM to reach the national semifinals. With the way it’s played the last month, UNM could be poised for a long run. New Mexico won nine of its last ten games, including three during the
by J.R. Oppenheim
assistantsports@dailylobo.com @JROppenheim The New Mexico men’s basketball team takes on Harvard on Thursday in the NCAA tournament in Salt Lake City. Seeded No. 3 in the West Region, UNM will tip off with the No. 14 seed Crimson at 7:50 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT. The Daily Lobo had a Q-and-A with Martin Kessler, the Harvard Crimson men’s basketball beat writer. Kessler is a senior sociology student at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. A former sports chair of the newspaper, he has been covering the men’s basketball team for four seasons. Daily Lobo: What are your thoughts on the season Harvard has had? Describe the strengths and weaknesses. Martin Kessler: The 2012-13 season has been a surprising success
see Q&A PAGE 3
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
issue 121
see Alford PAGE 5
see Contract PAGE 3
Lobos hot to trot to hammer Harvard assistantsports@dailylobo.com @JROppenheim
Martin Kessler / Courtesy Photo
opponent’s ranking at the time of the game). Information on the Albuquerque Journal website also lists $600,000 in other compensation, which includes media and community affairs
UNM awarded a 10-year contract on Wednesday to men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford with a $240,000 salary increase, but some faculty are wondering about their own pay. “I find it regrettable that although both athletics and academics occupy the same physical space on the UNM campus, the rules that govern salaries and the performance needed to earn those salaries are not the same,” said Margo Milleret, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese, in an email. “I applaud the coach for his success in building the Lobos’ basketball team. However, his salary now or in the future exists in a different plane of reality than my own as a professor.” According to Paul Krebs, UNM’s vice president for Athletics, Alford’s salary increase in the new contract will be financed from basketball revenues, not from student fees or state funds. According to surveys conducted by the office of the Provost, UNM’s average faculty salaries range from $7,000 to $21,000 less than those at peer universities for professors, associate professors and assistant professors.
By most evaluations, New Mexico’s 2012-13 season will be considered a success regardless of how the team’s NCAA tournament run turns out. The team won the MWC regular-season title for the fourth time in five seasons and its second consecutive MWC tournament crown. However, one burning question looms over the Lobos as they begin the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. Will this be the year UNM finally breaks through to the Sweet 16? The Lobos have never made it that far in the tournament. Today, the second round of the NCAA begins with 64 teams battling in the Big Dance. No. 3 seed New Mexico plays one of the final games of the day when the Lobos take on No. 14 Harvard in Salt Lake City. Tipoff for tonight’s bout is 7:50 p.m. and will be broadcast on TNT. When teams get to this part of March, second chances run out. Win and advance, or lose and go home. The plan, junior guard Kendall Williams said, is to try to make it as far into the bracket as they can, not just into the Sweet 16. “We feel like we’re just getting started,” he said on Wednesday. “We’re going to take it game by game, starting with Harvard and
GPSA debate
All tied up
see Page 2
see Page 10
Mountain West championships against Wyoming, San Diego State and UNLV. The lone loss during the past ten games came in the Mountain West regularseason finale, which Air Force won on a last-second shot. “It’s definitely a tough
see Harvard PAGE 5
Juan Labreche/ @LabrecheMode / Daily Lobo UNM’s Alex Kirk, left, and Chad Adams defend against a UNLV player during the MWC tournament final on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The Lobos carried their second consecutive tournament with the 63-56 victory. The win gave them an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed. Their first game is against No. 14 Harvard today in Salt Lake City.
TODAY
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