Craig Neal gets the New Mexico job

After Steve Alford left for UCLA, the players left behind lobbied for top assistant Craig Neal to get the job. The coaching search didn't last long as Neal was given the job full time. Neal will sign a five-year contract worth $750,000 annually, plus incentives. The deal would make Neal one of the four highest paid coaches in the Mountain West Conference.


Neal was with Alford at Iowa and the past six seasons at New Mexico and was considered a co-architect of the Lobos' resurgence. Neal was a finalist with Brian Gregory a year ago for his alma mater, Georgia Tech.

This will be Neal's first head coaching job in Division I. The Lobos will have a loaded team coming back and will have a good shot to repeat in the Mountain West. The Lobos return key players Tony Snell, Alex Kirk and Mountain West Conference player of the year Kendall Williams. Neal has inherited a good situation now he'll have to keep the momentum trending upward.

Report: UCLA signs Steve Alford to become new head basketball coach

A report by ESPN's Andy Katz are saying that Steve Alford is leaving New Mexico to be UCLA's new basketball coach. The Bruins have come to an agreement with the New Mexico coach on a seven-year contract worth $2.6 million per year. This comes after firing Ben Howland after a second round ouster in the NCAA tournament.

The agreement with Alford comes less than two weeks after Alford had agreed to a new 10-year contract with New Mexico that reached into the $2-million-per-season range, including base salary, bonuses and incentives.

This is more of a surprise since many consider UCLA to be one of the top jobs in the country. The Bruins were spurned by Butler's Brad Stevens and VCU's Shaka Smart. It's obvious that many don't view it that way. Washington's Lorenzo Romar, Marquette's Buzz Williams, and NC State's Mark Gottfried were rumored to be candidates.

I don't know how this turns out, but  Alford is leaving a loaded Lobos team for whoever takes over. Alford will face a ton of pressure trying to coach up to the UCLA standard set long ago by JohnWooden.